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Dynamics for Living
Prosperity
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[Dynamics for Living]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
THE teachings of Jesus stand out prominently, because they
can be applied practically to the affairs of everyday life.
His is not a religion in the sense that this word is
usually taken but is a rule of thinking, doing, living, and
being. To some people it is unthinkable to connect His
teachings with the countinghouse and the market place.
Deeper insight into their meaning and purpose shows that
these lofty teachings are the most practical rules for
daily living in all departments of life. They are vital to
modern civilization and the very foundation of business
stability.
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We have not been more successful in making the teachings of
Jesus a practical standard for everyday guidance because we
have not understood the laws on which they are based. Jesus
would not have put forth a doctrine that was not true and
not based on unchanging law.
Men have taken the letter or appearance side of Jesus'
doctrine and materialized it to fit their beliefs and
customs. That is the reason why His message has not
purified commerce, society, and government. It should be
made spiritually operative in those fields. It will easily
do the work desired when its mental side is studied and
when it is understood and applied from the spiritual
viewpoint. No permanent remedy will ever be found for the
economic ills of the world outside a practical application
of the laws on which the doctrine of Jesus Christ is based.
The Provider
It is perfectly logical to assume that a wise and competent
Creator would provide for the needs of His creatures in
their various stages of growth. The supply would be given
as required and as the necessary effort for its
appropriation was made by the creature. Temporal needs
would be met by temporal things, mental needs by things of
like character, and spiritual needs by spiritual elements.
For simplification of distribution
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all would be composed of one primal spiritual substance,
which under proper direction could be transformed into all
products at the will of the operator.
Jesus taught that we can incorporate life-giving rays into
our mind, body, and affairs through faith. He taught man
how by the exercise of his mind he can make that life obey
him. Instead of a universe of blind mechanical forces Jesus
showed the universe to be persuaded and directed by
intelligence.
What we need to realize above all else is that God has
provided for the most minute needs of our daily life, and
that if we lack anything it is because we have not used our
mind in making the right contact with the supermind and the
cosmic ray that automatically flows from it.
New Era
We are now in the dawn of a new era. Old methods of supply
and support are fast passing away. New methods are waiting
to be brought forth. In the coming commerce man will not be
a slave to money. Humanity's daily needs will be met in
ways that are not now thought practical. We shall serve for
the joy of serving, and prosperity will flow to us and
through us in streams of plenty. The supply and support
that love and zeal will
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set in motion are not as yet largely used by man.
The very air is alive with dynamic forces that await man's
grasp and utilization. These invisible, omnipresent
energies possess potentialities far beyond our most exalted
conception. Truly, all things have their source in the
invisible spiritual substance.
In the new era that is even now at its dawn we shall have a
spirit of prosperity. The principle of universal substance
will be known and acted on. There will be no place for
lack. Supply will be more equalized. There will be no
overproduction or underconsumption or other inequalities of
supply, for God's substance will be recognized and used by
all people. Men will not pile up fortunes one day and lose
them the next, for they will no longer fear the integrity
of their neighbor nor try to keep their neighbor's share
from him.
Is this an impractical utopia? The answer depends on you.
Just as soon as you individually recognize omnipresent
substance and put your faith in it, you can look for others
around you to do the same. When even one bears witness to
the truth of the prosperity law he will quicken the
consciousness of the whole community.
The Heavens
According to the Greek, the language in which the New
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Testament has come to us, Jesus did not use the word heaven
but the word heavens in His teaching. He was not telling us
of the glories of some faraway place called "heaven" but
was revealing the properties of the "heavens" all around
us. He taught not only its dynamic but also its intelligent
character, and said that the entity that rules it is within
man. He told His followers that it was the kingdom from
which God clothed and fed all His children. In His many
parables and comparisons referring to the "heavens" Jesus
was explaining to His hearers the character of the
omnipresent substance that has all potentiality and is the
source of everything that appears on the earth. The kingdom
of the heavens, or the kingdom of God, is within man. It is
a kingdom of substance and of Mind.
Mind
All is Mind. The things that appear are expressions of
Mind. Mind is reality, and it also appears as phenomena.
The is-ness of mind is but one side of it. Being is not
limited to the level of is-ness. It has all possibilities,
including that of breaking forth from its inherencies into
the realm of appearances. Mind has these two sides, being
and appearance, the invisible and the visible. To say that
mind is all and yet deny that things do appear to have any
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place in the allness is to state but half the truth.
Substance
God is substance. If by this statement we mean that God is
matter, a thing of time or condition, then we should say
that God is substanceless. God is not confined to that form
of substance which we term matter. God is an intangible
essence. Matter is a mental limitation of the divine
substance whose vital and inherent character is manifest in
all life expression. God substance may be conceived as God
energy, or Spirit light.
