Chapter 15
PROSPERITY
Charles Fillmore
Dynamics For Living
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.
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 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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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 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. 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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 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.
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 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 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
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.
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 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 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.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
