Discover Your Abundance in Life | Rev. John Riley

Well, today the idea is that we are here to awaken to abundance. Awaken to abundance. The abundance isn’t something that we need to strive for. It’s never something we lack. It’s the principle of the allness of God, it’s the principle of divine intelligence and divine ideas and inspiration and it’s the principle of substance that, through which we create our prosperity.

You Are a Child of the Most High

So, when we’re thinking about this idea of abundance I go back to the scripture, the idea that you are a child of the most high, you are meant to live an abundant life. Would you affirm that? “I am a child of the most high”.

Would you affirm that with me? Together:

I am a child of the most high.

And I have come here, I am meant to live an abundant life.

Together:

I am meant to live an abundant life.

Yes, it is true. And so it is. And so we accept it.

The Power Within You

Except we don’t. We ought to accept it, I suppose. There are lots of reasons why we don’t accept it, but what really comes to me, I read in – I was reading Discover The Power Within You, a book by Unity minister and author, Eric Butterworth. And he said this about this because I think one of the blocks that we have, probably the first block that we have to it is this idea that we are divine in nature, that we have potential within us.

Eric Butterworth says this, “In Unity we understand that the Christ is not a person. It’s not Jesus, but Christ is the degree of consciousness that Jesus attained and it’s the degree of potential consciousness within each one of you” that dwells in each person as Paul said, the Christ in you, your hope of glory, that divine potential that is within us.

And yet, so often we’re ignoring that divine potential. That’s what we might call sin in Unity. It’s just simply the fact that we’re forgetting that, forgetting that idea. Butterworth goes on to say, “If we recognize this vital and dynamic truth, this spiritual unity with God, that if we know that you are God’s beloved child endowed with divine intelligence, divine life, divine substance, and that your highest inheritance of the Kingdom is prepared for you from the fountain of the world, then the rest of the gospel stories make sense, fall into place, the miracles, the teachings, even the final overcoming and resurrection becoming purely academic for they are an outgrowth of this great discovery.” If we only recognized that truth that within you lies everything that you need, everything that you need in this very moment to overcome whatever you are facing, whatever you’re facing in this time.

That’s really the ongoing teaching that Jesus taught was that you are divine in nature. You have that potentiality within you. So other than accepting it, other than knowing that — and it’s more than an intellectual knowing — we have to really, as they say, put it in your bones. You have to really understand it. It has to be something that is felt. The more you understand and the more you practice it, the more you begin to embody that idea, and the more quickly you begin to embrace that idea in your daily life because that’s really what it’s all about, just bringing that essence of you to what you have to offer to your daily life.

Judging Ourselves and Others

But some of the challenges that we have are, we judge ourselves. We judge ourselves to be not worthy. We judge ourselves to be not good enough. We all have that shadow side in us, that idea that we’re separate, that idea that we’re less than because we are thinking of this Christ potential as the ultimate and I’m so far from that. And yet, the potential is still there to bring out just a little more of that goodness and to experience a little more of that idea of abundance in every area of our lives.

So, along the way we’ll make mistakes. We’ll make errors. We’ll have lapses in judgement. We might have thought that was the best idea at the time and it turns out, not so much. So that happens in life. Anybody ever make a mistake in their life? Great. Three people. Fantastic. You know and it’s easy to get pulled down in that self-judgement. It’s easy to get pulled down in the judgement of other people.

How many — don’t raise your hand for this one — but you know that there is someone who is judging you. There is someone who you have judged. We’re looking at them and saying, “Oh you know, that ain’t the Christ presence over there. Do you see what that guy just did?” What we’re really looking at is a reflection of ourselves. What really ticks us off are the things that are within us that we’re just upset about ourselves. So instead of getting all upset about somebody when you see it out there, we can use it as a learning tool.

We also get pulled down. We get pulled down and get caught up by all of the rigamarole. It’s my new favourite spiritual word, rigamarole. Out in the world, anybody hear any rigamarole this last week? And we can, it’s so easy to get pulled down into it. I mean, look at the news and there’s plenty of rigamarole. Talk to your neighbours and you will find rigamarole all over the place. I’ve got a bag of rigamarole right here for you. There is just so much going on in the world because it’s, it happens.

Becoming Aware of the Abundance in Your Life

So, this idea of living into that Christ potential, of that abundance, becoming aware of that abundance in your life doesn’t mean that all of that stuff will go away. It just means it won’t have as much impact on you. It won’t drag you down quite as far or for quite as long as we learn to let go and release those stories that are going on in the world and go back to the story of who you’ve come here to be, go back to that story of that divine presence within you, that potential within you.

