Posted by Roberta Grimes • June 10, 2023 • 45 Comments
Jesus, The Source, The Teachings of Jesus, Understanding Reality
On a clear day, rise and look around you,
And you’ll see who you are.
On a clear day, how it will astound you
That the glow of your being outshines every star!
You’ll feel part of every mountain, sea and shore.
You can hear from far and near
A word you’ve never, never heard before…
And on a clear day… on a clear day…
You can see forever… and ever… and ever…and ever more…
– Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986) & Burton Lane (1912-1997), from “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” (1970)
There is no religion that has anything to do with the genuine God. Religions are not about God at all! I majored in religious studies in college. I have put a lot of effort into studying religions, and I have spent time studying people as well. And then finally I have just asked Jesus Himself whether I might amazingly be right about this, and He has concurred with my conclusions. He wonders now why it took me so long to finally figure this out. In fact, our religions are all about us! We create our religions based on our own needs to feel safe and comforted, to feel empowered, and most of all to feel beloved. We build into them our own self-designed gods that we narrowly tailor to suit ourselves, and none of our gods is anything like the real God. I suspected even as a teenager when I first began to read the Bible that Jesus may have come to rid the world of religions, but that didn’t seem at the time to be possible. I do, however, see the truth of it now.
Jesus’s relationship with the clergy of His day was famously bitter and contentious. He was forever criticizing the clergy for their false pieties, for their petty public shows of religious snobbery, and for their stubborn fealty to what were meaningless religious traditions. Just everything about the clergy really got on His nerves! For example, Jesus said, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits” (MT 7:15-20). And, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye” (LK 6:41-42).
The Biblical Gospels are full of these rants from Jesus! He also said, “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation” (MK 12:38-40). And, “Woe to you, religious lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering” (LK 11:52). (Presumably He is talking here about entering the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Heaven, which terms both mean the same thing.)
He said, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in” (MT 23:13). He said, “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men… You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your own tradition” (MK 7:8-9). And, “Why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?… You hypocrites! Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men’” (MT 15:3-9). And here is my favorite! Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you travel around on sea and land to make one convert; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (MT 23:14-16).
Jesus actually called the clergy of His day “sons of hell,” for heaven’s sake! My dear friends, He knew that there is no fiery hell, and this is one of the few times that He even uses that word in the Gospels. Please read over again the previous paragraph, and then try to tell me that this is not Someone who came to earth to abolish religions altogether. If I noticed this thread in the Gospels as an oddity even as a child, then why don’t other people see it, and talk about it? I mean, Jesus is supposed to be the founder of Christianity as a religion, so is it too much of a stretch for others also to spot this and suspect that He came to earth instead intending to abolish all religions? His deprecation of the clergy of his day is right there in the Gospels, and it always has been there in the Gospels. Why has nobody else ever made a point of this odd contradiction? Why are people so quick to jump on other things that Jesus may or may not even have said? I can only imagine that they find a kind of superstitious terror in the very idea that Jesus might no longer want to play their religious game. Or else, why has Jesus’s disdain and disgust for religions always been such a third-rail for so many people that they simply won’t touch it at all?
And yes, I am well aware that it is possible for us to have transcendent moments while we are practicing our preferred religions. Religions are designed to play on our emotions, and I have had a number of such joyously sacred moments myself, usually when listening to or singing favorite religious music. Or when I was alone with the beautiful stained-glass triptych that graces my childhood church, where Jesus is talking with the woman at the well. I love that window! When I was a child, I would sit alone in that church and commune with that window, and sometimes I would feel a soaring joy. But Jesus’s wisdom speaks to us much louder still! And He tells us now, as He was saying to us even two thousand years ago, that the emotional reactions that can come from religions are not where God truly is. And emphatically, they are not who we are. No, Jesus said:
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (MT 6:1-6).
