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Dated: May  13/00

Page edited by  Bob Russell

Unity of London is now running a 4T Study Program wherein the people need all the prosperity help they can use, so for that purpose this page has been added to the website.  Best wishes!

Material things are valuable because man wants them, and he generally wants them
because he has use for them.  We might say that things have value because they are
thought to be useful.  As the ideals of men have changed down the ages, some things
that at one time had value have lost their worth, and other things have taken their place
in the esteem of men.  There was a time when stone axes and arrowheads had value,
and another time when spears and heavy armor were desirable.  Later, large family
kettles and individual millstones became useful.  Now soldiers wear no armor and have
no need of spears and arrows.  The housewife wants a small kitchen, with no large
kettles; and instead of operating a millstone she brings her meal home in little sealed
packages, ready to be cooked.

We have recently added to our list of valuable things new mechanical devices that were
never dreamed of in the old days.  Automobiles and air ships are in this class.  As the
ideals of the race develop along higher lines, spiritual characteristics will be
appreciated more and more deeply, because they will be found useful and practical.
Material things will then still have their place, but we shall cease to contend and to
fight for their possession.  We shall simply use them in a sensible way, and cease to
value them above spiritual realities.

Striving, contending, and fighting for the possession of things consume thought
energy.  When a man uses up his thought energy in this manner, he has none left to use
in securing heavenly riches.  Everyone generates a certain amount of thought energy.
We can use our own thought energy just as we please.  If we choose to waste it on
lesser things, we may do so.

An old fairy tale carries a good lesson along this line.  Three wishes were given to
someone by a fairy.  These wishes had in them great possibilities, but in the story they
were wasted because of the personal selfishness and ignorance of the one to whom they
had been given.  The wishes may represent our God-given thought power.  What we
need, more than anything else, is understanding, that we may use this power rightly.

The teachings of Jesus Christ point the way to the highest and most satisfactory use
of this marvelous power.  He said: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth,
where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and
where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where thy treasure is, there will thy
heart be also.”  He also told us that the kingdom of heaven is within us.  Since it is so
near, we can be laying up these treasures now at this present time, in our spiritual
kingdom.

How shall we lay up these treasures?  By transmuting material riches into spiritual
riches.  As I said in the beginning of this chapter, value is put upon things because of
man’s regard for them.  Therefore, things that are counted as riches are not necessarily
riches in themselves, but in man’s estimation they are valuable.

The love of things is a potential power.  The love of things is a prophecy of the
eternal riches that are in God’s kingdom, and the presence of love in us shows us that
we have God-given power.  When we find that we have this power, then we can learn to
turn it toward worthy uses.  The love of things is not to be condemned, but rather lifted
up so that it will be transmuted into love of the fruits of the Spirit.  When we begin to
love the things of the Spirit, we begin also to lay up treasures in heaven.  For example,
when our love for God and our fellow men exceeds our love of money, so that we do
not wrongfully treat anyone because of money matters, then we are laying up treasures
in heaven.  When our love for harmony and peace exceeds our desire for worldly
power, so that we do not strive for position, then we are laying up treasures in heaven.
When our love for righteousness exceeds our ambition to be ahead of men and
applauded by men to such an extent that we are not hurt by slights, then we are laying
up treasures in heaven.

Christ’s teachings all point to the desirability of laying up treasures in heaven.  Praying
to the Father  in secret rather than publicly in the marketplaces to be heard of men, going
another mile with a man who has asked you to go but one, and giving love for hate—these
are a few suggestions from Him.  His teaching never permits any material thing to become
master of the man.  The Master’s followers should always be greater than mere things.
His followers should never be dominated or enslaved by material riches.  In the account
of the temptations of Jesus, when the Devil suggested that Jesus jump from a high place
to show His powers, saying that it was written:

“He shall give his angels charge concerning thee:  and, “On their hands they shall bear
thee up, Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone”  He silenced the Devil by saying:
“Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God.”  When Jesus was hungry, and the desire
for material food seemed to be overmastering Him, He said to the Devil—the desire—in
response to the suggestion that He turn the stones lying about Him into bread, “Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

When a man is able to embody the God qualities in his own life, he becomes conscious
of the riches of the kingdom of heaven.  All things have their beginning in God.

