Recognizing The Answers To Our Prayers, No Matter How They Might Show Up

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faith, God, mind, prayer, Spirit, thought, thoughts, truth

Early last evening while I was driving to church for a Bible discussion I noticed that there was a fly in my car and that it was banging up against the front window in an effort to get free.  I certainly didn’t wish to harm the fly so, even though it was cool outside, I lowered my side windows hoping the fly would discover the other way get out.  I had a two-mile drive before me, so I thought the fly would surely finally find its escape.  But guess what?  Even though there was the answer to meet the wishes of this fly to get free it just simply continued to bang against the front window, with the same result each time. No freedom.  Even my trying to motion the fly toward the window didn’t work.

I started thinking about prayer, our answers and how we recognize them.  We were going to discuss this later at church.  As silly as this may sound watching this fly was a perfect example of how we all too often wait for the answers to our prayers to be revealed.

We prayed, we know the outcome we desire and we know most often that is followed with a period of waiting.  But I have realized, certainly in my own life, that the answers to my prayers that I seek don’t always come in the way I thought they would.  I, like most of us, expect the answer to show up in a particular way.  We keep looking for it to come in that way and when it doesn’t we think we are just not getting an answer. We sometimes then begin to plead for the answer, thinking that if we beg just right, use the right words, or make God enough promises perhaps then it will come.  But suppose the answer we seek has already presented itself, it is right before us, but it has come in another way – from another direction.  Because we are so focused on seeing the answer come in only one way we think we have been forgotten by Spirit/God.

I know the fly story may be silly, but when you stop to think about it the answer for the flies freedom was there, it was just too focused on how it had to come, or how it had to look.

This is why I like to always suggest that when we pray that we add at the end of our prayer, “and I will recognize the answer when it appears, however it may come.”  Affirm that we will be open to miracles coming from ways we had previously never even considered. This awareness of Spirit’s mysterious and wondrous ways often can show us that our answer has been with us all the time.  We were just not seeing what was already there.

Affirmation:  “And I recognize the answers as they appear, however they may come.”  Wow!

Rev. Jefferson Beeker

http://jefferson340.wix.com/index

We live our lives one thought at a time.  Let each of those thoughts really count for something wonderful.

Be prepared to change your thinking and change your life.

Follow me on Twitter @jeffersonbeeker for daily affirmations of uplifting and positive faith.

 

 

Tradition, Legacy and What’s Next. Reconciliation, Unity and Community

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faith, family, humanity, journal, mind, peace, reflections, Spirit, thought, truth

Recently I attended what I have called “A Cousins Reunion.” Five of our 8 cousins (along with three spouses and one cousins son) met out in West Texas in a little town named Quanah.  None of us have ever lived there as we all grew up in and around Washington, DC, but our maternal grandparents met there in 1911.  What was fun about getting together in this little town was that it gave us an opportunity to not only to be where they met and to visit their gravesites, but to spend some time telling stories about our family legacy.

Our grandmother lived near us in Washington, DC and as the oldest of the cousins she and I would often travel around the country on the train.  It was not only great fun, but it was a chance for her to tell me many, many family stories.  So, at our weekend reunion we each told the stories we remembered, how our mother’s and grandmother ended up in Washington, DC at the start of WWII and about all the relatives that had come before us, who they were, what they did and to celebrate the branches of our family tree.

Knowing these stories, sharing them and remembering the rich legacy they have left us was so beautiful.  As we visited the cemetery in Quanah we told stories of those whose gravestones we saw. Seeing these markers sparked our memories and soon we were off recalling the things that shaped their lives and that would eventually shape ours as well.  They were all people of strong faith, active in their churches with some members leading the music, and even a preacher here and there to add spice. The local historical society even found a church bulletin from April of 1912 in which two of our great aunts were listed, as choir director and pianist.  That was a real thrill.  Our great-grandfather had founded that church and today it still exists, although in a beautiful newer building.