Please read those two paragraphs again. It was in those two paragraphs in particular that Jesus told us when He walked the earth that it was time to throw away all our religions, and to learn to relate to God individually. I first noticed those passages when I was a teenager. I was still just a child! I had begun to read the Bible over and over, from cover to cover, a couple of pages every night, so it was then that I was first noticing a lot of things, and giggling over some of them. Oh, but of course Jesus couldn’t actually have meant to say that! But now it has been backed up by all the other things that I have come to know and accept about religions, and about Jesus. So of course I can see it all now so clearly! I feel stupid that it has taken me so long. So then I finally asked Jesus plainly, “Lord, can this really be right? Is this really what You taught?” He tells me now that I have always known it to be right. But why would Jesus want to abolish all religions? Here are His three reasons why:
Father Richard Rohr of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico (cac.org) identifies the Holy Spirit as a divine “yes” within. Father Richard says, “We must first remember who we are! Our core, our deepest DNA, is divine; it is the Spirit of Love implanted within us by our Creator at the first moment of our creation (see Romans 5:5, 8:11, 14–16). Those who have gone to their depths uncover an indwelling Presence. It is a deep and loving ‘yes’ inherent within us. Christian theology names this inner Presence as the Holy Spirit, which is precisely God as immanent, within, and even our deepest and truest self.”
And this has been my experience as well! God is in fact within us. Father Richard is very much caught up in the Trinity as a divine circle-dance with us, but I don’t think it is necessary to even talk about the Trinity. That feels too formal and ritualistic to me. What I did was to one day simply stop being a practicing Christian. Instead, I opened the top of my head, and I invited God inside, and now I pay attention to God’s constant presence. It feels a bit like living as a family dog must live, with one ear always cocked to hear My Master’s Voice. I’m not praying really, because even doing that would feel formal and distancing when God is actually inside me. If I ever feel the need to ask God for anything – for my son-in-law’s health, or for my granddaughter’s happiness – then I just pray in quick gratitude affirmations. (“Thank You that his cancer is cured!” “Thank You that she is happy!”) But as I answer emails from people, and as I work with my much-beloved legal clients, or as anything comes up in my life at all, I am aware that the top of my head is always open and all the love there is flows through me. By now, I am long since used to living this way. God is all there is, God is perfect love, God is inside me, and I am God’s conduit. Sometimes I even can feel God’s love flowing through me to someone who especially needs it. And the wonder is that anyone can live like this. Simply give your life to God, and then be a conduit of God’s love in gentle service!
The only real problem is that the abolition of all religions because they are not related to the genuine God was supposed to have happened two thousand years ago. And then of course it did begin to happen, when for three hundred years the Way of Jesus took hold around the Mediterranean Sea. But then Roman Christianity broke back in when Constantine re-established yet another religion; and while that religion is fading now, over all the world there still is the false sense that the genuine God of infinite power is in some way tethered, so the genuine God must be set free from human-made religions in our minds all over again.
It is likely to take awhile longer for our minds to sort Jesus back out from Christianity. And to remember once again that God is not just a subset of some religion or other, but instead the genuine God truly is all there is! God is the very water in which we swim. Oh my dear friends, God is the infinite love deep within you. (Scroll down for this video.) God is the Alpha and Omega and the bright morning star. When you look the deepest within that you can possibly look, you will find the true God smiling at you and wearing your own perfected face. As Jesus says to us now, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened” (MT 7:7-8).
You’ll feel part of every mountain, sea and shore.
You can hear from far and near
A word you’ve never, never heard before…
And on a clear day… On a clear day…you can see forever…
And ever…And ever… and ever more…
– Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986) & Burton Lane (1912-1997), from “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” (1970)
Oh Roberta, thank you for being such a BRIGHT LIGHT in this world!
I love reading your weekly posts and this one especially!
Oh my dear beloved Susan and all my friends here, I really have no idea what I am doing! I was sure that this blog post would receive probably the fewest comments ever, and instead it had sixteen comments almost right away, which was some kind of record. Thank you, my sweet friends, for always making me smile!