Material things seem to be created for the purpose of feeding and meeting the various
other needs of the physical body, but these things serve still another purpose; they are
appliances in life’s gymnasium, and we work with them in developing our spiritual powers.
The over comer wrestles with his desire for material things and, instead of going down
conquered by them, rises victorious, his spiritual muscles strengthened.  Job lost
everything, but through that loss he gained twice as much as he had ever had before.  This
point of the story is a symbol of man’s gaining mastery through overcoming his
selfishness.  “For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake, the same shall save it.”

Jesus did not teach that we should suffer lack or unhappiness, for He said, “Seek ye first
his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  He said:
“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and  that your joy may
be made full.”  His teaching is for the purpose of helping everyone to lift up his love from
a merely physical and mental force to a spiritual power, and thus to transmute the transi-

tory riches of the world of appearances into the everlasting riches of the world of spiritual
reality

You have already guessed that God’s bank is the kingdom of heaven.  Every man can
draw as large a check on God’s bank as his faith will permit him to write.  God’s good
things are like money in that they must be circulated in order to be of any help to us.  Like
the air we breathe, His good things must be constantly kept in circulation in order that they
may benefit us.  They lose their value when they are hoarded or are used selfishly

God is the God of the living, and He is constantly making all things new.  It is God’s
loving desire that His children shall have in abundant measure every good thing they need.
His good gifts include wisdom, health, peace, prosperity, and happiness.

Jesus Christ is the perfect incarnation in the flesh of the Son of God.  Christ, incarnated
perfectly in Jesus, came to prove that God wants all men also to become like Him, perfect
temples of the living God.  This they must do by following Jesus’ teaching and example.
Jesus Christ said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father,
but by me.”  He means that we must find our unity with the Father as He did.

When we find our unity with God we can say with Jesus: “All things whatsoever the
Father hath are mine.”  Jesus also promised: “Therefore I say unto you, All things
whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  And
whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father
also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”  These words show us how
unlimited the possibilities are for our prayers to be answered; also they point out how we
ourselves limit the answer to our prayers when we are selfish and unloving.

Practicing unforgiveness is one of the selfish ways in which we often interfere with the
free cashing of our prayer checks on God’s bank.  Jesus Christ also said: “Verily, verily
I say unto you, If ye shall ask any-thing of the Father, he will give it you in my name.
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may
be made full.”

Here we are told what name we must sign on our check in order to draw supply from
God’s bank.  We must use our true name to prove that we are God’s son: our heavenly
name, not our earthly name.  We must be conscious of the Truth of our oneness with
Christ in God.  This consciousness brings us into the Father’s house, or kingdom, where
His riches abound.  When we consciously reach the kingdom state of mind, our joy is made
full, and we know of a Truth that in Spirit all things are ours to use as we need them
unselfishly, lovingly, and generously.

Jesus also assures us: “For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before
ye ask him.”  After saying these words He continued His discourse by suggesting a prayer
for all of us to use.  It begins: “Our Father who art in heaven.”  In these words Jesus refers
to God as the Father of us all.  What must we understand when the only-begotten Son of
God asks us to join with Him in praying to “Our Father”?  Does He not mean that all of
us who join with Him in this prayer are God’s sons also?

When we realize that in our spiritual nature we are one with Christ in God, we are
admitting that we have parted with the only-begotten Son in the Father’s kingdom.  So
when we repeat the Lord’s Prayer in Spirit and in Truth we find a deeper meaning in it
than we had before realized, and through this new realization we lift ourselves up into a
greater degree of unity with God and Christ in Spirit.  Until we realize that we are truly
the only-begotten Son of God, we are like lost sheep wandering in the wilderness of
material consciousness.  Jesus Christ has shown us how we can become sons and sharers
in our heavenly Father’s riches by finding our true relationship with God in Spirit.  When
we do this in His name we are able to say: “I am God’s son, created in His image and
likeness.”

