Category: Jesus

Remember Your Power – The Affirmation Spot for Monday February 11, 2008


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copy-of-ray_hawaii1.jpgWhat Ray’s reading right now:

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (Oprah’s Book Club, Selection 61)




Today’s affirmation is:


“The power that lies within me moves mountains and commands the seas.”


jesus_rs.jpgJesus stands alone in human history in one indisputable regard. An overwhelming majority of the human population reveres him in one way or another. For many, he is their lord and savior. For at least as many others, he is considered a great teacher or prophet. He is nearly universally accepted as one of great teachers.

Today’s blog is not about debating what Jesus represents to you. It is about asking you, revere him how you will, to look at something he said about you and accept that it is true. He said you probably have a deficit when it comes to faith, belief, and trust about how this universe works and about your capaibilities.

Two of my favorite verses in The Bible are Jesus’ statements to his disciples about the power that lies within. Jesus is clear in both instances. The disciples’ inability to create miracles was not due to their lack of power, but to their lack of faith.

mustardseed.jpgMatthew 17:19-20

“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it (a demon) out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Luke 17:5-6

“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied. ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.'”

How’s your faith? You’ve probably got smaller issues to deal with than moving mountains into the sea. Although, some days, your struggles can seem that daunting.

I’m sure we could have a spirited debate, depending on your belief, as to how you access that faith and the power that comes with it. Nonetheless, Jesus clearly states that you have it, if you choose to have it. The price? Simply, belief that you can do it.

The power Jesus attributes to the mustard seed is the power to live in trust and without doubt. The mustard seed, as far as we know, does not have a highly conflicted and intelligent mind feeding it reasons not to believe. It trusts in God or the universe to provide for it. The mustard seed loses itself in the flow of that trust. It lives free of doubt.

Jesus is calling us to lose ourselves in that trust. If we can move beyond the doubt, we can find the power he describes.

It’s always been strange to me; this tendency humans have to see ourselves as less than we are. Why do we so readily accept negatives from the Bible and other sacred writings, but we cannot bring ourselves to believe the positives?

We believe, “I am a sinner.” That’s not a problem. But tell me I can move mountains into the sea? No way! This is just a spiritual example of the same negative self-talk that afflicts us in other aspects of our lives.

“I could never go to college.” “I will never have the relationship I want in my life.” “I am never going to pull out of this depression.”

St. Augustine is famously quoted as saying, “Miracles happen, not in opposition to nature, but in opposition to what we know of nature.”

We don’t believe we can move the mountain or go to college because they defy our belief quotient. That is what we believe “we know of nature”. And so, says Jesus, “You’re right.” Those miracles will not happen as long as that is our mindset. If we are looking for miracles – large or small – we must be willing to trust in what seems “in opposition” to nature. 

I’m going to leave it to you to decide how much stock you want to put in Jesus’ words. You can choose to keep believing the negative thoughts that flow through your mind, limiting your life. Or, you can choose to believe that anything is possible and that, with the faith of a mustard seed, you can make it happen!

Let me just encourage you when life seems difficult to always remember who you really are.

Be peaceful Be prosperous!

Ray
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Are The Beatitudes Realistic in Our Modern World?

jesus_teaching.jpgThe Beatitudes is one of the most often quoted passages in the Bible. These promises to the faithful appear at the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The account is recorded in Matthew 5:3-12. The word beatitude comes from the Latin beatitudo which translates as “happiness”.

Scholars generally regard the statements as spiritual assurances of reward for those who suffer for their faith in this life.  However, I believe they represent far more than that. Clearly, Jesus believed the characteristics he describes are the hallmarks of a spiritual and happy person. I concur.

2000 years later they remain a measuring stick by which we can evaluate our own development as people.
Do we bless and encourage the attributes described by Jesus? Do we encourage our children to embody these values? How about those we place in positions of authority over us? Do they bless and promote these values? Or, do they exhibit behaviors that are the polar opposite?

Do we too much extol the virtue of the warrior and deride the peacemaker? Do we thirst for justice or have we become content with a comfortable corruption? Do we comfort all who mourn or only those on our side? Have we so divided the world into “us” and “them” that mercy is no longer an option? Do we see these ideas and the people who promote them as weak and unrealistic?

Are they just nice words or are they traits we should seek to develop in ourselves and our children? Do we mean to create a society based on these ideals or continue to be led down paths going the other direction? These concepts are grounded in love while hate, anger, and fear are the engines driving our world today.

I am not here today to answer these questions for you or for our society. I am simply asking the questions.

However, I will offer this. Whether you are a Christian, a spiritual seeker, or just someone trying to see the world in a more positive and hopeful way, the logic and compassion of these virtues is inescapable.

Many earnestly believe in these words, but have been taught that such a world is not and will not be possible. To them, I suggest that as long as you hold that mindset; you are correct. But the moment enough of us are willing to release that mental block, a whole new world is born.

Just as people must grow and grow up societies must do the same. The opportunities are there for us every day. The question is only whether we will choose a new course or remain on our present one.

Here are Jesus’ words. As you read them, consider, for at least one moment, what the world can be instead of just what it is today.

  1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  2. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
  3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
  4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.
  5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
  6. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
  7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
  8. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God.

Follow your bliss! Experience your bliss! Become your bliss!

Ray

Ray Davis is the Founder of The Affirmation Spot and focuses on empowering minds to think positively, achieve goals, and live dreams.

He is the author of the Anunnaki Awakening series (2015). Book 1 – Revelation – is now available in paperback and on Kindle. This trilogy takes Ancient Aliens out of the past and into the present. An interstellar, interdimensional journey ensues with humanity’s future hanging in the balance.