I think what I learned from this the most is that we each come from a tradition and legacy that has in many ways helped to shape our lives today.  What our ancestors gave to us is not necessarily a life we choose to copy, but it has been for each of us a jumping off point from which we can shape our lives today.  Our grandparents had their jumping off point from what they had experienced, and we now have ours.  What we choose to do from this moment on is up to us.

Where do any of us we wish to go from here?  It is no surprise that each of the cousins is very different today, just as in many ways we are similar.  The family sense of humor is very much alive within us; as well as music and, yes, a preacher.  (That would be me).

We each get to decide, and that goes for you who are reading this as well, how we choose to process the traditions and legacy from which we have come.  Like it or not that is our family DNA.  We will carry this whether we like it or not. This may be our jumping off point, but we have understood and received that birthright in many different ways and we will each go forth to our next endeavors with different expressions of life.  Just as with a GPS device we can recalculate our journey and forge exciting new paths for ourselves through our positive, life affirming desires.  We can let go of any negative influences, make the conscious choice that we will not allow those things to taint our present and future and we can chart new journeys that forge an exciting life.

We will always be connected with what has come before us, and that is meaningful.

Yes, there are always things that may be unpleasant, or painful, but how we process those experiences and how we proceed forward today need not emulate the negative, but can certainly help us to make better choices now.

I know each cousin will have something exciting and new to bring to our next gathering, and I do hope there is one.  I can’t wait.

We each and every one of us have a core make-up that provides a rich place from which we can build community.  My cousins and I have a core DNA that binds us together, however, all of God’s beautiful humanity also comes from a common place.

We are each spiritual beings, created in the image and likeness of Perfect Spirit/God. Presently we are having a human experience, but at our core we are, and can only ever be, spiritual beings.   The DNA of Perfect Creative Spirit that is first and foremost the foundation of who we are unites us all as fellow travelers who are seeking a rich and meaningful human experience.  When we remember to move forward in life from this place of spiritual kinship with one another, with the whole of humanity, we come a long way in helping to co-create a world of peace, justice and togetherness in which we all would hope to live.  Seeing Spirit within others, as they see Spirit within us, is what will build a future of reconciliation, unity and community.

Rev. Jefferson Beeker

http://jefferson340.wix.com/index

We live our lives one thought at a time.  Let each of those thoughts really count for something wonderful.

Be prepared to change your thinking and change your life.

Follow me on Twitter @jeffersonbeeker for daily affirmations of uplifting and positive faith.

 

God says to us, “Look and see. Look and see. You are going to be amazed at what I have in store for you. You are going to love this. Look and see.”

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faith, focus, God, mind, possibility, Spirit, thoughts, truth

“Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?”     (Psalm 139: 7)

The answer to the question posed in our scripture is “nowhere.”  There is absolutely nowhere we can go that the presence of God is not.  This I find extremely comforting, for no matter what we are experiencing we have the assurance that God is right where we are. Not only is God experiencing with us what we are feeling, but God is also present to move us through that experience should it be one we wish to release from our life.

I have a stack of Angel cards that I love. Each card has a word on it and I like to pick one of these each day.  Some of these words are abundance, peace, health, joy opportunity and understanding. It is from whatever word I choose that I often meditate, or direct my thoughts from time to time throughout my day.   The word I chose today is “Be.”  I especially love this one.  To “be” is to recognize our true Spiritually created self.  To always have a consciousness that affirms that the fullness of all that we are is a creation of God.  This is a “being” that affirms that life is truly stacked in our favor, but we must live our life as though that is the truth about God being active in our lives.  Whatever is happening, God is right there.  In the good times, as well as in those times when life can be a struggle, God is always right there with us, sharing that joy or that pain with us and continuing to move us forward into the Light and experience of a still greater good.