Dear Roberta,
I’m a little late to the party, but I also wanted to chime in and say that – although all of your blogs are enlightening and relevant – this is one of my favorites, as it confirms what I and so many others have felt for a long time but have been afraid to vocalize!
Much love to everyone here,
JenniferK
Thank you so much for expressing what I have felt for years, Roberta!
You are so eloquent in the way you explain your heart felt realizations… it is so valuable to share.
Dear Jim, welcome to our little family of commenters! I do enjoy sharing, and trying to help others to express what they are feeling. This breaking free of old molds is a long process, and it is so glorious, since we are so much more than we ever before had realized!
The greatest miracle of all existence is that God is good (I don’t even want to imagine an evil God).
Have you heard that many Muslims are having dreams about Jesus and leaving Islam behind? Wouldn’t they grow the Christian religion and churches before they find out that you can totally bypass the church and its religion and have a direct relationship?
God bless. The word “blessing”, by the way, to me, is a verb, and activity of the heart towards others, and never ever a noun. It’s not a certificate, a registration in some book, but an active giving of love.
My thoughts for the day. I bless you.
Oh my darling Adrian, how beautiful that is! Thank you so much! And yes, my dear one, Jesus is moving in millions of hearts now, and in Muslim hearts too. He is very active in the world, in ways that I feel but I don’t really understand.
My late (I should say “late and present husband, because he’s made it clear he’s still around) used to say “You do what you HAVE to do in order to do what you WANT to do.” He had been an Episcopal priest for 30 years, and yet his greatest passions were addressing hunger and homelessness. He had little patience for dogma. I know he’s still around (he’s made that abundantly clear!) but I still miss him on our (present) channel. Thanks again for the work you do. Agreed on most points about religions. They often muddy things up more than they clarify.
“Our Father who art in Heaven….
Thy Will be done on Earth
as it is in Heaven… ”
I believe that! I know, I know… but everyday I love the
living Earth more and more. God did create 🌎! God
is right here too.
God is letting go..
Religion is hanging on. gflerica
Oh my dear Erica, My Thomas assures us that the earth can cleanse itself. The earth will be fine!
My dear Cherie, I love that! Your husband is wise indeed! My husband is older than I am, and I know as I write this that if he predeceases me I will never speak of him in the past tense, and I would not expect you to do that either. Of course your husband is still right there!
Dear Roberta,
Bingo: ” Every Religion Keeps Us from Looking Within, Where God Actually Already Is. ” Yes, God is in us, and we are in God. God is an ocean of immaterial consciousness, and we are the droplets of water made from Him to own our individual consciousness within Him.
The material world we live in is by God’s design a hard place to live, whereas our natural home is blissful Heaven. In a deep sense, Heaven and the spirits who inhabit it are “real,” whereas the material world with the physical bodies which our spirit attaches to to experience life’s hardships, joys, and learning about such are temporary and “unreal.”
Thus, we ought do our best to help other beings, animals, and even plants (but not nasty insects, spiders, flies, scorpions, and snakes 🙂 ) with kindness while they too suffer the harshness of temporary material life. And we need not become overcome with sadness and grief as the world turns on itself with predjudice, hate, and wars.
We all die and return then to Heaven having learned just how amazingly wonderful is the Heavenly home that God created to share his company as we all ride in an eternal NOW of supreme bliss.
All quite wonderfully said, my dear Jack! But so many people with scientific training are so sadly oblivious to it all. It really is amazing to see how clueless they really are.
I just saw this posted on twitter, and copy here as relevant:
” Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s most dramatic and unforgettable case of “ask and you will be given”…
Excerpt:
My most dramatic and unforgettable case of “ask and you will be given,” and also of an NDE, was a man who was in the process of being picked up by his entire family for a Memorial Day weekend drive to visit some relatives out of town. While driving in the family van to pick him up, his parents-in-law with his wife and eight children were hit by a gasoline tanker. The gasoline poured over the car and burned his entire family to death. After being told what happened, this man remained in a state of total shock and numbness for several weeks. He stopped working and was unable to communicate. To make a long story short, he became a total bum, drinking half-a-gallon of whisky a day, trying heroin and other drugs to numb his pain. He was unable to hold a job for any length of time and ended up literally in the gutter.
