Constant Craving

I have learned, in whatsoever state 1 am, therewith to be content.
-ST. PAUL

In my twenties, I thought fame would do it. In my thirties, I became convinced that a comma in my checking account balance was the answer. Now that I'm in my forties, I know that all my seeking can be summed up in one word: contentment.

In my forties I realize-gratefully-that fame comes at too high a price. Being considered an "accomplished" woman who shepherds successful creative' projects from conception to completion is much more appealing than being famous. And in the deepest recesses of my soul, I know that money cannot guarantee happiness. I realized this with certitude the summer morning I read that a famous and wealthy author, whose books hover on the best-seller lists for months, had lost a beloved child to a freak accident. While washing the breakfast dishes, I glanced out the kitchen window to see Katie bouncing a tennis ball against the back of the house-happy, safe, alive. I knew that famous author would trade all her worldly success in a heartbeat to know again the blessing bestowed on me that morning. After I prayed for her, I prayed for myself. Please let me never forget how rich my wonderful life is right at this moment. Please let me never forget that all I have is all I need.

Please let me never forget to give thanks.

But I know that I am a much happier woman when I can pay my bills with ease, take care of all my needs, indulge a few of my wants, and have a comfortable cushion of savings. It would also be wonderful-and I hope to have the experience once before I die-to see something fabulous and just say, "I'll take it," without asking the price.

Still, these days contentment is my constant craving. So much so that I have begun asking each twenty-four golden hours stretching before me, luminous in their potential for pleasure, what might be mine for the taking. Sometimes it's as simple as making a delicious tuna fish sandwich. with celery and tarragon mayonnaise on buttermilk honey bread for lunch-the way I do for guests and for my family but rarely take time to do for myself. Or as easy as sitting on the beach, not with work in my lap (even when a deadline looms), but a great book.

Just as negative addictions sneak up on us a day at a time, so do positive cravings. Meditation, creative movement, moments of self-nurturance that bring contentment-all can become positive habits of well-being. I find that when I take twenty minutes to get quiet and go within, work with the visual images in my discovery journal, take a walk, or ask how can I make the next task more pleasurable, my wants diminish.

Today, consider the desires that really count-what you really need to be content. Then make sure there's at least three moments today that fulfill mind, spirit, and body with what you alone must have.

How To Use Your Words To Create Your Reality

By Bo Sanchez

Do you want to know your future?

So many people are awed by Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, Jean Dixon, and even astrologers and tarot card readers (yes, them!) because they claim to predict the future.

Friend, I have a big announcement to make: You can predict the future.

You don’t have to look for a prophet, a seer, or a fortune-teller to know your future. You don’t have to consult the horoscope, the crystal ball, your palm, tea leaves, or fortune cookies to know your future.

You can predict your future.

How? All you have to do is listen to your words.

By examining the words that come out of your mouth, you’ll know your future. Guaranteed.

Let me share with you three people…

Where Do You Want To Go?

       Nineteen years ago, I had a friend who was always miserable.

Constantly, I heard “Glenda” say, “Life sucks,” and “Life is terrible,” and “I’m doomed,” and “I’m a loser.” I heard her always sigh with heaviness, “Life is like a knife…”

We lost touch for 11 years.

But I met Glenda recently

Guess what. Her life is still miserable.

Her words created her reality.

       My other friend, “Marcel”, liked talking negatively about his health. Ever since I can remember, he kept saying, “I’ll die when I reach fifty.”
       I would tell him, “Fifty? My gosh. Don’t say that!”
       He’d say, “My father died in his fifties. My grandfather died in his fifties, too. So I’m sure I’ll die when I reach fifty.”
       True enough, at the exact age of fifty years old, Marcel was walking in the sidewalk. All of a sudden, he fell like a log. Wham. He died of a heart attack.
       His words created his reality.

The Bible says that your tongue is like a rudder of a big ship. Like a rudder, your tongue directs your life.

       So let me ask you: What kind of future do you want to have?

Don’t use your words to describe your reality. Use your words to create your desired reality.

Another way of putting it: Don’t just talk about where you are. Talk about where you want to go.

Use Your Words To Direct Your Future

My third example is my 84-year old mother.

Last Sunday, Mom was limping.

By Monday, she couldn’t get out of bed. She said her leg was so painful, she couldn’t move it. She couldn’t even walk to the bathroom by herself.

By Tuesday, she was so depressed because we had to put her on a wheelchair. She hated the idea. “I don’t want to be paralyzed!” she said. The entire time, she was moaning and groaning, complaining about the pain and her condition.

That day, I visited her and spoke words of faith. I said, “Mom, this is temporary. You’ll get better.” I prayed for her and taught her a simple healing exercise.  I also told her, “Mom, you’ve got to change your words. I know you’re discouraged, but you’ve got to say, “I’m getting better and better everyday.”