God is substance, not matter, because matter is formed,
while God is the formless. God substance lies back of
matter and form. It is the basis of all form yet does not
enter into any form as a finality. Substance cannot be
seen, touched, tasted, or smelled, yet it is more
substantial than matter, for it is the only substantiality
in the universe. Its nature is to "sub-stand" or "stand
under" or behind matter as its support and only reality.
Inexhaustible Mind substance is available at all times and
in all places to those who have learned to lay hold of it
in consciousness. Spiritual substance from which comes all
visible wealth is never depleted. This unfailing resource
is always ready to give. It has no choice in the matter; it
must give, for that is its nature.
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Spiritual substance is a living thing. It is living bread
and living water. He who feeds on God's substance shall
never hunger and never thirst. This substance is an abiding
thing. It is an unfailing principle that is sure in its
workings. Man can no more be separated from his supply of
substance than life can be separated from its source.
Ideas
Substance exists in the realm of ideas and is power when
handled by one who is familiar with its characteristics.
The ideas of Divine Mind are contained potentially in
substance. All things exist as ideas. These ideas are
manifested only as man becomes conscious of them. Divine
ideas are man's inheritance. They are pregnant with all
possibility. All the ideas contained in the one Father-Mind
are at the mental command of its offspring. Get behind a
thing, into the mental realm where it exists as an
inexhaustible idea, and you can draw upon it perpetually
and never deplete the source.
Unification
Substance is first given form in the mind. You have
doubtless in your own experience caught sight of the
everywhere present substance in your silence, when it
seemed like golden snowflakes were
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falling all about you. This was the first manifestation
from the overflow of the universal substance in your
consciousness.
Be still and turn within to the great Source. See with the
eye of faith that the whole world is filled with substance.
See it falling all about you as snowflakes of gold and
silver. In laying hold of substance in the mind and
bringing it into manifestation, we play a most important
part. Man's work is to express substance ideas in material
form. Identify yourself with substance until you make it
yours.
Actually, you are unified with the one living substance,
which is God, your all-sufficiency. From this substance you
were created. In it you live and move and have your being.
By it you are fed and prospered.
Spiritual substance is steadfast, immovable, enduring. It
does not fluctuate. It does not decrease.
As you lay hold of substance with your mind make it
permanent and enduring. Realize your oneness with it. Then
you will soon begin to rejoice in the ever-present bounty
of God.
Law
All true action is governed by law. Nothing just happens.
There are no miracles. There is no such thing as luck.
Nothing comes by chance. All happenings are the
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result of cause and can be explained under the law of cause
and effect. This is a teaching that appeals to the innate
logic of our mind. We sometimes feel like doubting it when
we see things that have no apparent cause.
Happenings that seem miraculous are controlled by laws that
we have not yet learned and result from causes that we have
not been able to understand.
Man does not demonstrate according to the law but according
to his knowledge of the law. That is why we must seek to
learn more of it. What are the rules of the law? First, God
is good and all His creations are good. When you get that
firmly fixed in your mind, you are bound to demonstrate
good, and nothing but good can come into your world. If you
let in the thought that there is such a thing as evil and
that you are as liable to evil as to good, then you may
have conditions that conform to what you believe about evil.
Those who live in accordance with the law will get the
desired results. Those who fail to do so will get the
opposite results. The law applies to our demonstrations of
prosperity.
God is law and God is changeless. God has ordained the law
but does not compel us to follow it. We have free will. The
manner of our doing is left entirely to us. When we know the
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law and work with it, we are rewarded by its protection and
use it to our good.
The Father's desire (law) for us is unlimited good, not
merely the means of a meager existence. The Father gives us
all that He has and is when we return to the consciousness
of His house of plenty. We cannot be happy if we are poor.
Nobody needs to be poor. It is a sin to be poor. It is a
sin to wear poor clothes.
The law cannot fail to operate when once set in operation
in the right way. All men who have prospered used the law,
for there is no other way. Perhaps they were not conscious
of following definite spiritual methods, yet they have in
some way set the law in operation and reaped the benefit of
its unfailing action. Others have to struggle to accomplish
the same things.
You will not have to wait for seedtime and harvest when you
learn to use the power of your mind. When you have the
consciousness in which your ideas are tangible, all your
demands will be quickly fulfilled by the higher law. Throw
into your ideas all the life and power of your concentrated
thought, and they will be clothed with reality.
Your conscious cooperation is necessary to the fullest
results in the working of the universal law of increase.
Use your talent, whatever it may be, in order to increase
it. Have faith in
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the law. Do not reason too much but forge ahead in faith
and boldness. If you let yourself think of any person or
any outer condition as hindering your increase, this
becomes a hindrance to you. Keep your eyes on the abundant
inner reality. Do not let the outer appearance cause you to
falter.