It was during one of my hectic traveling tours, having just finished the second lecture in a day on life after death, that a hospice group in Santa Barbara asked me to give yet another lecture. After my preliminary statements, I became aware that I am very tired of repeating the same stories over and over again. And I quietly said to myself: “Oh God, why don’t you send me somebody from the audience who has had an NDE and is willing to share it with the audience so I can take a break? They will have a first-hand experience instead of hearing my old stories over and over again.”
At that very moment the organizer of the group gave me a little slip of paper with an urgent message on it. It was a message from a man from the bowery who begged to share his NDE with me. I took a little break and sent a messenger to his bowery hotel. A few moments later, after a speedy cab ride, the man appeared in the audience. Instead of being a bum as he had described himself, he was a rather well dressed, very sophisticated man. He went up on the stage and without having a need to evaluate him, I encouraged him to tell the audience what he needed to share.
He told how he had been looking forward to the weekend family reunion, how his entire family had piled into a family van and were on the way to pick him up when this tragic accident occurred which burned his entire family to death. He shared the shock and the numbness, the utter disbelief of suddenly being a single man, of having had children and suddenly becoming childless, of living without a single close relative. He told of his total inability to come to grips with it. He shared how he changed from a money-earning, decent, middle-class husband and father to a total bum, drunk every day from morning to night, using every conceivable drug and trying to commit suicide in every conceivable way, yet never able to succeed. His last recollection was that after two years of literally bumming around, he was lying on a dirt road at the edge of a forest, drunk and stoned as he called it, trying desperately to be reunited with his family. Not wanting to live, not even having the energy to move out of the road when he saw a big truck coming toward him and running over him.
It was at this moment that he watched himself in the street [sic], critically injured, while he observed the whole scene of the accident from a few feet above. It was at this moment that his family appeared in front of him, in a glow of light with an incredible sense of love. They had happy smiles on their faces, and simply made him aware of their presence, not communicating in any verbal way but in the form of thought transference, sharing with him the joy and happiness of their present existence.
This man was not able to tell us how long this reunion lasted. He was so awed by his family’s health, their beauty, their radiance and their total acceptance of this present situation, by their unconditional love. He made a vow not to touch them, not to join them, but to re-enter his physical body so that he could share with the world what he had experienced. It would be a form of redemption for his two years of trying to throw his physical life away. It was after this vow that he watched the truck driver carry his totally injured body into the car. He saw an ambulance speeding to the scene of the accident, he was taken to the hospital’s emergency room and he finally re-entered his physical body, tore off the straps that were tied around him and literally walked out of the emergency room. He never had delirium tremens or any aftereffects from the heavy abuse of drugs and alcohol. He felt healed and whole, and made a commitment that he would not die until he had the opportunity of sharing the existence of life after death with as many people as would be willing to listen. It was after reading a newspaper article about my appearance in Santa Barbara that he sent a message to the auditorium. By allowing him to share with my audience he was able to keep the promise he made at the time of his short, temporary, yet happy reunion with his entire family.
We do not know what happened to this man since then, but I will never forget the glow in his eyes, the joy and deep gratitude he experienced, that he was led to a place where, without doubt and questioning, he was allowed to stand up on the stage and share with a group of hundreds of hospice workers the total knowledge and awareness that our physical body is only the shell that encloses our immortal self.”
I’ve heard this story several times, but can’t recall anyone ever mentioning his name. Since he must have introduced himself, I find that odd. Also, not even the year or location of the accident was ever mentioned,
Yes, that is odd, given he was sharing a message she wanted to be spread. Given her mature years when she was out lecturing, it would not seem that she would have made that story up, but without her naming him, we cannot know. Good catch.