She laughed. She asked, “How could I say those words when she had so much pain and could barely move her leg?”

“You’ve got to try!” I said.

But I called her Wednesday and she was better.

I called her Thursday and she began walking.

I called her Friday and she went down the stairs already.

And Sunday? She was at the Feast, walking around like nothing happened.

Perhaps you’re sick like my mother today.

Say, “I feel better and better everyday.” 

Echo Joel 3:10, where it says, “Let the weak say I am strong…” So even if you feel weak, believe that God will heal you.

       Let me tell you how this works…

Why Faith Words Work

I can explain it in many ways:

·        Faith Words affect your emotions in a positive way.

·        Faith Words—repeated again and again—create new neural pathways in your brain.

·        Faith Words also train your Reticular Activating System (RAS) to be attentive to see the blessings you desire.

All that is true.

But here’s my favorite explanation: Faith Words aren’t just mere positive affirmations; They open your life up to the supernatural power of God.

In Biblical thinking, words aren’t just sounds or noise.

Words are imbued with God’s creative power.

In Genesis, God created the world by His words. He didn’t create light by mixing up stuff with His hands. He simply said, “Let there be light” and there was light.

       The Bible also says that death and life are in the power of our tongue. Pretty awesome, right?

God Will Provide

       In 2009, my friend Rey Ortega felt God was calling him to rescue babies from abortion. He discussed this with me and passed this dream to my heart. I told him, “Let’s start a ministry.”
       Rey then told me, “But I have a problem. How can we raise money for this new work? I’ve exhausted all my friends already for our other work. They all now donate to our Tahanan (Home) orphanage and Pagasa (Hope) scholarship for poor children.” 
       That’s when I told Rey my Faith Words. Just three words. I said, “God will provide.” 

He said, “Wow, I’m impressed by your faith!”

       Actually, I was hiding my fear. I was actually scared! In my mind, I said, “Oh no, here I go again, getting myself into another ministry…”

When I said, “God will provide,” we had nothing. Zero. But soon, blessings began to flow like a waterfall.

       That month, out of the blue, My Ninang (Godmother) called up my office because she needed a speaker for her little prayer group. Specifically, she wanted a speaker to share about the topic, “The Sanctity of Life”. 

Obviously, the best speaker on the topic was Rey Ortega. He was the one who had this dream of rescuing babies from abortion in his heart. So I told Rey, “Give the talk. And share our dream to my Ninang. She’s rich!”

And that night, he did.

       My Ninang heard Rey’s story and invited him for lunch the next day. When they met, my Ninang said, “You can use my building for your ministry. You have 300 square meters for your halfway house.” Not only that, she spent two million pesos of her own money to remodel it for our use.

We didn’t even call her. She called us.

Was that coincidence? 

No. That’s synchronicity of grace. That’s the universe conspiring to bless us. We were no longer chasing after blessings. The blessings were chasing after us. Resources were rolling at our feet, begging that we take them.

“God will provide,” is a powerful Faith Word.

In May 2009, we began Grace To Be Born, a halfway house for pregnant womenin crisis and an orphanage for babies. In 6 months, we’ve rescued 15 babies from abortion.

Friend, are you praying for God to provide for you?

Here’s my belief: Sooner or later, your outside world will match your inside world. What’s does your inside world say?

       Remember, your faith is more powerful than your sight.

Your sight can only describe your situation, your faith can direct your situation.

       Let me tell you the story of Elijah…

I Hear The Sound Of Heavy Rain

Even When There Is No Rain

I love this incredible story.

For 3 years, there was a drought in Israel. Absolutely no rain in the whole land. In our language, a very bad El Nino.

But one day, the prophet Elijah told King Ahab, “Your problems are over. Go, eat and drink, for I hear the sound of heavy rain.” King Ahab was relieved and followed Elijah’s orders.

But was there actually rain? 

None. Not a drop.

In fact, there was not a single cloud in the sky.

That was when Elijah prayed very hard. The Bible says he went up to Mount Carmel, bent over, and placed his head between his knees. If you pray in that posture, that means Elijah was desperate. I should know. That was how I prayed when I was courting my wife. (It worked!)

Elijah then told his servant, “Look towards the sea and check for clouds.”

The servant looked and said, “No clouds.”

You can imagine how worried Elijah must have felt.

So Elijah prayed one more time and told his servant, “Check again.” The servant looked and shook his head, “Nope, no clouds.”

The Bible says this scene was repeated 7 times.

By the seventh time, I can imagine what the poor servant was thinking. I bet he wanted to say, “Elijah, I told you 6 times already, the sky is empty.  Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilcho. When are you going to quit? When are you going to tell King Ahab that you made a big booboo?”

But Elijah didn’t quit. He asked him, “Check again.”