Now, there will be times when we get dragged down. There will be times where we feel that our inalienable rights have been taken away from us, that our rights, that our rights to care for our body in the way that we think is the right way to care for it and to have access to health care simply because of the gender that we were assigned at birth. There will be things like that. And the question isn’t so much of, it creates anger in us, it creates frustration within us. The question is, how are you going to deal with that anger and how are you going to move through it in whatever situation you might be facing. Are you going to react and act in anger or are you going to take a moment to pause, to presence yourself and to get back into that state of knowing so that you can move forward in a way that’s productive, in a way that’s healthy, in a way that brings good to humanity?

Rusty, would you do me a favour and hand me my water bottle? I’m parched. Thank you.

Turning the Other Cheek

I think part of the idea that challenges us is this scripture and it also frees us. I think it’s both. It challenges us and it frees us. It was Jesus speaking after the sermon of the mount in Matthew chapter 5, verse 38, you’ve heard it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you do not resist an evil person and if someone slaps you on one cheek then turn the other cheek also.” So, on the face of it, if you looked at that just simply from a perspective of literally translating it, of course an eye for an eye is how we would like to react right. When we get angry and we want to go and act out some of that rigamarole. But an eye for an eye just simply makes the whole world blind. It creates more anger. It creates more hatred. It creates more violence in the world.

And so, when you look at the other part of the scripture, turn the other cheek, people think if you looked at that literally that means I have to become a doormat. I have to say okay, it’s okay, here hit me on this side too. That’s not the message that I believe Jesus was trying to make because it’s a statement of consciousness. So, if you feel hurt, if you feel like you’ve been slapped, if you’re feeling angry, if you’re feeling that consciousness, don’t act out in that consciousness of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. If you’re feeling that anger and frustration, take a moment to pause and turn your consciousness to the other side.

Turning Consciousness to Empowerment

Turn your consciousness to empowerment. Turn your consciousness to peace that you can create, to change that you can create through peace. Turn your consciousness from anger and frustration to love and acceptance and harmony within you. You see, this is a “within you” thing right. It’s not, and it’s acted out, it is acted out between two people, but it first begins within you.

Studies have shown that anger, the trigger, the emotion that hits us in our brain in the amygdala runs through our systems in about 90 seconds. Now, how many of you have gotten over your anger in 90 seconds? No, because we add fuel to it. We just pour on the eye for an eye. We pour on the stories. We pour on the frustration. Then we’ve got to go tell ten people about it so that they’re angry. Then twenty years later I can bring it up and, “Oh, let me just get the lighter fluid” and up it comes.

But if we just allowed that anger to be and just say, “Okay, there is something in here that isn’t right. I’m feeling that I’m diminished. I’m feeling that my rights have been taken away. I’m feeling that something weird is happening in the universe.” Feel it and then turn the other cheek to the consciousness of, “What can I do to empower myself? What can I do to lift myself up and lift my voice up so that I’m heard, so that people understand this is what I think we should do?”

Turning Anger to Empowerment

So often, we get caught up in the anger that, you know, the anger is like electricity. Anger is like electricity. It is seeking the fastest ground. It’s seeking the ground and it will go along the path of least resistance. So, we all know this, right. Either you experience this in your families or if you have any emotional system like work, or neighbours, or something like that, if someone gets angry, it just trickles down through the family, to the kids, to the dog and the dog gets hit and is running away. That’s anger unmanaged. That’s anger in action and reaction.

But anger as a response is measured, is empowering and it does create good in the world if we bring it into that experience, into that side of our consciousness. Anger is not bad. Fear is not bad. It can be very helpful at times. It’s just a state of being in a moment and in 90 seconds you can turn it around to empowerment, to a healthy conversation using all of your spiritual tools. I tell ya, it’s going to take all of your spiritual tools to do it in 90 seconds. But that’s better than 90 months. It’s better than 90 years. It’s better than taking it to our grave.

So, there’s some things we can do to help us move through that idea and the first part of it is — I love this idea — refuse to be a victim because anger is part of a victim consciousness. There are four phases of consciousness. Victim, victor, vessel and verity. You know, things that are done to me, things that are done as me, things that are done through me. No, sorry — to me, by me, through me, as me. Okay, anyway.