Consciousness
The possessions of the Father are not in stocks and bonds
but in the divine possibilities implanted in the mind and
soul of every man. Through the soul of man God's wealth
finds its expression. Wealth of consciousness will express
itself in wealth of manifestation. One who knows Principle
has a certain inner security given him by the understanding
of God-Mind.
In order to demonstrate Principle we must keep establishing
ourself in certain statements of the law. Affirmations are
for the purpose of establishing in our consciousness a
broad understanding of the principles on which all life
existence depends. The more often you present to your mind
a proposition that is logical and true, the stronger
becomes that inner feeling of security to you.
Housecleaning
A mental housecleaning is more necessary than a material
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one, for the without is but a reflection of the within. Old
thought must be denied and the mind cleansed in preparation
before the affirmative Christ consciousness can come in.
When we consistently deny the limitations of the material,
we begin to reveal the spiritual law that waits within us
to be fulfilled. When this law is revealed to our
consciousness, we begin to use it to demonstrate all things
that are good.
Loose all thoughts of lack and lay hold of thoughts of
plenty. See the abundance of all good things. We live in a
very sea of inexhaustible substance, ready to come into
manifestation when molded by our thought.
No step in spiritual unfoldment is more important than
renunciation or elimination. We must learn to let go, to
give up, to make room for the things we have prayed for and
desired. It is simply giving up and casting away old
thoughts that have put us where we are, and putting in
their place new ideas that promise to improve our
condition. There must be a constant elimination of the old
to keep pace with growth. When we cling to the old we
hinder our advance or stop it altogether.
Denial sweeps out the debris and makes room for the new
tenant that is brought into the mind by the affirmation. It
would not be wise to eliminate the old thoughts unless you
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knew that there were higher and better ones to take their
place.
Rewards
Those who seek the things that the material realm has to
offer usually find them. Those who aspire to spiritual
rewards are also rewarded. The law is that we get what we
want and work for. Where there is no reward for effort,
there will be no effort, and society will degenerate. We
may talk about the inner urge, but when it has no outer
field of action it eventually becomes discouraged and
ceases to act.
Effort
If your prosperity does not become manifest as soon as you
pray and affirm God as your substance, your supply, and
your support, refuse to give up. A continuity of effort is
necessary. Show your faith by keeping up the work. You do
not have to work laboriously in the outer to accomplish.
Most of us rush around trying to work out our problems for
ourself and in our way, with one thought, one vision: the
material thing we seek. You need to devote more time to
silent meditation. Remember that substance ideas with which
you are working are eternal. The same ideas that formed
this planet in the first place sustain it now.
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Faith
The subject of faith should be applied especially to the
demonstrations of prosperity. It is our starting point in
building a prosperity consciousness and making our world as
we would have it. We all have faith, for it is innate in
every man. Our question is how we may put it to work in our
affairs.
In a sense faith represents substance. With it, it is
possible to possess a reality that cannot be seen, touched,
or comprehended by any of the outer senses. It is faith
when we are fully conscious of "things not seen" and have
the "assurance of things" not yet manifest. In other words,
faith is that consciousness in us of the reality of the
invisible substance and of the attributes of mind by which
we lay hold of it. We must realize that the mind makes
things real.
"Just a thought" or "just a mere idea," we sometimes
lightly say, little thinking that these thoughts and ideas
are the eternal realities from which we build our life and
our world.
The foundation of every work is an idea. Faith is that
quality of mind which makes the idea stand out as real, not
only to ourself but to others. When others have faith in
the thing you are doing, making, or selling, they see it as
real and worthwhile. Then your success and your prosperity
are assured. Whatever you put into
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substance along with faith will work out in manifestation
in your world. You demonstrate prosperity by an
understanding of the prosperity law and by having faith in
it. Faithfulness and earnestness in the application of the
prosperity law will assure you of success.
If you have faith in outer things, you are building shadows
without substance, shadows that cease as soon as your
supporting thought is withdrawn from them, forms that will
pass away and leave you nothing.
Do not have faith in anything less than God, in anything
other than the one Mind, for when your faith is centered
there, you are building for eternity. Mind and the ideas of
Mind will never pass away. There will never be an end to
God. There will never be an end to Truth, which God is.
There will never be an end to substance, which God is.
Build with the divine substance. Cultivate faith in
realities.
We must find a way to connect ideas of substance with ideas
of material expression. This is accomplished by faith
through prayer according to our decree. We are always
decreeing, sometimes consciously, often unconsciously. With
every thought and word we are increasing or diminishing the
activity of substance. The resulting manifestation conforms
to our thought.
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Loyalty
When you first begin to think of God as everywhere-present
substance, your mind will not always adhere continuously to
the idea. You need to develop certain stabilizing ideas.
One of them is continuity or loyalty to Truth. Love sticks
to the thing on which it has set its mind. Nothing so tends
to stabilize and unify all as love. And nothing is so
important as sticking to the ideal and never giving up the
work we have set out to accomplish.