In drawing a check on God’s bank we must properly identify ourselves by signing it in
the name of Jesus Christ.  We can enter into God’s kingdom and receive His riches in glory
when we identify our self as His son by doing His will.  The key to the door of the kingdom
is unselfish love.  “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind.”  We may become joint heirs with Jesus Christ and share with
Him in the kingdom abundantly if we will follow the spiritual meaning of the teaching of
Jesus Christ, when He said: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever
ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
 
 

Your Father-God has given you wonderful gifts, but you will not be able to appreciate
them until you seek them in spirit and in truth and then stir them up by using them.

God’s gifts are His divine ideas.  The universe has its foundation in ideas that are in the
Mind of God.  In order to bring God’s ideas into manifestation in our world, we must
express them.  We are God’s helpers, and it is our duty to find His ideas in Spirit and then
to bring them into activity in our daily life.

One of God’s greatest gifts to His children is His idea of love.  God loves us, but in
order to feel His love and to receive its full benefit, we must stir up the potential love that
is within us and express it in our thoughts, words, and deeds.  We can do this by giving
thanks for the wonderful universe that God has prepared for us and by increasing our love
for Him.  We can increase our love for God until we love Him with all our mind, heart, and
strength.  We shall then begin to understand and find His wonderful love for us.  As we
stir up our gift of love for God, we shall have so much love to give that we shall joyously
share it with our neighbors.  Love is like a spiritual muscle, because it increases in power
as it is used.

All good ideas come from God, but when we use His ideas, we should let Him guide us
in the right way to use them.  An idea may come to us to do something that we have never
done before; but if we allow our personal feelings to influence us, we may go about the
attainment of our idea in the wrong way.  Our negative emotions, such as fear, hate,
jealousy, suspicion, doubt, and the like, may direct us in a narrow way wherein we may
forget to include the Spirit back of the idea.

If we will ask God to direct us when we begin working out our new idea, He will show
us a better way, which will help us to proceed lovingly, unselfishly, peacefully,
harmoniously, courageously, and faithfully, and enable us to find joy, satisfaction, and
success in the attainment of the idea.

For example, let us say that a man gets an idea for the invention of a new machine that
will save time and work for many people.  If he develops this new idea entirely for the
purpose of making money for himself he will not obtain the full benefit from the idea.  The
Spirit of God’s unity is the heart of every one of His ideas, but we must work with God
in Spirit if we would include the vital part of His idea in our expression of it.  If the
inventor will consider the machine that he is inventing as something that is for a loving
service to his fellow men, and realize that this service is much more important than the
monetary reward and personal glory that can come to him, he will derive greater
satisfaction than if he works for personal gain and leaves God out of the picture.  He will
also find much more joy and satisfaction in the development of his idea in God’s way,
because he will feel God’s love working through him as he works to bring joy and helpful-

ness into the lives of others.  The money he makes and the worldly fame that comes to him
should be of secondary consideration to him, but he is bound to prosper in an outer way.

Let us therefore accept God’s good ideas and use them in a positive, unselfish way as
we cooperate with Him according to His spiritual plan.  The whole universe expresses
God’s ideas in action.  Our joy of living comes from our participation in making God’s
ideas active in our life.

Perhaps you have a wonderful cookbook on your shelf, filled with appetizing recipes,
but you must realize that until you use the ideas that are printed in the recipes and put them
into activity by preparing the suggested dishes, you will not know how wonderful these
ideas in the book are.  When you put your love and blessings into the dishes you prepare
by following these recipes, you will add spiritual substance to them, which will bless all
who partake of them.

So it is when we use God’s loving ideas: until we practice putting our spiritual
substance and love into them, we cannot express them fully in Spirit.  When we realize that
in Spirit we are one with all God’s children, we shall be able to enjoy the true power of
God’s harmonious, loving ideas as we work them out for the good of all our brothers and
sisters.

I do not mean that we should try to force our good ideas upon anyone in an outer way.
We should let our ideas of true, loving service be free to all who will accept them, but we
should not try by physical or mental power to compel anyone to accept them.