Big Clouds Come From Little Clouds

When the servant looked a seventh time, he said, “I saw a little cloud no bigger than a man’s hand, coming up from the sea.”

In other words, he was saying, “Uh, there’s a tiny cloud. But don’t get your hopes up too much. It’s so itsy bitsy tiny, I can cover it with my hand. See? I don’t see it no more.”

But that little cloud was enough for Elijah. He said, “Tell King Ahab to hurry home as he might be caught by the downpour.”

Wow. That’s faith.

And the Bible says the wind began to blow and the heavy rain began to fall.

       Friend, it’s your turn to create your miracles.
       Do you see an empty sky or a little cloud?
       When you focus on emptiness, more emptiness will come. But when you focus on the blessings—no matter how small—more blessings will come.

Speak Blessing Into Your Future

Here’s my message: There’s a connection between what you say and what will happen.

You have a choice: You can say, “There’s not a cloud in the sky” or you can say, “I hear the sound of heavy rain.”

Perhaps today, you don’t see the healing happening yet in your body. But you can confess, “I’m being healed by God right now. Health and healing are flowing into my body. I’m getting better and better everyday.”

Perhaps today, you don’t see your child changing yet. He’s still making bad choices. He’s still hanging out with bad company. He’s still taking drugs. But you can confess, “My child is coming closer to God. As I speak, God is working in his life.”

Perhaps today, you don’t see your financial situation getting better. But you can confess, “I’m getting rich and richer everyday. God is prospering the work of my hands.”

Perhaps today, you don’t see yourself free from addictions yet. But you can confess, “I may have had addictions in the past, but God is starting a new chapter in my life. I may feel weak right now but I declare that God is making me strong.”

Like Elijah, you need to hear the sound of heavy rain even when there’s not a cloud in the sky. You need to hear the heavy rain of blessings into your life even when you don’t see anything yet.

Start speaking words of faith into your future.

Because your words create your reality.

       Let me tell you my last story.

Use Your Words To Direct Your Future

Last year, one of my small businesses collapsed.

In a snap, it simply sunk.

       Circumstances beyond my control pulled the rug beneath it and it came crashing down.
       My small business was almost one year old. All of a sudden, in one day, I lost all my customers.

I wish I could tell you that because I’m a preacher, I smiled and sang, “Give thanks with a grateful heart…”

That’s not true. At least, not right away.

Believe me, I was so discouraged. I was so frustrated, I wanted to say, “This business is dead,” and “I’m a failure,” and “Why did I let this happen? I’m so foolish.”

       But I didn’t say those words. 
       Because I knew words have power.
       Instead of using my words to describe my reality, I decided to use my words to create my desired reality.
       Every time I wanted to say those negative words, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and proclaimed with faith, “My business will rise up stronger than ever. This failure is temporary. This failure will make my business even better.”
       For three months, I tried to resurrect my business. And I couldn’t do it. I felt like I was hitting my head on a brick wall. But no matter how discouraged I felt, I kept saying these faith statements, “My business will rise up stronger than ever.” And I didn’t stop trying to fix it.
       And soon, I discovered the blessing within the problem. Because I had to start from scratch, I was able to change my business model. 

Today, that small business is doing so much better. Today, I have more customers, more sales, and more profits!

You know what? Today, I thank God my business collapsed. Because it gave me the chance to transform it and make it better.

What happened?

My words—my Faith Words—created my desired reality.

Proclaim Those Faith Words

Look, I’m not saying that speaking Faith Words is all that you need to do to succeed in life. This isn’t magic.

To succeed in life, you need love, wisdom, mentors, action…

But speaking words of faith is incredibly important too!

May I suggest something?

I want you to take five minutes everyday declaring Faith Words.   I guarantee that it can change your life. Five minutes in the morning, declare God’s word, including your positive beliefs about your life.

Here’s why. In Mark 11:23, Jesus said something incredible. He said, I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 

Friend, what is your mountain? 

It may be sickness. It may be a troublesome relationship. It may be a lack of money.

Don’t just pray about the mountain. Don’t just talk about the mountain. Instead, speak to the mountain.

That’s what I did to my failed business. I told it to resurrect.

       My message again: Don’t use your words to describe your reality. Use your words to create your reality.

Below, you’ll find God’s Word combined with my own positive words. I wrote these Faith Words so that you can speak them everyday. In fact, depending on your particular “mountain”, I want you to say these Faith Words not just once, but many times during the day.

Talk to the mountain of sickness:

“With long life, He satisfies me and shows me His salvation. I’m getting better and better everyday. I am getting stronger and stronger everyday. The power of healing is flowing through my body, mind, and spirit. New health, new joy, new peace, new hope is increasing within me.”