We can examine our belief in the presence of God in our lives by looking at the thoughts we are having right now.  Are we affirming that God is providing for us and blessing us right now?  Do we look at our life right now and affirm those things we really want to experience? Do we constantly see lack, limitation and not enough?  Or do we see possibility, opportunity and the light of a brighter future? Do we come from a place of fear and mistrust and with an angry and accusatory nature, or do we look for and recognize the goodness in others, their worth and their beauty?  Do we go through life with a frown on our face, or do we greet the day, and others with a smile?  Our thoughts today will create our tomorrow.  If we want a full and blessed tomorrow we must look no further than what we are thinking today.  Affirmative God thoughts today will be the seeds that bloom tomorrow.  Put quite simply, a smile freely given to others will brighten everyone’s world.

Shakespeare wrote, “To be, or not to be.”  The choice is ours to be all that we have been created to be.  When we live that truth God says to us, “Look and see.  Look and see. You are going to be amazed at what I have in store for you.  You are going to love this. Look and see.”

Created in the image and likeness of Perfect God/Spirit we are to “Be” all that we were indeed created to be.  We are never “not that,” but our acceptance, and experience, of all that we are rests within our living each day from this beautiful truth.

Affirmation:  “Today I affirm that all that I am is the creation of a loving God.  I will live that truth in all that I experience and I give God thanksgiving that it is so.”

Rev. Jefferson Beeker

http://jefferson340.wix.com/index

We live our lives one thought at a time.  Let each of those thoughts really count for something wonderful.

Be prepared to change your thinking and change your life.

Follow me on Twitter @jeffersonbeeker for daily affirmations of uplifting and positive faith.

It Is Time To Praise

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affirmation, belief, Bible, change, God, Lord, meditation, prayer, Psalms, reflection, Spirit

“I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”   (Psalm 18: 1-3)

It is right that, like the Psalmists, we would send praise to our God for the magnificent blessings we receive. To begin our time of prayer, reflection or meditation by focusing our thoughts on praising the one in whom all things are possible is a powerful way to make our connection with God meaningful. As in all things in our life that which we praise increases in our experience as that is what we are focusing upon. Praise is a powerful form of affirmation that directs our attention and intention to seeing God working in, through, and as our lives.

As we read through the book of Psalms in the Bible words of praise stand out as an ongoing theme. The majesty and glory of God working in our lives, meeting our needs and giving us new hope and a sense of greater possibility, forever speaks to us as a mighty demonstration of Gods great unconditional love. God pours out a blessing upon us in a never ending flow of grace and a continual energy of creative wonder. Even in times of struggle, when we are hurting and life seems to be moving for us in a negative direction, our words of praise to God can help us to lift up from those stressful experiences and see the new light that glows before us.

When we read, “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, thou art very great! Thou art clothed with honor and majesty,” (Psalm 104:1) how can we not be stirred by God’s wonderful and powerful presence in our lives. God is always available to us and always anxious for us to connect and have communion together.

I have often said, and written, that we live our lives one thought at a time and that we must let each of those thoughts count for something beautiful in our life. Our thoughts and words of praise to God awaken in us a new truth and a new spirit. Our tomorrow begins right now. It begins with the direction our belief is taking. Praising God, as did the Psalmists, is an effective way in moving us in a new direction to experiencing God’s presence right where we are at this and every moment.

Affirmation: “I will praise the Lord at all times; God’s praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34: 1)

Rev. Jefferson Beeker

http://jefferson340.wix.com/index

We live our lives one thought at a time. Let each of those thoughts really count for something wonderful.

Be prepared to change your thinking and change your life.

Please join us each Sunday for our SpiritSong service at 5:30 PM in our Social Hall at First Christian Church, North Hollywood, CA. This Contemporary Celebration and Praise service is an hour of great music from our wonderful band and singers, inspiring messages and good fellowship. Those things in life that you have been seeking have also been seeking you. Now is a good time to receive them. We will lift one another to live exciting, abundant new lives of possibility and purpose.

Also, join me on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8 PM for an hour of guided and silent meditation, reflection, affirmation and prayer. As always, we will share communion together. Everyone is welcome. We are an open and affirming congregation.

First Christian Church, North Hollywood, 4390 Colfax Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604. http://www.fccnh.org

Follow me on Twitter @jeffersonbeeker