God works with us to help us and to make our life happy He does not try to compel us
to accept and use His ideas, but gives us freedom to choose to do His good will or to do
our own will.  We are free to send our cooperative, loving thoughts and blessings to others,
and we can cooperate with others in Spirit when we do not demand that they accept our
ideas and do as we say God serves us, and we, His children, should serve one another in
peace, harmony, freedom, and faithfulness.

God’s idea back of man is a perfect creature, as our Father is perfect in Spirit, for He
created man in His own image and likeness.  Therefore, we should seek to find His perfect
idea, which is the Christ in us, and to believe in it so truly that we are willing to let His
idea of perfection become active in our mind and body When we do this, we shall avoid
the ills that come to those who do not use God’s perfect ideas or let them become active
in their mind, body, and affairs.

Doctors are beginning to realize more and more that many of the ills of the flesh are
caused by unhappiness and disturbance in the mind of the patient.  When we work with
God in Spirit and in Truth, we shall find the true joy of living and we shall share our joy
with others.

The attainment of money is not in itself prosperity, for money is only a symbol of God’s
true prosperity.  If we were wrecked on a desert island and had bags of gold, the gold
would be of no value to us, because we can buy things with gold only when there are
others to buy from.  Therefore, let us remember that God’s ideas are always at our service
and know that, when we are willing to use them, we shall realize that we and all people are
in Spirit children of God.  Let us also remember that what we do for others we are really
doing for ourselves, because we are activating God’s good ideas in a harmonious and
prosperous way

Prosperity really means that we are able to appreciate and use God’s spiritual ideas of
abundance.  These ideas include not only infinite spiritual goodness but manifest goodness,
intelligence, harmony, peace, love, and substance.  When we stir up the gift of God within
us, we shall not need to worry about anything in the world.  Our Father-God has created
substance and goodness enough to supply all of His children’s needs forever.
 
 

Money was designed to help us, not to worry us.  We should think of our money as a
helpful friend, but not as a god to be worshiped.  Money actually has no power or
character of itself except that which we give to it.

Man’s attitude toward his money determines whether it will be a curse or a blessing to
him.  If a man curses his money or curses others because he fears they are trying to get his
money, then a curse will return to him.  If he blesses his money and makes it a blessing to
others, blessings will come home to him.

Money has no value except that which is given it by man, and its value is dependent
upon a man~s faith in his fellow men.  No one would be willing to accept money if he did
not have faith in those who cooperate in using the money God created the universe and all
things in it.  Therefore God is greater and more important than these things.

If we will remember that God is more important to us than money and things, we shall
be able to maintain correct relations with our environment.  When we trust in God instead
of things, we shall be poised and happy Things will never be able to control us, for we
shall seek God’s kingdom first, knowing that these things shall be added.

When we remember that we “live, and move, and have our being”  in God, we shall not
feel that we are adrift on an uncertain sea of materiality, but we shall know that we are
safe in the care and keeping of our loving Father, who has created all things for our good.
When we abide in this realization, we shall not be unhappy if there seems to be a
temporary lack of money, for we shall know that no material thing can stand between us
and God’s blessings.  When we go direct to God in faith and acknowledge Him in all our
affairs, we shall be sustained by Him.

Money is merely a symbol of values.  When we place our faith in the symbol rather than
in the true value, we are disappointed.  We must train ourselves to look to God directly for
our prosperity and not trust too much in money.

If our income seems to be inadequate because of high prices, we must not be dismayed,
but we must steadfastly realize that our good comes from God, not from money Placing
the power of God’s blessing upon our money will actually make it possible for us to buy
more with a given sum than we could purchase by ordinary methods.

If we realize that the money in our hand represents only a symbol of true substance, we
can call out the true substance by blessing this symbol.  When we realize that there is no
limit to God’s substance, our faith will call God’s substance into service for us and all our
needs will be supplied.

Jesus understood the Truth that His good came to Him from the Father according to His
faith, and He lacked for no good thing.  The fish provided Him with tax money; the
multitude was fed from God’s invisible substance, and Jesus was always welcome to
partake of food in every village He entered.  He was neither a beggar nor a financier, but
He had close communion with His Father, God, the Source of all good things.