Perhaps some adverse condition of your own thought has
prevented a full demonstration. Do not let this swerve you
from your loyalty to the law. You may seem to attain
results very slowly. That is the best reason for sticking
closely to your ideal and not changing your mind. Be loyal
to Principle. The adverse condition will break up. The true
light will come and the invisible substance you have been
faithfully affirming will begin to reveal itself to you in
all its fullness of good. It will destroy your fears, stop
your worries, and change your finances.
Going Forward
It is necessary to let go of old thoughts and conditions
after they have served their purpose. One should lay hold
of new ideas and create new conditions to meet one's
requirements. We cannot
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lay hold of new ideas and make the new conditions until we
have made room for them by eliminating the old.
Things are never so bad as you think. Never allow yourself
to be burdened with the thought that you are having a hard
time. You do not want a soul structure of that kind and
should not build it with those thoughts. You are living in
a new age. Yesterday is gone forever. Today is here
forever. Something grander is now unfolding. Put yourself
in line with the progress of thought in the new age and go
forward.
Nothing is too great for you to accomplish, nor is anything
too trivial for you to handle with perfection and dispatch.
The Spirit will guide you in perfect ways, even in the
minute details of your life, if you will let it do so. You
must will to do its will and trust it in all your ways. It
will lead you unfailingly when you follow it.
To give up all anxiety and trust in the Lord does not mean
to sit down and do nothing. We are to work as God works. To
work with God as a son follows the occupation of his
father, we are to form what God has created. The anxious
thought must be eliminated. The perfect abandon of the
child of nature must be assumed.
Self Study
There is an all-sufficiency of all things. There is a
kingdom of
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abundance of all things. It may be found by those who seek
it and are willing to comply with its laws. Whoever you are
and whatever your immediate need, you can demonstrate the
laws. If your thoughts are confused, become still and know
that you are one with the substance and with the law of its
manifestation.
To desire is to have fulfillment. If you are obedient to
the Spirit and are willing to follow without protest, the
way is easy for you. If you question and argue, you will
meet many obstructions and your journey will be long and
tedious.
Do not give too close study to yourself or your present
condition. To dwell in mind upon your seeming limitations
only prolongs their stay and makes your progress slow.
Never allow yourself to come under the control of the "I
can't" man. He believes in limitations. He wraps his talent
in them. He hides it away in the negative earth. No
increase is possible to him.
If there is any lack apparent in your world it is because
the requirements of the law of manifestation have not been
met. This law is based on mind and its operation is through
thoughts and words. God gives the increase. It comes by the
operation of the law. Our part is to keep the law.
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Use your talent. It will expand wonderfully. Talk about it.
Praise it. Give God thanks for it. Act as though it were
alive. The increase follows.
See what you need as already manifest and as yours. Do not
put it off to some uncertain future time.
Money
Prosperity does not mean the same thing to any two persons.
Some people think of prosperity as something separate from
their spiritual experience. They live in two worlds. It is
not a crime to be rich nor a virtue to be poor. Take God
into all your affairs. Do all things to the glory of God
seven days a week. Be alert in doing whatever comes to you
to do. Be cheerful and competent in the doing, sure of the
results.
No one is ever given the keys to the Father's storehouse of
wealth until he has proved his faith and his reliability.
Supply unfolds at the same rate as the need or ability to
use substance is developed. The more conscious you become
of the presence of the living substance the more it will
manifest itself for you and the richer will be the common
good of all.
There is an inherent faculty that instinctively lays hold
of what it calls its own. The power of the mind to draw to
us those things to
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which we are divinely entitled is a power that can be
cultivated, and should be.
Substance in the form of money is given to us for
constructive uses. It is given for use and to meet an
immediate need, not to be hoarded away or be foolishly
wasted.
If you ask for money, do not look for an angel from the
skies to bring it on a golden platter. Keep your eyes open
for some fresh opportunity to make money. An opportunity
will come as sure as you live.
Money is man's instrument, not his master. Money was made
for man, not man for money. It is not money that controls
men, but the ideas and beliefs they have about money. Every
man should be taught how to handle ideas, rather than
money, so that they serve him rather than have dominion
over him.
You may think that you could live better and do more good
if you had lots of money. Things would not be a bit better
with you if you had a million dollars, unless you also had
the understanding to use it for the good of yourself and
others. Would you give a child a million dollars to go buy
candy and ice cream for himself? We must evolve with our
possessions until we get the ability to handle them. Then
the law is fulfilled.
You must have in your finances a consciousness
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of the permanency of the omnipresent substance as it abides
in you. You are standing in the very midst of it. When you
take a prosperity thought, hold it. Refuse to be shaken
from your spiritual stand in the very midst of God's
prosperity and plenty, and supply will begin to come forth
and plenty will become more and more manifest in your
affairs.