Oh my dear beloved Jack, what a perfectly wonderful witness that is!! Thank you for sharing it!!
This week’s message has certainly affirmed what I thought made perfect sense and releases me from the confines of any man-made religious rules. If one were to think of heaven, I doubt that it is divided up by what religion we practice here on earth. I think that everyone is accepted and brought home, and not excluded from the paradise in heaven due to earthly religious teachings. I was a former nurse who was present at the death of a few of my patients., I believe that they went on to heaven and yet I feel very sad that some of their religious beliefs may have made this existence on earth more miserable than was necessary. We can all pray directly to God and to Jesus without intercessors and God and Jesus are there for us as well as our spiritual guides and angels. This channel has made that even more abundantly clear to me. I have freed myself from an organized religion that I was an active participant in and believed in wholeheartedly. Many of the people in that church are good people and others are arrogant and haughty, even the clergy. I live in a city where social status and what you do and how much you contribute to the church matters very much, yet I never felt that the clergy in that church would be there for me even in sickness. Those who have millions of dollars to give are of course given preference The pandemic made it even more clear. I began to see that the gospels were given less attention in my church and political stances and aspirations were given more attention. I do not want to feel diminished in my own life. I want God to know I love him and I want to study more about him and Jesus and feel their presence. I feel that I do now with my more direct relationship and I have seen evidence of it and I am content. The Holy Spirit is with us and also guides us in many unseen ways each day.
Ah yes, my darling Jennifer, all very well said! There are some churches like this, where sadly social status and how much money you have matters, when it should not matter at all. But you can follow your heart, my darling friend. Follow Jesus. He never will let you down.
Dear Roberta and Jennifer. It doesn’t seem that Jesus placed much value in material wealth. He thought of it more as a hindrance. He even borrowed a donkey to ride on and his tomb was a gift.
Great post Roberta!
Every word hit home with me. No separation between us and God. God is love and life and within us now. So nice to know we are meant to experience this God here and now and that ‘heaven’ is right here within us now. Beautiful!
Oh my dear Kevin, we are so swiftly moving beyond now all the old religious boxes and confusions and fears. Truly, it’s a glorious time to be alive!
Wonderful post Roberta!
I agree that we will bend reality to try and protect ourselves. Making up false gods to control what we cannot.
I’ve been working on a theory that may also be a reason why we fall for into religions.
The idea started some time ago when I was helping a friend on a project. I noticed at the end of the day we felt more closer than when we first started. We worked hard, got dirty and accomplished what we set out to do.
The theory I’ve been playing around with is a innate desire/need to be connected to others influences us more than we think. At first I thought that desire was just survival instincts. Higher chances of survival if we work together. While I believe there is truth in it, I’m not so sure if it is THE reason as we learn how we truly are connected. When one raises their vibrations it raises us all.
Many if not most don’t feel that connection. We go to work, come home, do chores, go to bed only to do the same thing the very next day. We walk past others without really seeing them nor feeling any connection to them.
Maybe we subconsciously miss feeling that connection we all share when we are home? And missing that connection leads us to fall into various groups including religions.
Let’s push religions aside and look at some of the activists we see in things like global warming. No offence intended to anyone, but it looks rather similar to a religion to me. A fear based one where the world will end if we don’t do something now.
You have groups of people working together towards a common goal. That goal is bringing them together and creating a connection between people.
Just like your Every Day Love post. Those small acts of love brings to light our connection with each other. Simply recognizing each other and showing they matter makes us all feel good.
Hopefully we can change the way we connect to each other so religions will never be needed again.
“But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
This is one of my favorite quotes. I may fail at times, but it is something I continue to strive towards knowing it will help keep my intentions pure.
Aside from that, I had a good laugh at the “log in the eye” comment. Our brother Jesus is very funny. I’m still laughing at it, imagining the look on the faces of the self-righteous when he said it. Especially those held in “higher” esteem. The audacity of it all… I love it!
