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2-17-19 – THE LIBERATED HEART: Freeing Yourself from the Past and Breaking the Addiction to Fear, Part III

Today’s Notes:

I – “There is no fear where love exists. Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love.”
(I John 4:18 – ISV)

II – “Love will never invoke fear. Perfect love expels fear, particularly the fear of punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been completed through love.”
(I John 4:18 – The Voice)

III – “There is no illusion greater than fear.” ― Lao Tzu

IV – “How would your life be different if you learned to let go of things that have already let go of you? From relationships long gone, to old grudges, to regrets, to all the ‘could’ve’ and ‘should’ve,’ to the dead friendships you still hang on to… Free yourself from the burden of a past you cannot change.” – Dr. Steve Maraboli

V -(meme) In the process of letting go you will lose many things from the past, but you will find yourself. — Deepak Chopra

VI – “Free yourself from the poisonous and laborious burden of holding a grudge. When you hold a grudge, you want someone else’s sorrow to reflect your level of hurt, but the two rarely meet. Let go… Sometimes, forgiveness is simply a reflection of loving yourself enough to move on.” ― Dr. Steve Maraboli

VII – “We accept the love we think we deserve.” ― Stephen Chbosky

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2-10-19 – THE LIBERATED HEART: Freeing Yourself from the Past and Breaking the Addiction to Fear, Part II

Today’s Notes:

I – “Fear does not exist within the Love, but rather perfect love (mature love; love having reached its goal) repeatedly (habitually; progressively) throws the fear outside, because the fear constantly has and holds a pruning (a curtailment; a checking; restraint; a lopping off – thus, a correction). But the one habitually fearing or dreading has not been perfected within the Love (has not been brought to the destined goal of maturity – in union with love).”
(I John 4:18 – JMNT)

II – “Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment[a] has not reached love’s perfection.”
(I John 4:18 – TPT)

III – “Free yourself from the poisonous and laborious burden of holding a grudge. When you hold a grudge, you want someone else’s sorrow to reflect your level of hurt, but the two rarely meet. Let go… Sometimes, forgiveness is simply a reflection of loving yourself enough to move on.” ― Steve Maraboli

IV – “There are so many people whose minds do not belong to them. There are so many people whose thoughts have been purchased by people. There are so many people who have made people kings and queens of their thought. There are so many people who cannot sleep because of people. There are so many people whose lives are a small percentage of their own self and a greater percentage of others. When the offenses of people occupy your mind, your mind becomes the offenses of people instead of your own mind. To have your own mind and to be your own self, free your mind!” ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

V – “My brothers, I do not consider myself to have fully grasped it even now. But I do concentrate on this: I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal…”
(Philippians 3:13 – Phillips)

VI – “Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.”
― Eckhart Tolle

VII – (meme)
Fear is the memory of pain.
Addiction is the memory of pleasure.
Freedom is beyond both.

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

 

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2-3-19 – THE LIBERATED HEART: Freeing Yourself from the Past and Breaking the Addiction to Fear

Today’s Notes:

I – “There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.”
(I John 4:18 – The Message)

II – “…there’s a philosophy which embraces the concept that love is the only emotion, and that fear is just an illusion…the idea is that when you have a fearful or anxious thought, you should say to yourself, “love did not create this thought, and so it is not real”…it’s an admittedly abstract proposition, but I’m suggesting that you open yourself up to it, at least for tonight…when you’ve tried everything else, you can always count on love to do the impossible…as the Scriptures say, “love never fails”…It’s also been said that whenever you’re afraid, it’s proof that you’ve turned your back on love, and chosen to have faith in the ego…again, the concept is out of the box, but definitely worth consideration…Paul said, “And yet I show you a more excellent way” as a lead-in to his classic love chapter…love is always the more excellent way…As I often say, don’t overthink it, but try this as a spiritual experiment…whatever is going on in your head this evening, tell yourself “if love did not create it, it’s not real”…if nothing else, you’ll have a whole new perspective on your situation, and new solutions may suddenly occur to you once you’re no longer trapped in the fear/anxiety loop…
#JESmeditations