It is not necessary for God to perform a miracle in order to take care of our daily needs.
His wonders are performed before our very eyes through material channels when we have
made contact with His substance through our faith.  God will stretch anybody’s income
so as to cover all needs, even as He multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed the five
thousand.

By blessing what we have, we increase and multiply it.  We need to become attuned to
the great, universal spiritual ideal back of money, which can be manifested as money or
as anything else that is good.  There is security in God, and we are very near to it when we
go within and consult Him sincerely in spirit and in truth.

God is Spirit, and we must therefore worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.  If we attempt
to pray to God for money and then while praying, because of our fears and worries, fix our
attention on our need for money rather than on giving thanks to God for His abundance,
we shall not be making a very successful prayer.  When we give thanks for His substance
and withdraw our attention from the thought of lack and place it upon God in faith and
thanksgiving, we shall be heard and supplied by the Father.

Paul tells us in the 11th chapter of Hebrews that “what is seen hath not been made out
of things which appear.”

We know that certain invisible gaseous elements when combined will form a visible
substance.  For example: Hydrogen and oxygen gases combined in right proportion become
visible water.  But while Spirit is invisible, just as gases are, it is a much finer substance.
Jesus explained Spirit to Nicodemus by likening it to the wind that blows where it pleases;
man cannot see where it comes from nor where it goes.

So it is with Spirit.  We cannot see it, but it is nevertheless the invisible substance out
of which are formed all things that appear.  An oak grows from a little acorn and expands
into a mighty tree on a seemingly lean diet of water, sunshine, and microscopic amounts
of chemicals in the soil.  So does the mighty substance of God come forth out of Spirit and
take its place in our affairs through natural channels to supply our needs.

If your present income seems to be inadequate for your needs, do not worry; do not
complain; do not be critical; do not be afraid.  Instead, give thanks to God for His supply
and bless the symbol of substance that you have in your hand.  It will grow and increase
in buying power.  Like the mustard seed, which grew from a tiny seed into a tree, its
increase will amaze you.

God’s substance is present everywhere and in Truth is more real than the things you can
touch and see.  Bless the good symbol you have and see substance miraculously increase
in your hands.

Millions of creatures are coming into existence each day, and millions are disappearing
each day, yet there is no decrease in life, for life is infinite.  All qualities in Spirit are
infinite.  There is no beginning and there is no ending to the things of Spirit.  Man can, by
developing his spiritual nature, become so at one with God-Mind that he will be able to
draw upon infinite supply for all his needs.

Remember that you are a child of God, and that God has provided for your use an
abundance of His blessings.  You can lay hold of these with your faith.  “Faith is
assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.”  Through your faith you
are able to tap the unlimited supply of Spirit.  Even before you ask, all things are provided
for you in Spirit.  “Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

Give thanks for the good that you desire, and have faith that it is already yours.  By
asking God for His blessings, you cannot possibly make anyone poorer, for the supply is
unlimited in Spirit.
 
 

The story told in 2 Kings about the poor widow whose two sons were about to be sold
as bondsmen to pay her debts reminds us that we should not belittle our resources, no
matter how meager they may seem to be.

When Elisha, the prophet, said to the weeping woman who was appealing to him for
help, “What hast thou in the house?”  she replied that she had nothing at all; that is to say,
she had nothing valuable—only a pot of oil.

Elisha did not sympathize with her by saying: “Oh, you poor woman! I am so sorry for
you because you cannot pay your debts with such meager resources.”  Nor did he give her
money out of his purse.  Instead he gave her some very practical advice, telling her to
begin to solve her problem by using that little pot of oil which she already had and increase
it through her faith.

He recommended that the boys also do something to help, suggesting that they go out
and borrow dishes from the neighbors, as many as they could get, and bring them home
to their mother.  Elisha then instructed her to take the receptacles with her into her house
and, after shutting the door, begin pouring the oil that was in her little jar into the
receptacles that her sons had borrowed.

She had faith, and she poured out the oil until she had filled all the vessels.  And
because there were no more vessels, she had to stop pouring.  This increased supply of oil
was then sold for enough money to pay all her debts and release her sons from possible
bondage.