Men's thoughts about money are like their thoughts about
all possessions. They believe that things coming out of the
earth are theirs to claim and control as personal property.
They must give up some of their erroneous beliefs about
their "rights." They must learn that they cannot possess
and lock up that which belongs to God without themselves
suffering the effects of that sequestration.
Every thought of personal possession must be dropped out of
mind before men can come into the realization of the
invisible supply. They cannot possess money, houses, or
lands selfishly, because they cannot possess the universal
ideas for which these symbols stand. No man can possess any
idea as his own permanently. He may possess its material
symbol for a little time on the plane of phenomena. It is
the mind that believes in personal possessions that limits
the full idea.
Money can indeed be a cheat. It promises
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ease and brings cares. It promises pleasures and pays with
pain. It promises influence and returns envy and jealousy.
It promises happiness and gives sorrow. It promises
permanence and then flies away.
Money saved as "an opportunity fund" brings an increase of
good. It is good to have some money on hand for good uses,
such as hospitality, education, for developing industries
that will contribute to the good of numbers of people, for
the furtherance of spiritual work, for helping others to
build useful and constructive lives, and for many other
purposes and activities. In such conservation of money one
should keep ever in mind the necessity of a constructive
motive back of the action.
Money accumulated for a definite and definitely
constructive purpose is quite a different thing from money
hoarded with the fearful thought of a "rainy day" or a
prolonged season of lack and suffering. Money saved for a
"rainy day" is always used for just that, for fear attracts
that which is feared unfailingly.
Do not expect or prepare for adversity of any kind. To do
so is not only to invite it but to show a doubt of God and
all His promises. Money hoarded from fear as a motive or
with any miserly thought in mind cannot possibly bring any
blessing. When one finds freedom
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from the binding thought of hoarding money, he should not
go to the opposite extreme of extravagant spending. Money
is to be used, not abused. It is good to keep one's
obligations paid.
Do not plan to lay up for the future. Let the future take
care of itself. To entertain any fears or doubts on that
point saps your strength and depletes your spiritual power.
Hold steadily to the thought of the omnipresence of
universal supply, its perfect equilibrium, and its swift
action in filling every apparent vacuum or place of lack.
If you are fearful that you will not be provided with
necessities of life for tomorrow, next week, or next year,
or for your old age, or that your children will be left in
want, deny the thought. Do not allow yourself for a moment
to think of something that is outside the realm of
all-careful, all-providing good. You know even from your
outer experience that the universe is self-sustaining and
that its equilibrium is established by law. The same law
that sustains all sustains you as a part. Insulate your
mind from the destructive thoughts of all those who labor
under the belief in hard times. If your associates talk
about the financial stringency, affirm all the more
persistently your dependence on the abundance of God.
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Blessing
God is the source of a mighty stream of substance. You are
a tributary of that stream, a channel of expression.
Blessing the substance increases its flow. If your money
supply is low or your purse seems empty, take it in your
hands and bless it. See it filled with the living substance
ready to become manifest. As you prepare your meals bless
the food with the thought of spiritual substance. When you
dress, bless your garments and realize that you are being
constantly clothed with God's substance. Do not center your
thought on yourself, your interests, your gains or losses.
Realize the universal nature of substance.
Giving
The act of giving complies with the divine law. It involves
the recognition of God as the Giver of all increase; and
unless we have a recognition of the Source of our supply we
have no assurance of continuing in its use.
Let us give as God gives, unreservedly, and with no thought
of return, making no mental demands for recompense on those
who have received from us. A gift with reservations is not
a gift; it is a bribe. There is no promise of increase
unless we give freely. Let go of the gift entirely.
Recognize the universal scope of the law. Then the gift has
a chance to go out and
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to come back multiplied. There is no telling how far the
blessing may travel before it comes back. It is a beautiful
and encouraging fact that the longer it is in returning,
the more hands it is passing through and the more hearts it
is blessing. All these hands and hearts add something to it
in substance. It is increased all the more when it does
return.
True giving is the love and generosity of the
Spirit-quickened heart responding to the love and
generosity of the Father's heart. Without giving the soul
shrivels. When giving is practiced the soul expands and
becomes Godlike in the grace of liberality and generosity.
No restoration to the likeness of God can be complete
unless mind, heart, and soul are daily opening out into the
large, free, bestowing spirit which so characterizes our
God and Father.
In order that the plan of giving may be successful there
are several things that must be observed. First there must
be a willing mind. Second, the giving must be done in
faith. There must be no withholding because the offering
seems small. It is not the amount of the offering but the
spirit in which it is given that determines its value and
power. The results of giving in faith are sure. The law is
unfailing in all ages.
A requisite for keeping the law of giving
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and receiving is that the offering shall be a just and fair
proportion of all that one receives. Wise distribution is
closely related to the matter of filling God's treasury.
