Abundant Life – More Than Mere Survival
The Great Depression. The decade from 1930 to 1940 was a very difficult and challenging time for a great many people in the United States. Many lost their homes due to bank foreclosures. Many families struggled to obtain the mere basics needed for survival – a job, food, shelter, clothes, etc.My grandfather worked sixteen hour days operating a neighborhood grocery store. He not only provided his family with food but also kept many neighborhood residents from starving by letting them buy food on credit. It was a hard time and the goal of many was just to survive until the Depression ran its course.
The picture seen above is from the Franklin D, Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C. It shows five men standing in a long line to get a free bowl of soup, some bread and a cup of coffee. For many, it would be the only meal they would have that day. You can almost feel the lack of hope within them. Strong men reduced to standing in a long line just to get a bowl of soup to survive another day. Life was not meant to be that way. Life is more than mere survival. You were created to be able to express joy, love, peace, power, not just surviving until the day your body stops working. You were created to live a life abundant..
You Are NOT a Bird or Squirrel or Goose
You are a thinking, sentient being. You were blessed with a mind that allows you to think thoughts. The thoughts you choose to think then lead you to how you feel inside. How you feel inside then leads you ultimately to what you believe. What you believe then leads you to what manifests in your life. As within, so without. As above, so below. Your reality is merely a mirror reflecting back to you your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.
You are NOT a bird or a squirrel or a goose. They survive on their inborn instincts. They are born, they live, then they die. They do not have the ability to choose their thoughts and subsequently generate feelings based on those thoughts, leading to a set of beliefs, leading to life circumstances. You do. And that makes all the difference in the world as to living abundantly as opposed to merely surviving until you die.
At Birth, You Were Greatly Blessed
At birth, you were already greatly blessed. You were blessed with a mind that allows you to choose what you think. Yes, I know full well that there are some that are born are presented with challenges to their thinking abilities. In the grand scheme of things, these dear souls are teachers, teaching those who care for them, however challenging that may be, the true meaning of love and compassion. The great majority of humans on this planet are not presented with said challenges to their thinking abilities. You have the full ability, the free will to choose what thoughts to nurture and retain. Continued thoughts along a certain line inevitably lead you to the way you feel inside. Those thoughts, in union with how you feel, and what you believe, then engage in creating the tenor of you life and the manifestations within it.
I Get It
I get it. You have human needs. Food, drink, clothes, fulfilling interaction with other humans, various possessions that you utilize for your activities. You need to work to get the money to buy the food, drink, clothes and necessary possessions. It can bring you to exhaustion in dealing with the need to generate income and dealing with all manner of personal interactions. This is especially true when you choose to connect with other humans who are not on the same wavelength with you. Nevertheless, no matter what, you still retain the free will over your thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Those three things are what the fat controllers of the world love to get their hands on, so to speak. When they control your thoughts, feelings and beliefs, of course, they control you also. When that happens, your hope of living abundantly withers away. That can only happen however if you choose to allow it to happen.
This Moment Contains All Moments
The above quote comes courtesy of C.S. Lewis. It echoes the words of the 13th century theologian and teacher Meister Eckhart. Eckhart stated, ” There exists only the present instant…a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday nor any tomorrow, but only Now.”
It is vital to you, if you really and truly desire to live an abundant life and manifest all manner of wonderful things in your life, to make the choice to acknowledge the Presence of God in each and every moment of your life. That is your golden key. That is your way out of just merely surviving until the Grim Reaper comes and you die. That is your golden ticket to abundant life. In the book of Proverbs, it is stated, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”
Again from C.S. Lewis, “If you picture Time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn. We must come to the parts of the line one by one. We have to leave A behind before we get to B, and cannot get reach C until we leave B behind. God, from above or outside or all around, contains the whole line, and sees it all.”
OK, What’s In It For You
OK, you say, what if I buy into what you are saying. What’s in it for me? How about this, my friend -Peace, Joy. Love. Strength. Power. The ability to shape your circumstances instead of being shaped by circumstances. To live in the freedom of the Kingdom of God instead of the enslavement of the fat controllers of this world.
The Part You Do NOT Want To Hear
Now we come to the part that you do NOT want to hear. Manifesting an abundant life for yourself takes hard work, faith and persistence. Every time doubt and fear try to slip into the living quarters of your mind, you must firmly show them the exit and demand that they leave. Doubt and fear are psychotic in their persistence to try and control you. Once they control you, they are NOT pleasant controllers. You can and you must maintain focus on the Presence of God within. Jesus Christ stated clearly, the Kingdom of God is within. That is where your focus needs to be maintained. This world is absolutely chock full of all manner of distractions. Show them all “the door” and you will ultimately live a truly abundant life with all types of beautiful manifestations. Remember these three ingredients – Thoughts. Feelings. Beliefs.
Conceive. Believe. Receive.