Talk to the mountain of a loved one going astray:

“My child (husband, brother, etc.) is growing closer to God. Deep inside his heart, the Holy Spirit is busy working, changing, and transforming him. He is set free from all his addictions. He will fulfill God’s purpose for his life. I declare that as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Talk to the mountain of addictions:

“I may have had addictions in the past, but God is starting a new chapter in my life. I may feel weak now but I declare that God is making me strong. God is setting me free.”

Talk to the mountain of relationship conflicts:

“God is blessing my relationships. Love is increasing. Service for one another is growing. Forgiveness, humility, and understanding flow like a river in my relationships. Old wounds are being healed. Bonds between us are getting stronger and deeper.”

Talk to the mountain of confusion in decision-making:

“The steps of the good person are ordered by the Lord. God directs my steps. God helps me to distinguish what is right from wrong. God shows me the paths to abundance.”

Talk to the mountain of financial difficulty:

“I’m rich and getting richer. I’m generous and getting more generous. God’s abundance is supplying my every need. Everything I touch prospers and succeeds. New doors will open before me. The right people will walk into my life. God will prosper the work of my hands. As I use my core gifts to serve others, I will be richly rewarded.”

Friend, there’s a miracle in your mouth waiting to be released. 

Release it today.

Source

Discover Yourself

One of the surprises that comes when you catch glimpses of your authentic self is the discovery that she's such a positive, upbeat woman. She's always smiling. She's always calm. She's always reassuring. She exudes confidence. Who is this woman, you might ask, and does she bear any resemblance to you?

Yes and no. This is who you are on the inside. The real you. If you don't act this way all the time, it's simply because you haven't evolved to a high¬er plane of existence yet. Neither have I. Marianne Williamson believes this will come when we "embrace the Goddess" who resides within. "When a woman falls in love with the magnificent possibilities within herself, the forces that would limit those possibilities hold less and less sway over her," she writes in A Woman's Worth.

But occasionally, we get glimmers of what it's like on this higher plane: on a good-hair day; when we've had twelve hours of sleep; when we soar through a business meeting, thoroughly prepared; when we fit into last year's clothes; when we throw a great party and everyone enjoys them¬selves immensely. When moments like these occur, we tend to think that all's right with the world. Everything just fell into place. What we don't realize is that all's right with ourselves. We're in the flow of life and loving it. We're in place: that special alignment when authenticity and reality merge into Wholeness.

But how do we tap into this spiritual energy source more often? How do we access the flow of life more frequently? How do we learn to live at full throttle?

Meditation helps. So do long walks, soaks in scented bubble baths, wash¬ing our hair a day before it needs it, smiling at everyone we meet, being more gentle with ourselves, watching a sunrise or a sunset, petting an ani¬mal, playing with a child, having some small pleasure to look forward to every day, being grateful.

But above all, being open to change. Welcoming it. "Watch. Wait. Time will unfold and fulfill its purpose," Marianne Williamson advises. "While we wait, we must not go unconscious. We must think ap__w. Rejoice and dream, but kneel and pray. There is holiness in the air today; we are giving birth to goddesses. They are who we are, for they are us: friends, therapists, artists; businesswomen, teachers, healers, mothers. Start laughing, girls. We have a new calling."

Source: Simple Abundance

Self Discovery

Many creation myths say it took only six days to make the world. It will take us a little longer to remake our own. But we can begin where Spirit did by declaring that there be Light to illuminate our journey of self-discovery.

The Quaker tradition teaches that this Light is within each of us. The Quakers, or members of the Religious Society of Friends, are a perfect example of individuals who manage the delicate balance of living in the world but not belonging to it. This is because they refuse to segment their lives into the Sacred and the secular. Instead, Quakers believe that all of life's daily experiences are spiritual in nature, from preparing a family meal to protesting political policy. The British writer George Gorman has observed that "the essence of Quaker spirituality is the certainty that everything we do has religious significance. It is not cutting ourselves off from life but entering deeply and fully into it."

Simplicity is the common thread that stitches together Quaker lives, homes, and dress. Their weekly worship service, or Meeting, is a silent meditation. Rhythm, reverence, and reflection are their hallmarks. These touchstones can help us as well as we attempt to remake our personal world.

Restoring a sense of rhythm to our lives is the first step. How much rhythm do you have in your personal world? Children are not the only ones who need regular bedtimes, mealtimes, and quiet times. Their mothers do, too. Think of the steady, reassuring rhythm of the natural world-the ebb and flow of the tides, the recurring cycle of the four seasons, the monthly phases of the moon, and the daily progression from day into night. Rhythm needs to be the cornerstone in our personal world as well. All of us lead busy lives, some more frantic and frazzled than others. We need to learn where to draw the line and how to say "no."

Today be willing to reflect quietly on the role that rhythm plays in your daily life. Your heart will always tell you what's working and what's not. Restoring rhythm to the way you conduct your affairs can bring you contentment and a sense of well-being that will nurture and sustain you when the cares of the world can't be left behind.

Source: Simple Abundance