Oh my dear Thomas, of course the “global warming” scare is just a religion. Even in the worst case, a couple of degrees or three worldwide over a century or two, it hardly matters, and for that we are supposed to create famines in Africa and destroy our whole Western way of life? I did take it seriously foe awhile so I did some research, but what it looks like is just a mild warming of maybe a degree and a half, and it’s actually beneficial. Our real problem is the plastics building up in the oceans, which everyone is ignoring.
But yes, Jesus has a wonderful sense of humor, and He never tires of razzing those pompous clergymen!
Dear Thomas, If not already familiar with Eric Hoffer’s little book, The True Believer, you will love reading it. “A mass movement is what Eric Hoffer calls all social, political and religious movements. A “true believer” is what he calls the enthusiastic members of these movements. For example, a Christian Crusader, Russian Communist and Japanese Nationalist are all “true believers” in their mass movement. ”
He theorized that what motivates the true believer is their personal low self-esteem. By immersing themselves in a grand cause, they are able to stop suffering from their self-disgust as they nobly champion their Cause, whatever it might be. The substance of their grand cause is unimportant. What is important is that they lose their personal identity and self disgust by crusading for their grand cause, such as ending human caused climate change.
Thanks Jack!
I added it to my book list on Amazon. I need to start reading a little every morning, on the porch, with my coffee.
The idea of low-self esteem makes a lot of sense.
Some of the people who were the most vocal seemed to act a little unhinged. I wasn’t sure if it was acting or something else. I do worry they are making themselves sick from the cultish-like groups.
Hopefully we can do better with others around us to help them rise above the self-loathing in more healthier ways. Makes you feel sad to see people dislike themselves so strongly.
Oh my dear Jack, what a wonderful observation! I never had looked at it that way, but of course if you think so little of yourself then you would be glad to immerse yourself in some public cause or other, even if that cause is ultimately stupid. That’s such a terrific point!
Superlative. You are expounding the essence of everything. Boy, have Thomas and your good self nailed it.
I mean, many of us have known you have nailed it for a long time now – but I can sure feel like crying “bullseye” in this post especially loudly.
It feels that if I ‘get it’ and we here ‘get it’, it will come to pass that others get it; and people will start to realize the truth more easily as time goes forward.
The Essence = the Teachings of Jesus = the Spirit within. We ourselves are in essence, Spirit. (Also we are in spirit the Essence.😉)
So simple really when you strip away all the religiosity. ❣️
Oh my dear beautiful Efrem, of course you know that it is really the great and truly ultimate Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who gets it most of all, and He got it two thousand years ago. He got it from the very beginning! He came to us so long ago, and He told us that it was time to dispense with all religions back then because they only put fake gods between us and the genuine God, Who actually is Spirit, and is within us!
And all of this has been in our Bibles ever since, and yet even I didn’t have the nerve to say it out loud until this week!
Thanks, Roberta for the interesting blog. I especially appreciated your comment about praying in gratitude affirmations. To elaborate a bit, it helps to mentally picture the desired outcome down to the smallest detail. When dealing with illness always focus on health rather than pain & suffering since God cannot relate to the latter. Upon completion of your prayer all doubt and worry should vanish and if not you should repeat the process until it does. These practices are consistent with the teachings of Jesus regarding prayer, namely the importance of faith, persistence, and being thankful. I have used this practice on numerous occasions and have always been amazed by the results.
Oh yes, my dear Thomas, very well said! Always, always pray in gratitude affirmations. Never claim the lack – always claim the gift!
Hi Thomas,
This question goes to Roberta as well.
It seems from your and Roberta’s comments that asking for “gifts” from God is perfectly acceptable and even encouraged. I think part of me is a little hesitant in asking (or asking for too much) as I thought we were suppose to accept whatever happens to us as part of our learning journey.
Thanks!
My dear Thomas, so long as you are praying in gratitude affirmations. then asking for things seems acceptable to me. When I pray to thank God for my son-in-law’s improved health while he is still undergoing cancer treatment, my doing that is simply claiming the gift as it is being manifested!
