Acceptance
Acceptance means that you accept you are much more than your personality (ego). If you are responding to life’s problems mainly using your personality then you are playing the game of life with a loosing hand.
In Exodus 3:13-14 when God sends Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, Moses asks what to tell them when they ask who sent him.
- God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
And in Romans 8:5-8, the apostle Paul wrote:
- For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
This is known as Paul’s Teaching on Spiritual (I AM) vs. Carnal Mind (ego). The distinction between outer/ego (lower) consciousness and inner/spiritual (higher) consciousness reflects Pauline theology about the flesh vs. spirit. We intuitively know this is true. We know that there is more to us than our personality. The I AM (love, kindness) is the part of us that never changes while the ego (anger, jealousy, etc.) changes constantly.
- So we must choose. Real choice requires real alternatives.
1 John 4:4:
- Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
Certainly, we all know that life brings problems. But what we may not understand is that for a great majority of problems, our ego’s had a big part in creating them. Also, for one reason or another, many of us seem to enjoy our problems. Maybe we may feel they are safe and predicable, like an old suit. Maybe we are afraid. Maybe we don’t even know we’re doing it.
Alfred D. Souza (the tenth Archbishop of Agra) said:
- For a long time, it had seemed to me that life was about to begin—real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last, it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.
That’s ego and it is incapable of solving the problems it created. We have to learn to understand and accept this fact.
On the other hand, I AM refuses to accept problems and takes steps to correct them. Since it is of the Father, it knows intuitively that this will please Him who will respond in kind to our actions. You may receive an unexpected and positive phone call or a seemingly chance encounter. You will need to learn to recognize these events when they happen. These are the only times that I believe in coincidences.
For example, Marcus Aurelius (Roman emperor 121 AD - 180 AD) said:
- Look well into thyself; there is a source which will always spring up if thou wilt always search there.
- To the wise, life is a problem; to the fool, a solution.
And Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist echoed this by saying:
- It is this belief in a power larger than my-self and other than my-self, which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable.
A classic and sure sign of ego behavior was noted by Bum Phillips, Houston Oiler coach (1975-1980):
- You fail all the time, but you aren’t a failure until you start blaming someone else.
By blaming others, we excuse ourselves. Ask yourself, why are you blaming that person? Have they harmed you? Did you have a part to play? If you’re sure you’ve had no part in the harm someone has caused you, quietly prepare to leave. It is the most natural thing for these types of relationships to end, for you to move on, to make room for better relationships. Realize that you are a child of God and need to be around positive persons.
Proverbs 13:20:
- He who walks with wise men will be wise.
We learn to access I AM by going to what is known as the “Secret Place”:
- Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Jesus always encouraged private prayer as a way to build a personal relationship with God. The doctrine of the secret place permeates the Bible from Genesis until Revelation. It is best described in the 91st Psalm, which assures believers that they are never alone, especially in difficult times, and that God’s angels watch over them. It is thought to be one of the most powerful prayers that has ever been written.
I strongly suggest that you spend 15 minutes per day learning to access I AM through silent thought or meditation. Our minds need to be taught to do this since it is a state of non-thinking. I use the Lord’s Prayer as an intro every morning when I first awaken. Others use a mantra or even their first names as an intro.
- It takes practice, but when you get better at it the insightful thoughts that come are priceless.
When you’re alone during the day, talk to yourself, even out loud, it helps when you hear your own thoughts. This can be very revealing.
Dale Carnegie said:
- By talking to yourself every hour of the day, you can direct yourself to think thoughts of courage and happiness, thoughts of power and peace. By talking to yourself about the things you have to be grateful for, you can fill your mind with thoughts that soar and sing.
Think about what you are saying to yourself. And better yet, what do you say to yourself that you agree to? In the world of sales there is a concept called Discovery Agreements where the vendor endeavors to solicit the customer to agree that her product/service solves a problem the customer has. But, we also make these agreements with ourselves subconsciously. So, if you’re making these agreements from your lower self, agreements like I’m tired, I think I’m not feeling well, etc., then be sure to heed Dale Carnegie’s advise.
Ego and I AM cannot coexist so you must choose. On August 7, 1971, the following poem “I Am There”, written by poet James Dillet Freeman (March 20, 1912 – April 9, 2003), was famously carried to the moon by Apollo 15 astronauts James B. Irwin, David R. Scott, and Alfred M. Worden. Stored in a microfilm file, the poem was intended to be left there for future space explorations.
Do you need Me? I am there.
You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by. You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice. You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.
I am at work, though you do not understand My ways. I am at work, though you do not recognize My works. I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.
Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith. Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.
When you need Me, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there. Even when you feel most alone, I am there. Even in your fears, I am there. Even in your pain, I am there.
I am there when you pray and when you do not pray. I am in you, and you are in Me.
Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine.” Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.
Empty your heart of empty fears. When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all. And I am in all.
Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there. I am there because I have to be, because I am.
Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of Me does the world go forward.
I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded. I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling.
I am assurance. I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by. I am the love that you can cling to. I am your assurance. I am your peace. I am one with you. I am.
Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you.
Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you. Beloved, I am there.
Acceptance