The supply of oil seemed to be limited only by the number of vessels that could be
obtained to hold it.

It seems to me that the little pot of oil, which the widow confessed was the only
possession she had left, is a symbol of a precious but little-appreciated possession that
every person has within himself.  When understood and rightly and prayerfully poured out,
it will supply the needs of anyone who has faith and love enough to use it.  It is the tiny
seed idea, which through faith and prayer grows to such proportions that it can deliver a
man from any kind of bondage.

I suggest that we think of our needs as opportunities to be used as receptacles into
which God’s increase may be poured.  An empty life crying for satisfaction, if the cry is
turned to God, will cause that life to become a vessel filled with the riches of God that
truly satisfy The empty vessels borrowed from neighbors may represent to us opportunities
for pouring out our blessings and good thoughts upon others.  By pouring them out thus
we can increase our ability to draw more heavily upon the infinite Resource.

Oil represents joy and praise, which make life run smoothly Even if we are without
material food, we still have that oil of Spirit within us which we can pour out to fill up the
empty places in Our life and the lives of our friends.  We may wonder what good the
increase of the spirit of joy and praise can do in supplying our material needs.  In the story,
the widow sold the increased supply of oil and then paid her debts with the money she
received for it.

Joy and praise are worth money, because they are what all the world is seeking.  Like
other spiritual gifts, these are enjoyed and increased most when they are given away or
shared.  Giving and sharing God’s gifts brings more joy to the giver than receiving and
hoarding can bring to the receiver.

Those who depend upon the possession of many things to bring them happiness and
satisfaction will remain hungry in soul even though their barns may be bursting, because
material things alone cannot fill the emptiness of the inner man.  It is the pouring out of the
riches of Spirit in prayer that satisfies both the soul and the body

When we give or express life we increase our capacity for living.  When we express
wisdom, we grow wiser.  When we love, we increase our consciousness of love.  When we
are joyous, we increase our joy When we exercise our strength, we grow stronger.  Our
labors and our experiences in the material world should help us increase our inner,
spiritual resources.  These include life, love, wisdom, strength, and other attributes of the
spiritual man.  These grow and expand by proper use, which proper use is the pouring-out
process.

Spiritual riches have been given to every man and woman by our Father-God,
abundantly; and as we prayerfully pour out these gifts, even though at first they may seem
to be small, they will surely become great through faith and works.  Their possible
greatness will be limited only by the capacity of the vessels that we have provided to hold
them.

We can discover the limitless nature of the blessings that God has given us when we
draw freely upon them by pouring them out.  We can pour them out with such faith and
love that we shall inspire others with the desire to pass their blessings along also.

The gifts of God are limited only by a person’s capacity to express them or pour them
out.  We can supply our needs for outer things by first drawing the oil of Spirit from
within.  This in turn will bring the money to buy what we need.  The one who learns how
to pour out this inner substance which God has given him will lack for no good thing in the
world.

Let no one despair because he may seem to have little to draw upon.  Rather let him
look within and rejoice in the abundance that God has given him in Spirit, and then let him
fearlessly give forth what he finds in the house.
 
 

When we begin to realize and to appreciate spiritually the wonders of God’s creation,
we are like an explorer visiting a new country filled with beautiful and amazing
opportunities.  We discover beautiful, interesting, and wonderful things everywhere.

Since God has given us everything, potentially, we must learn how to discover His gifts
by making them spiritually active in our life.  We can do this by passing them along to
others with our love and blessings.  Divine ideas become real to us and active in us when
we share them with others.

The air we breathe is most necessary to keep us alive, but we must constantly breathe
it out so that we can breathe fresh air back into our lungs.  God has given us His love,
which we must keep in action by breathing it out to other persons and to God to make
room in our heart for a new supply of love.

We must share God’s spiritual gifts before they can increase and become real in our
lives.  For example, when knowledge is shared, it increases for all concerned.  Good will
increases when it is shared.