To whom shall we give and when are questions quite
important. There are several truths that may be considered
in this connection. Each person finds it necessary to trust
his spirit of wisdom to manifest in his own heart. There
are no rules or precedents that one can follow in detail.
Careful study of the underlying laws of spiritual giving
will help one to exercise these divine faculties as they
should be exercised.
True spiritual giving rewards with a double joy. One of the
blessings is the satisfying knowledge that we are meeting
the law and paying our debt of love and justice to the
Lord. The other is the joy of sharing the Lord's bounty.
Justice comes first: then generosity.
See yourself as the steward of God handing out His
inexhaustible supplies. Be happy in your giving. Do not
give with any thought that you are bestowing charity. Do
all that you can to annul this mental error. The one with
the surplus is simply a steward of God and is merely
discharging the work of his stewardship. When one asks for
divine wisdom and understanding about giving it becomes a
joy both to the giver and the recipient.
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Tithing
In the Old Testament the tithe or tenth is mentioned as a
reasonable and just return to the Lord by way of
acknowledging Him as the source of supply. Tithing is the
giving of a tenth of one's supply to God and His work.
Tithing is a tacit agreement that man is in partnership
with God in the conduct of his finances. This leads to
confidence and assurance that whatever is done will bring
increase of some kind.
Tithing establishes method in giving. It brings into the
consciousness a sense of divine order that is manifested in
one's outer life and affairs as increased efficiency and
greater prosperity. It is the surest way ever found to
demonstrate plenty, for it is God's own law and way of
giving.
We are living now under larger and fuller blessings from
God than man has ever known. It is meet therefore that we
give accordingly and remember the law of the tithe. If a
tenth was required under the law in olden times, it is
certainly no less fitting that we should give it cheerfully
now.
The tithe may be a tenth part of one's salary, wage, or
allowance, of the net profits of business, or of money
received from the sale of goods. It is based on every form
of supply, no matter through what channel it may come, for
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there are many channels through which man is prospered. The
tenth should be set apart for the upkeep of some spiritual
work or workers. It should be set apart first even before
one's personal expenses are taken out, for in the right
relation of things God comes first always. Then everything
else follows in divine order and falls into its proper
place.
The great promise of prosperity is that if men seek God and
His righteousness first, then all shall be added unto them.
One of the most practical and sensible ways of seeking
God's kingdom first is to be a tither, to put God first in
finances. It is the promise of God, and the experience of
all who have tried it, that all things necessary to their
comfort, welfare, and happiness have been added to them in
an overflowing measure. Tithing establishes method in
giving and brings into the consciousness a sense of order
and fitness that will be manifested in one's outer life and
affairs as increased efficiency and greater prosperity.
Another blessing that follows the practice of tithing is
the continual "letting go" of what one receives, which
keeps one's mind open to the good and from covetousness.
Making an occasional large gift and then permitting a lapse
of time before another is made will not give this lasting
benefit, for one's mind channel may in
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the meantime become clogged with material thoughts of fear,
lack, or selfishness.
When a person tithes he is giving continuously, so that no
spirit of grasping, no fear, and no thought of limitations
get a hold on him. There is nothing that keeps a person's
mind so fearless and so free to receive the good constantly
coming to him as the practice of tithing. Each day, week,
pay day, whenever it is, the tither gives one tenth. When
an increase of prosperity comes to him, as come it will and
does, his first thought is to give God the thanks and the
tenth of the new amount. The free, open mind thus stayed on
God is certain to bring forth joy, real satisfaction in
living, and true prosperity. Tithing is based on a law that
cannot fail.
Debt
A thought of debt will produce debt. So long as you believe
in debt you will go into debt and accumulate the burdens
that follow that thought. Whoever has not forgiven all men
their debts is likely to fall into debt himself.
Debt is a contradiction of the universal equilibrium. There
is no such thing as lack of equilibrium in all the
universe. Therefore in Spirit and in Truth there is no
debt. Men hold on to a thought of debt. This thought is
responsible
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for a great deal of sorrow and hardship.
Debts exist in the mind. In the mind is the proper place to
begin liquidating them. These thought entities must be
abolished in mind before their outer manifestations will
pass away and stay away. Analyze the thought of debt. You
will see it involves a thought of lack. We should fill our
mind with thoughts of all-sufficiency. Where there is no
lack there can be no debts. The way to pay our debts is by
filling our mind with the substance of ideas that are the
direct opposite of the thoughts of lack that caused the
debts.
See substance everywhere and affirm it, not only for
yourself but for everyone else. Especially affirm abundance
for those whom you have held in the thought of owing you.
You will help them pay their debts more easily than if you
merely erased their names from your book of accounts
receivable. Help pay the other fellow's debts by forgiving
him his debts and declaring for him the abundance that is
his already in Spirit. The idea of abundance will also
bring its fruits into your own life.