III – “We sense love, but we don’t believe in it. We save our faith for fear. But ultimately, there is a quiet voice in each of us that longs for something better.” ― Gabrielle Bernstein

IV – “When you evoke fear you set into motion the physiology of stress that accelerates biological aging. You must let go of this fear in order to reverse aging. When we think fearful thoughts we cause our bodies to go into stress. Our heart rate increases, we release adrenaline into our bloodstream and we even change the flow of our blood. Imagine doing this on a regular basis, day after day for your whole life! Fear causes us to exhaust ourselves.”– Deepak Chopra

V – “But giving up fear is like giving up sugar: they’re both sneaky ingredients that hide out in almost everything. And just when you think you’ve got that craving under control, suddenly it rears its not-so-pretty head again.” ― Gabrielle Bernstein

VI – “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”
(2 Timothy 1:7 – AMPC)

VII – [meme pic] at 1:12:
Love is what we are born with.
Fear is what we learn.
The SPIRITUAL JOURNEY is the
unlearning of fear and the acceptance
of love back in our hearts.
–Marianne Williamson

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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

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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.”

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12-23-18 – JOY TO YOUR WORLD – Part IVB
METRON Combined Service with SPIRIT and TRUTH SANCTUARY, featuring Bishop Jim and Pastor D.E.Paulk

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12-16-18 – JOY TO YOUR WORLD: Unleashing the Power of the Word Made Flesh, Part III

Today’s Notes:

I – “The Voice was and is God. This celestial Word remained ever present with the Creator; His speech shaped the entire cosmos. Immersed in the practice of creating,all things that exist were birthed in Him. His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light— A light that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazes through murky bottoms. It cannot and will not be quenched….The Voice took on flesh and became human and chose to live alongside us…”
(John 1:1-5, 14 – The Voice)

II – “In the very beginning the Living Expression was already there. And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God. They were together—face-to-face, in the very beginning. And through his creative inspiration, this Living Expression made all things, for nothing has existence apart from him! Life came into being because of him, for his life is light for all humanity. And this Living Expression is the Light that bursts through gloom[i]— the Light that darkness could not diminish! …And so the Living Expression became a man and lived among us!…”
(John 1:1-5, 14 – TPT)

III – “All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].”
(1 Corinthians 10:23 AMPC)

IV – “Accumulating orthodoxy makes it harder year-by-year to be a Christian than it was in Jesus’ day.” ― Brian D. McLaren

V – “My belief is that, morally, God and Satan are vaguely on the same page. According to the common understanding of Satan’s origins, ‘holiness’ is, metaphorically, frozen stiff in his veins: and at that a corrupted formula – i.e. legalism. The vital difference is that God is willing to offer grace for our sins; he delights in grace. God is the one and only holy and just punisher of sin, yes, but that is partly so because punishment for the sake of punishment is not something he loves. Whereas Satan, as the accuser, and as it is written, actually seeks God’s permission to punish; he, being a seasoned legalist, delights in finding wrongs and will defy his own morality just to expose immorality. This is why both the anti-religious soul and the violently religious soul are, whether consciously or unconsciously, and sadly enough, glorifying their biggest hater: Satan is not only a lawless lover of punishing lawlessness, but also the sharpest theologian of us all. He loves wickedness, but only because he loves punishing wickedness.”
― Criss Jami

VI – “Our cultural conditioning is so ingrained in us that we often see these customs and taboos as inherent to the fabric of the cosmos. We spiritualize them. Legalize them. And when someone else doesn’t follow them, it can feel to us like an attack on our very personhood. This kind of cultural blindness affects how we order creation.” ― Michael Gungor

VII – “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
(John 6:51 – NKJV)

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12-9-18 – JOY TO YOUR WORLD: Unleashing the Power of the Word Made Flesh, Part II