So, victim consciousness, everything is happening to me. Everything out there is coming at me and causing my fear and frustration. Victor consciousness is an overcoming of all of those things that are out there and being the one to be the hero, and I’m overcoming. Vessel consciousness is when we let go and allow that divine presence to flow through us and verity consciousness is knowing that you are that divine presence, you are that Christ consciousness, that potentiality you’re expressing.

So, when you’re feeling that anger, realize that that’s your victim consciousness coming along. Refuse to be the victim and step into your own power, step into your awareness that you are stronger, you are wiser, you are more worthy, and that you have within you all of that divine intelligence that you can draw upon.

Seek First the Kingdom of God

Seek first the kingdom of God and then all things will be added unto you. That’s the primary teaching. Seek first that understanding, that Christ consciousness within you, that divinity, that compassion, that love, that understanding, that strength, that wisdom. Seek first that and then act. And then move forward. And as you seek first, all of the things will be added unto you. As you get into that divine presence and just know, “Okay, I am part of this infinite task, tapestry of life, love and wisdom, that abundance flows through me, to me, as me.” When we get into that mode, the answers come. Your good comes. The ideas that lead you down the path of financial prosperity come. The intuition that leads you into a more rich and rewarding relationship with your significant others come, when you get centered and present in that essence of who you are.

“Refuse to be the victim. Seek first the kingdom of God and take action to make manifest your abundance.”

Acts of Kindness

I love that affirmation from the Daily Word. “I am love in action, sharing acts of kindness.” I am love in action sharing acts of kindness. Would you affirm that with me? Together:

I am love in action, sharing acts in kindness.

Now let’s add an exclamation point at the end of it, just for the heck. Together:

I am love in action, sharing acts of kindness!

What a great way to put into action change in the world. What a great way to put into action love in the world, kindness in the world because we know that that which we give to life, we receive from life. It can be anger and victim-ness or it can be empowerment, love and kindness.

“Turn your ideas into steps that will uplift you and the planet.” You are a child of the most high. You are here to express your abundance, to express your goodness. Own it. “Yes, that’s who I am.” Am I going to do it right all the time? Probably not, and that’s okay. With practice it’ll, you’ll experience it more and more. You will experience more and more of your abundance. You will experience more and more of your goodness and you will create more abundance and prosperity in the world. You will be the source of it.

That’s really the true meaning of a love offering. It’s giving as source not through source, not by me, “here’s your love offering”. Not to me, “oh God, they’re asking for money again”. All of those are states of consciousness but recognize, recognize how you deal with money on a daily basis, with your bills, with your relatives, in your daily meals, with giving a tip. Are you giving all, are you expending all that energy with love and kindness and compassion or begrudgingly, angrily, bitterly and see how it comes back to you?

The same thing goes in relationships. Are you giving to your relationships out of a sense of “Well, you owe me”, out of a tally mark, “Well, I did this for you and now you have to do that for me” or are you giving just for the sake of giving love and compassion and help and support? And sometimes that help and support means no. Sometimes no is the most loving thing that you can give another person.

The Flow of Abundance

So, see how you’re giving to the world. Step into that flow of abundance in your life and finally give thanks. Give thanks for the abundance that we have in the world and I tell you if you are listening, if you are sitting here in this sanctuary, you have some abundance. You have some good in your life. If you are watching me on the live stream right now, there is good in your life. I guarantee it. It’s just a matter of seeking it, of finding it, of becoming aware of that good so that you can give thanks and be grateful in it because that gratitude does what? Creates more abundance.

Do you guys get it? Not all of it. That’s okay. Kindness, yes because that love creates more kindness coming back to you. That compassion creates more what in you? Anything? Joy, happiness, love, a sense of self, a sense of worth. A sense of “Gosh, look what I did” and not from an egoic perspective although ego may play a part in it, but from just a pure sense of self. “Yes, I created good in the world today”. Acknowledge it and give thanks. Give thanks for it and just practice those things this week and then I want to know, how’d it work out?

We’re going to be talking about expressing abundance next week and we’ll give you a quick seven, explanation of the seven keys to the kingdom, the seven keys of living into the abundance of life, of living into that. And then if you want to dive deeper with me the Keys to the Kingdom class begins on a Tuesday sometime in a couple weeks into July, if you really want to dig deep, if you’re ready to dig deep.

I am a child of the most high — make sure I get it right here – I am meant to live an abundant life. I am a child of the most high. I am meant to live an abundant life. I am a child of the most high, and I am meant to live an abundant life. Would you affirm that with me? Together:

I am a child of the most high and I am meant to live an abundant life.