When we share with others our substance and our blessings, they increase for us and
for others as the loaves and fishes increased for Jesus and the multitude.  When we share
garden seed with God by sowing it in the ground, it increases.  We cannot increase any
good thing that God has given us by hoarding it.  God’s good gifts must be kept active in
our lives to be helpful to us.  When we speak kind words, kindness is multiplied in our life.
When we praise God and give thanks to Him for the good things He has provided for us,
our thanksgiving and praise circulate between God and us as joy, health, and prosperity

When we give a material thing out of necessity or because we feel obligated to give it,
we do not truly give in the true Christ Spirit, because we do not share the spirit of God’s
good substance.  A true gift should bear with it our blessings and good will and our love.
As the poet has said:

      “He gives only the worthless gold
      Who gives from a sense of duty.”

To give truly we must put our heart into our gift.  As the poet has also said:

    “The gift without the giver is bare; Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,
    Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.”

Jesus said: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, running over, shall they give into your bosom.  For with what measure ye mete
it shall be measured to you again.”  He also charged His disciples when sending them forth
on their mission to preach the gospel: “Freely ye received, freely give.”

God has given us so freely of His strength, power, love, life, joy, wisdom, peace, and
harmony that we must become His active agents to express these gifts in our life.  When
we do, we become thrilled with the power of their goodness.  When we give anything truly,
we help to satisfy a spiritual hunger in our own heart as well as in the heart of the ones to
whom we give.  We also strengthen our spiritual contact with the heart of God where all
good things originate.

Forgiveness is also a kind of giving, but it acts more as a soul cleanser than as an
activator, for it erases the errors of the past from our mind.  When we forgive a fault we
give up, or cast out of our memory, negative experiences, and they become as nothing to
us.  When these things are forgiven and forgotten, they henceforth have no place in us.
Such things are not increased by giving, but are decreased by forgiving.

The success of our life is determined by what we think, say, and do.  By sharing our
good with others and with God in our thoughts, words, and deeds, we increase the power
and activity of good in our life and affairs.

Tithing is one way of working with God’s substance and increasing it by sharing it in
Spirit in helping to take care of the Father’s business.  God does not need our substance,
but we need His cooperation, and we need to prove the unfailing quality of His substance
by joyously sharing it in the spirit of faith and love.

The currency of our country would be of no value if it were not kept in circulation.  It
represents the substance of God, which is most valuable when it is kept in circulation.  And
as we do our part in circulating God’s substance in Spirit and in Truth, we increase not
only our own prosperity but the prosperity of our community

We bring more substance and goodness into realization in our own life, as well as
glorify God, when we share our good substance in the name of God’s abundant supply
Therefore let us join God in the joyous game of giving and receiving.  Let us prove to our
Father-God that we have received His bounty by giving bountifully in Spirit and in Truth.
I am not thinking merely of money, but of divine substance, which sustains not only money
and worldly riches, but also sustains our whole being.  We live more richly when we keep
the good things of our life moving by using and sharing them for God’s glory
 
 

Man asks too meagerly, calling for inferior things when he might just as easily call for
the best.  The average person prays as if he felt that he might be robbing someone else if
he asked for enough to supply all his needs, or as if the supply in the divine storehouse
were running low.

I heard recently of a man who prayed that he might get to his mother’s bedside before
she died, and his prayer was answered.  He could, however, just as well have prayed that
his mother be healed.  Another man prayed that his brother be allowed to die without pain.
The God of Jesus would have healed his brother.

On a cold, snowy day a tired woman with a big bundle of groceries in her arms prayed
that she might ride at least part of the way home.  Sure enough, when she had gone two-
thirds of the way, a friendly neighbor picked her up in his automobile and took her the
remaining one-third of the way.   She could have asked to be taken all the way home.

When I was a boy, I was impressed with the philosophy of an old doctor, a friend of our
family He said that he had prayed all his life for just enough to supply his daily needs, but
had not asked for a bit more, and he said his prayer had been answered; he had never
lacked for anything in his life, but he had had no luxuries.  He was content, but God would
have given him more if he had asked for more.

If you were hungry, you could just as well ask for a square meal as for a crust of bread.
Remember that the divine invitation is “Ask, and ye shall receive.”

