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Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking

1-27-19 – MEDITATION, PRAYER AND INTENTION: Creating the Future with a Threefold Cord Not Easily Broken, Part III

Today’s Notes:

I – “…a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
(Ecclesiastes 4:12 – NKJV)

II – “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
(Mark 11:24 – NIV)

III – “…what is a prayer? A prayer is a thought that possesses the quality of directed intention. It’s holding a specific outcome in our minds with the objective of connecting to a greater power for assistance. Because prayer and faith tend to go hand in hand, we next need to ask ourselves, what is faith? We could say that faith is believing in thought more than anything else—more than the current conditions in our present-personal reality or any challenges in our external environment. The intersection of faith and prayer probably needs to be addressed at this point. When used together to produce a specific outcome, we could say that when we get up from our prayer as if our desired outcome has already happened, we are in the right state of mind and body—in other words, we’re in a new state of being…” – Dr. Joe Dispenza

IV – “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, [a]the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].”
(Hebrews 11:1 – AMPC)

V – “Without taking a poll, it’s safe to say that people who believe in God also believe that he answers prayers…If he didn’t, one would be left with an indifferent, distant deity who pays no attention to human affairs. This alternative is hard to reconcile with faith, and so believers are left with a God who seems to answer prayers selectively. It’s as if there’s an invisible telephone line to Heaven, and when you call, sometimes God picks up and sometimes he doesn’t. I’ve simplified the scheme—the theology of prayer gets very complicated—because for most believers, praying is simple. You entreat God to do something special for you, and you take your chances. For every answered prayer, millions go unanswered. God must be a selective listener, or else there’s something wrong with the person who is praying.
Despite this frustrating and irrational setup, who hasn’t turned to prayer in times of greatest need? To get to the heart of this question, we should start with a blank slate. Set aside your image of God as a father sitting on his throne somewhere above the clouds. Such images differ from one religion to the next and are clearly projections of the human mind validated only by cultural myths and traditions. Second, lose the notion of the invisible telephone line. If God is omnipresent, there is no distance between you and the one you pray to. Finally, strip God of all human attributes, including gender. Whatever God is, the reality must be superhuman, however you define the term.
– Deepak Chopra

VI – “…While many people possess the intent of their prayer, many others miss the corresponding emotions that go with it. Once they have lost the feeling or emotion, they are back in lack, and each time they do this they are creating from a state of separation—instead of a state of connectedness, wholeness, love, and oneness. If thoughts are the language of the brain and feelings are the language of the body, and how we think and how we feel creates our state of being, it makes sense that mind and body are in opposition. The mind is holding the intent but the body is saying, “It’s not happening.”…” – Dr. Joe Dispenza

VII – The purpose of prayer is not to influence God to grant you special favors, but rather to remind yourself that you are always connected to God.” – Wayne Dyer

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Today’s Notes:
I – “…A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
(Ecclesiastes 4:12 – NIV)

II – “…A threefold thread cannot quickly be pulled apart.”
(Ecclesiastes 4:12 – CLV)

III – “…three is even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”
(Ecclesiastes 4:12 – TLB)

IV – “Lately I’ve been wondering just what the science is behind the act of prayer and meditation. What parts of our brains are activated or deactivated? How might such a ritual, regardless of personal faith or intention, affect our behavior? To learn more, I talked to several doctors including Dr. David Spiegel, associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and medical director of the center for integrative medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, who discussed what the brain looks like on prayer. “Praying involves the deeper parts of the brain: the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex — the mid-front and back portions,” says Dr. Spiegel, adding that this can be seen through magnetic image resonance (MRI), which render detailed anatomical pictures. “These parts of the brain are involved in self-reflection and self-soothing.” Spiegel notes that while these reflective regions of the brain are activated, parts of the brain associated with taking action are inactivated. It’s an interesting correlation that Spiegel says could play a role in why prayer helps people struggling with addictive urges.”
– Nicole Spector

V – [pic] The Lord’s Prayer as a Shakra Meditation – go to 1:12:53

VI – “Prayer and meditation are highly effective in lowering our reactivity to traumatic and negative events,” says Dr. Paul Hokemeyer, a marriage, family and addictions therapist. “They are powerful because they focus our thoughts on something outside ourselves. During times of stress, our limbic system, more commonly known as our central nervous system, becomes hyper-activated, which does two things: it thrusts us in to survival mode where we freeze, fight or flee the situation, such that we move away from the present state of being into a future state. This also shuts down our executive functioning and prevents us from thinking clearly. This is why when we’re stressed out we can make poor decisions and act in self-destructive ways.” When we sit down and engage in prayer or meditation, we are able to shift away from this frightened and stressed survival mode into “an intentional state,” says Dr. Hokemeyer, and ultimately “reengage our prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that rules our executive functioning and enables us to make intelligent mindful decisions.”
– Nicole Spector

VII – [pic] “When you can completely relax your body and remain conscious, this is the realm where the unknown and the mystical happens. – Dr. Joe Dispenza

Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking

12-30-18 – THE CIRCLE OF LIFE

Today’s Notes:

I – “That which is now already has been, and that which is to be already has been; and God seeks that which has passed by [so that history repeats itself].”
(Ecclesiastes 3:15 – AMPC)

II – [spiral staircase pic] “The path isn’t a straight line, its a spiral. You continually come back to things you thought you understood and see deeper truths.”

III – “The healing process is best described as a spiral. Survivors go through the stages once, sometimes many times; sometimes in one order, sometimes in another. Each time they hit a stage again, they move up the spiral: they can integrate new information and a broader range of feelings, utilize more resources, take better care of themselves, and make deeper changes.”
― Laura Hough

IV – “The way isn’t a circle and never can’t be a circle unless you repeat the same after the same. Is it possible to find something new?…The way is spiral, and I will keep believing in this!”
― Deyth Banger

V – “Ideas become reality. once you hit that reality, you get a new idea. it’s a virtuous upward spiral. However, the majority are satisfied living within the idea of the reality instead of the reality of the idea.” ― Richie Norton

VI – “CIRCLES OF LIFE

Everything
Turns,
Rotates,
Spins,
Circles,
Loops,
Pulsates,
Resonates,
And
Repeats.

Circles
Of life,
Born from
Pulses
Of light,
Vibrate
To
Breathe,
While
Spiraling
Outwards
For
Infinity
Through
The lens
Of time,
And into
A sea
Of stars
And
Lucid
Dreams.

Poetry by Suzy Kassem

VII – [spiral staircase pic2] “Every next level of your life will demand a different you.”