Debts are produced by thoughts of lack, impatient desire,
and covetousness. When these thoughts are overcome, debts
are overcome, forgiven, and paid in full, and we are free.
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The way is now open for you to pay your debts. Surrender
them to God along with all your doubts and fears. Give Him
full dominion in your life and affairs. Give Him your
business, your family affairs, your finances, and let Him
pay your debts. He is even now doing it. It is His
righteous desire to free you from every burden. He is
leading you out of the burden of debt, whether of owing or
being owed. Love will bring your own to you.
Waste
Any form of waste is a violation of the divine law of
conservation. Men and women scatter their energies to the
four winds in the effort to satisfy the desires of the
flesh and then wonder why they do not demonstrate
prosperity. If your substance is going here, there, and
everywhere, being spent in riotous thinking and living, how
can it accumulate to the point of demonstration? When you
overcome your desire for dissipation, then you will begin
to accumulate substance that must manifest itself as
prosperity according to the law. Do not spend foolishly or
save foolishly.
Lack
The only lack is our own lack of appropriation. We must
seek the kingdom of God and appropriate it aright before
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things will be added to us in fullness.
Overcome any leaning in the direction and every belief that
you were meant to be poor. Do not hesitate to think that
prosperity is for you. Do not feel unworthy. No one is ever
hopeless until he is resigned to his imagined fate.
Deny every appearance of failure. Stand by your guns. Think
prosperity. Talk prosperity. Affirm supply, support, and
success in the very face of question and doubt. Give thanks
for plenty in all your affairs. Know for a certainty that
your good is now being fulfilled in Spirit, in mind, and in
manifestation.
Every time you say "I am a little short of funds," "I
haven't as much money as I need," you are putting a limit
on the substance in your own consciousness.
It is important to watch your thoughts so that the larger
supply may come through your mind and into your affairs.
There is no lack of anything anywhere in reality. The only
lack is the fear of lack in the mind of man. We do not need
to overcome any lack. We must overcome the fear of lack.
Fear of lack led men to speculate in order to accumulate
substance and have a lot of it stored up. This caused a
still greater fear of lack in other men. The situation grew
worse
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and worse until it became generally believed that we must
pile up the material symbols of substance for a possible
lack in the future. We must learn to understand the divine
law of supply and the original plan, which is that we have
each day our daily bread. Anything more than we need for
today is a burden. The substance is here all the time,
supplying us with every needful thing. Start with the
fundamental proposition that there is plenty for you and
for me.
Loss
Deny that you can lose anything. Let go of negative
thoughts of financial loss or any other kind of loss.
Realize that nothing is ever lost in all the universe.
There are opportunities everywhere. There always have been
opportunities to produce all that you need financially or
otherwise.
New ideas come to you from within. Do not think for a
moment that you are limited to the beliefs that come from
without. Many of those beliefs are outgrown anyway and have
outlived their usefulness. That is why we go through
periods of change. Old outworn beliefs should be discarded
and replaced with new and better ones. We can find new ways
of living and new methods of work. We are not confined to
the ways and methods of the past.
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Paying Bills
The funds to pay all your bills may not suddenly appear in
a lump sum. As you watch and work and pray, holding
yourself in the consciousness of God's leadership and His
abundance, you will notice your funds beginning to grow
"here a little, there a little," and increasing more and
more rapidly as your faith increases and your anxious
thoughts are stilled.
Do not yield to the temptation of "easy-payment plans." Any
payment that drains your pay envelope before you receive it
is not an easy payment. Do not allow false pride to tempt
you to put on a thousand-dollar front on a hundred-dollar
salary. There may be times when you are tempted to miss
paying a bill in order to indulge a desire for something.
This easily leads one into the habit of putting off paying,
which fastens the incubus of debt on people before they
realize it.
Creditors
Bless your creditors with the thought of abundance as you
begin to accumulate the wherewithal to pay off your
obligations. Keep the faith they had in you by including
them in your prayer for increase. There is a legitimate
commerce that is carried on by means of what is called
credit. It is a convenience to be used by those who
appreciate its
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value and are careful not to abuse it. To do so would be to
ruin it. No one should assume an obligation unless he is
prepared to meet it promptly and willingly when it comes
due.
Never for a moment allow yourself to entertain any scheme
for getting the better of your fellows in any trade or
bargain. Hold steadily to the law of equity and justice
that is working in and through you. Know for a certainty
that you are supplied with everything necessary to fulfill
all your requirements. Give full value for everything you
get. Demand the same for everything you give. Do not try to
enforce that demand by human methods. There is a better
way. Think of yourself as Spirit working with powerful
spiritual forces. Know that the demands of Spirit must and
will be met.
Prosperous Home
The first thing to do in making a demonstration of
prosperity in the home is to discard all negative thoughts
and words. Build a positive thought atmosphere in the home,
an atmosphere that is free from fear and filled with love.