Jesus Christ said: “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall
receive, that your joy may be made full.”  He also promised: “And whatsoever ye shall ask
in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If ye shall ask
anything in my name, that will I do.”

When we ask for a pittance, we usually do so because we feel that there is not enough
for all.  This feeling shows that our faith in God’s inexhaustible abundance is weak.  All
things in nature have been provided lavishly More seed is produced by plants than the soil
can accommodate.  Compared with the universe of stars and space, our earth is so small
that it is hardly a speck of dust, and compared with the size of the earth, our personal
needs are infinitesimal.

Surely the few extra grains of microscopic supply that we might ask for would make
no difference to an infinite God who controls the vast universe.  In what way then is man
s supply limited if it is not limited by God’s will?  The limitation is in man’s own capacity
to receive.  The very fact that he cannot ask largely proves that his capacity is limited.

Man’s capacity is limited largely by the fact that he lacks a sense of spiritual values.
He thinks material things are more important than spiritual things.  The power to use and
enjoy material things depends upon a better understanding of spiritual things.  The things
of Spirit are far more valuable than the things of the physical world.

If you were to pray: “God, give me a million dollars,”  you probably would not get it
because you would not have faith that you would get it, and you would not have the ability
to use it wisely It would be much wiser to pray for wisdom, love, and understanding
enough to be able to appreciate a million dollars.  We need to pray for a greater capacity
to live and understand life.  God has already given us more than we are using.  We must
learn to use what we have.

God does not withhold His blessings just to hear us pray and cry for them.  He has
already given us all things, and He desires that we enjoy them.  Our prayers should be said
for the purpose of opening our own consciousness so that we may be able to see,
understand, and use the omnipresent good that God has given us.  Jesus said: “Yet seek ye
his kingdom, and these things shall be added unto you.”  Instead of praying for a large sum
of money in order to bring you happiness, why not pray for happiness in the first place?

We should never make the mistake of praying for something that belongs to another
person or that will interfere with another’s liberty To pray that John will do this or that is
not a large prayer nor a fair prayer.  It is a little, narrow, selfish prayer.  But to pray that
John be freed to do the will of the Father takes all condemnation and limitation from him,
leaving him free to do the will of his highest nature.

This is a big prayer because it asks that John’s highest good be fulfilled, not just our
own idea about his good.

If you want a vacation, pray for a vacation but do not limit your vacation by interfering
with other persons’ rights and wishes.  Do not stipulate that father, mother, or sister must
go with you.  Pray for the vacation that you have in mind or something better.

Make your prayers definite, but do not make them inflexible.  Always be ready to
receive something better than the particular thing you have prayed for, and always
remember that happiness, health, love, wisdom, harmony, and peace are much more to be
desired than material things.  In fact, when you have found the spiritual blessings, you will
have entered the kingdom of God in your earthly experience, and the other things, the mate-
rial supplies, will be added.

When you pray, do not assume the role of a beggar but of a master.  Go to God
unhampered by fear, worry, suspicion, or doubt.  Do not question in your heart God’s
ability, but rather give thanks that He is now answering your prayers.  Ask largely Give
your whole self to God, and accept His riches freely.

God is your loving Father.  Do not allow your selfish personal reservations to hold back
your spiritual impulses, and God will not hold back anything from you.
 
 

First Day  As I bless, consecrate, and rightly use the little things that I find in my
possession, they grow, and I begin to discover how great is God’s loving, generous
supply for me.

Second Day  The oil of God’s bountiful supply is sufficient to fill all the empty places
in my soul, body, and affairs.

Third Day  The source of my security abides within me, where dwells the Spirit of
God, my Father

Fourth Day By exercising my faith in God’s all-sufficient supply, lam able to draw
upon it for all my needs.

Fifth Day Putting my God-given talent to work for Him brings me joy and success.

Sixth Day The riches of God’s creative word are the source of all supply.

Seventh Day I am thankful that my Father-God supplies me richly as I make myself
ready to use that greater supply wisely and well.
 
 

Drop us a line! Page maintained by Robert Russell who can be reached at e-mail address [email protected].