Good point, Thomas. Thanks for sharing.
Remember the affirmations about loving yourself-Yada x3!
Well, I got really bored thinking of all my vanities
So I wrote,”What can I do for Jesus next?”
Suddenly I was extricated from my ego!
I felt oddly free and really good stuff began to happen
without me asking or wishing.
This is my 2nd day “living without my ego”. Here I go!
And isn’t that a wonderful feeling, dear beautiful Erica!!
Hi Thomas,
I do not necessarily consider the manifestations of my affirmations as gifts from God. The energy (or God as some would say)in this universe is open to our desires and can grant them even if it may not be in our best interest. Other than a reference to the kingdom of heaven I do not think Jesus specified what we should seek or ask for. But he had no issue working miracles to alleviate physical pain A few suggestions: Avoid obsessions with trivial matters and do not focus too much on yourself. By using affirmations to better the lives of others who offend you for example, you will often emerge as a beneficiary of the positive outcome. This is a rather complicated subject and I am hopeful these few comments are helpful to those looking for answers.
Thanks Thomas and Roberta.
That makes a lot of sense. Appreciate you both.
Hi Thomas,
I was starting to do affirmations not for material things…But, I hope this doesn’t sound crazy, i play guitar and want to get even better so I started affirmations. Is thing wrong? I will stop if this offends God or Jesus. There is a lot of tube videos with Binaural Beats that help. I also ask God to help me be more like Jesus, well to be more loving and positive toward everyone! Anyways I like your comment…Litsa
I LOVE THIS BLOG ROBERTA!!! OMG, what perfect timing. As I was driving in my car today a thought entered my “I could NEVER go back to church knowing what I know now”. I remember our Orthodox priest screaming from the top of his lungs during the sermon of the day which was “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites”!
As he lectured on that parable I thought too myself doesn’t he realize he is a modern day Pharisee? This was before I found your websites and books. Way before!!! As I was starting things but was too scared to leave!
These Orthodox Priest have special treatment from the clergy and lay people! They had special seats to sit while serving Sunday lunch and special holidays! They had the fancy garments, etc. And one time the bishop rolled up in a limousine!
Going back to the church sermon it was funny to see how the lay people of the church did not recognized that our Priest and all the top Bishops were modern day Pharisees of our time! I FELT it big time and was in awe how they would even choose the parable of a sermon. The lay people most of the time fell asleep during the sermons LOL! I would not fall asleep as I truthfully was looking for the truth.
I saw a lot of opposites of what the bible said and what was being done down at the Orthodox church. As a matter of fact their liturgy was said to be our salvation which by the way was done in Ancient Greek which no one could understand…LOL Heck I didn’t even understand Greek…
I will never forget the day I fell to my knees in depression and ask God to show my the truth…It happened Gradually and then I found your website which blew up the doors..
I no longer have a blind faith or blind belief…I have a KNOWING that is so deep that I feel it all over!
This is all thanks to Thomas, Jesus and You!!! I am so grateful
that God led me to your site!
Now time for me to read all the wonderful comments!!!
Litsa
Dear Roberta and Litsa. It is amusing that modern religious leaders don’t see themselves in the same light as those Jesus ridiculed.
I really loved seeing all those things Jesus said about their pomposity in one place. The “sons of hell” line had me laughing out loud.
It makes me laugh too, dear Ray! Jesus is so dignified that I almost cannot believe He said it – then I come upon it, and it makes me giggle.
Oh my sweet beloved Litsa, I am so glad that you have found us here as well! And you have made my Thomas smile, my dear one. He so much enjoys our being able to free people from their old religious stresses. We really do have fun here, don’t we?
Hi Litsa,
There is nothing wrong with doing affirmations for non material things, if fact it is probably preferable considering our spiritual destiny. I can say that affirming the physical is an excellent way of proving it actually works.
Oh my dear yes, sweet Thomas. I use gratitude affirmation all the time, and for everything!