The home is the heart of the nation. The heart is the love
center. Love is the world's greatest attractive power. The
heart of man, or the home that is the heart of the nation,
must be aglow with God's love; then it becomes a
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magnet drawing all good from every direction.
God has amply provided for every home. The provision is in
universal substance which responds only to law. Through the
application of the law the substance is drawn to us and
begins to work for us.
Never make an assertion in the home, no matter how true it
may look on the surface, that you would not want to see
persist in the home. By talking lack you are making a
comfortable place for this unwelcome guest by your
fireside, and it will want to stay. Fill the home with
thoughts and words of plenty, love, and God's substance,
and the unwelcome guest will soon leave.
If your rooms are empty, deny the appearance. Determine
that prosperity is manifest in every part of every room.
Never think of yourself as poor or needy. Do not talk about
hard times or the necessity for strict economy. Even "the
walls have ears" and, unfortunately, memories too. Do not
think how little you have but how much you have.
Talk plenty. Think plenty. Give thanks for plenty. Enlist
all the members of the home in the same work. Make it a
game. It's lots of fun. Better than that, it actually
works. Every home can be prosperous.
You should never condemn anything in
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your home. If you want new articles of furniture or new
clothes to take the place of those you now have, do not
talk about your present things as old or shabby. Watch your
words. See yourself clothed as befits the child of a King.
See your house furnished just as pleases your ideal. Plant
in the home atmosphere the seed of richness and abundance.
It will all come to you. Use the patience, the wisdom, and
the assiduity that the farmer employs in planting and
cultivating, and your crop will be sure.
Being like Others
The delusion that it is necessary to be just like other
people, or to have as much as other people have, causes a
spirit of anxiety that hinders the exercise of faith in
demonstration. Each one unconsciously follows suggestions
and furnishes his home with the same sort of things as his
neighbors. Here and there are exceptions. Someone expresses
his individuality, overcoming mass suggestion and buying
furniture he really wants or that is really comfortable and
useful. This free, independent spirit has much in its favor
in making a prosperity demonstration.
Do not envy the rich. Never condemn those who have money,
merely because they have it and you do not. Do not question
how they got
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their money and wonder whether or not they are honest. All
that is none of your business. Your business is to get what
belongs to you. You do that by thinking about the
omnipresent substance of God and how you can lay hold of it
through love. Get in touch with God riches in spirit. Lay
hold of them by love and you will have sufficient for every
day.
Attitudes
Tell me what kind of thoughts you are holding about
yourself and your neighbors, and I can tell you just what
you may expect in the way of finances and harmony in your
home. Are you suspicious of your neighbors? You cannot love
and trust in God if you hate and distrust men. Love and
hate, or trust and mistrust, simply cannot both be present
in your mind at one time. When you are entertaining one,
you may be sure the other is absent. Trust other people,
and use the power that you accumulate from that act to
trust God. There is magic in it. It works wonders. Love and
trust are dynamic, vital powers. Are you accusing men of
being thieves, and fearing that they are going to take away
from you something that is your own? With such a thought
generating fear and even terror in your mind and filling
your consciousness with darkness, where is there room for
the Father's light of protection? Build
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walls of love and substance around yourself. Send out
swift, invisible messengers of love and trust for your
protection. They are better guards than policemen or
detectives.
Simple Life
The soul wearies of the wear and tear of the artificial
world. There is a great difference between the simple life
and lack. The two have been associated in the minds of some
people. This is the reason they shun the idea of the simple
life. Even those who have come into some degree of
spiritual understanding sometimes put out of mind all
thought of a simple manner of living. They fear that others
will think they are failing to demonstrate prosperity.
The simple life does not imply lack and it is not ascetic.
The simple life is a state of consciousness. It is peace,
contentment, and satisfaction in the joy of living and
loving. It is attained through thinking about God and
worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.
Success
Success or failure depends upon the attitude of mind active
in both those who achieve success and those who fall under
the negations of failure. To attain prosperity, think about
prosperity, industry, and efficiency. Fill your mind to
overflowing with
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thoughts of success; realize that the fullness of all good
belongs to you by divine right. To this add a feeling of
happiness and joy, and you have the recipe for abundant and
lasting prosperity and success.
Whoever seeks supply through Spirit and submits his cause
to the law of justice and righteousness always succeeds.
The reason why men fail to demonstrate the many promises of
divine support is that they cling to some selfish or unjust
thought. Once the Christ Mind is perceived and obeyed,
success follows.
God prospers us when we give the best that is in us and do
all things unto Him, acknowledging Him in all our affairs.
This is a sure way to success, and when success does come
we should realize that it resulted from the work of Spirit
in us, because we made ourself a channel through which the
Christ Mind could bring its ideas into manifestation. The
true Christian never boasts that he is a self-made man, for
he well knows that all that he is and has, together with
all that he can ever hope to be or to have, is but God
finding expression through him.
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