Today’s Notes:

I – “And the eternal Word morphed into flesh – into a manifested incarnation with human attributes and authority in the natural world – so that He could live with and among us human beings. And He did live with us here in our world, limiting Himself to the constraints of the human condition without reservation, but we could still plainly see His eternal, divine glory. It was obvious that He shined with the glorious light of a unique, firstborn son who was miraculously like His Father who had sent Him. The illumination from that glory revealed that He was literally filled with grace and that He overflowed with absolute truth.”
(John 1:14 – John In The Now)

II – “‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ – We could all learn something from this well-known Bible verse. Looking beyond the religious overtones, there is a message to be found in this for everyone. Everything begins with a word. Words consist of vibration and sound. It is these vibrations that create the very reality that surrounds us. Words are the creator; the creator of our universe, our lives, our reality. Without words, a thought can never become a reality. This is something that we have been taught throughout history, as far back as the Bible, which writes of ‘God’ – whatever that word may mean to you – saying ‘let there be light’ and as a result creating light. So what can we learn from this? If our words and thoughts are the very tools with which we create our reality, then surely they are our most powerful tool yet? Surely we should only pick the very best words in order to create our very best reality?”
– Katherine Hurst

III – “O holy night the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth”
– Adolphe Adam

IV – “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He]takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”
(John 15:1-3 – NKJV)

V – “…already you are clean because you have heard My voice.”
(John 15:3 – The Voice)

VI – “The words I have spoken over you have already cleansed you.”
(John 15:3 – TPT)

VII – “If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative. In our thoughts and words we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths. Our limitations and joys begin in our hearts. We can always replace negative with positive.” – Betty Eadie

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12-2-18 – JOY TO YOUR WORLD: Unleashing the Power of the Word Made Flesh – Part I

Today’s Scripture:

1. Now when the man Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of Herod the king, astrologers from the East came to Jerusalem to inquire about Him. These astrologers, or “Magi” originated from a religious caste among the Persians who were devoted to divination (or the practice of the magic arts) and to the interpretation of dreams. They came from Southern Arabia, where they had long maintained a tradition of Israelite Messianic expectation that had survived in the region since the days of the Queen of Sheba; and this tradition survived alongside their practice of astrology.

2. When they came to Jerusalem, they began to ask around, “Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have charted His star in the East through our understanding of the zodiac and have come to worship Him.”

3. But when the news about these Arabic magicians got to Herod, it worried him greatly and, in fact, troubled all of Jerusalem with him.

4. So he called together all the people who were experts in the law, and in Messianic prophecy, and asked them where the Messiah was supposed to be born.

5. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” the learned men replied, “for this is what the prophet Micah has written:

6. ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not in any way the least among Judah’s rulers: for out of you will come a ruler who will be the Shepherd of my people Israel.’”

7. Then Herod called for a secret meeting with the Magi in an attempt to find out if what they knew from their astrological charts lined up with what the Scriptures had predicted.

8. But these magicians had no knowledge of the prophetic Scriptures, so he said to them, “Go to Bethlehem and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you locate him, report back to me so that I may go and worship Him.”

9. After they conferred with the king, they went on their way and could actually see the star ahead of them. It literally seemed to move, guiding them to Bethlehem until it appeared to stop over the place where the child was.

10. When they saw the star that they had anticipated for so long, they were absolutely overjoyed. Of all the signs and wonders that they had seen and performed, this was different…this was the most spectacular! And this was proof that the heavens really do declare the glory of God, as David had said, and that even those who were not of the seed of Abraham could see it, even without a knowledge of the Scriptures.

11. On entering the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary and instinctively bowed down and worshipped Him. While everyone else in Israel was oblivious, these Persian magicians were the very first to recognize and worship the King! Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, providing Him and His family with enough wealth to last a lifetime.

(Matthew 2:1-11, MATTHEW IN THE NOW)