Faith In Divine Grace

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By John Ashbrook

Divine grace is as much a part of today’s reality as the spiritually mature concepts of self-creation and self-responsibility. The grace of God is omnipresent, existing as part of the very nature of ultimate reality. This final reality of existence is totally benign. Grace means that everything will always work out for the best, despite evil despite pain, no matter how hopeless things appear to be. At the end of everything, when negative experiences are recognized, worked through, and dissolved by spiritual living, the light of love, truth, peace, and joy ultimately prevails. This is the final reality and, therefore, divine grace.

Everyone lives in the grace of God whether they recognize this or not. The air that we live in and breathe is soaked with its benevolence. Every aspect of the world we live in, the universe, and the totality of creation is an expression of divine grace. With this in mind, you can see that we all live in a universe where God’s eternal presence, tenderness, caring, and love cannot be denied. We are immersed in a universe where there is really nothing to fear, never mind momentary appearances. You do not have to draw divine grace to you; it is an integral part of your very being. Divine grace is the essence of your soul, and when you are in harmony with life, when you are joyous and optimistic, you know it. However, when you are in a state of fear, anxiety, and mistrust, you forget this undeniable truth. At these times, it is difficult to find your faith in divine grace. When you endeavor to develop yourself spiritually, you realize that faith is a very important tool in the process of dissolving the blocks and distortions that separate you from God’s grace, even now, as you are surrounded by it. There are four spiritual principles that you can easily apply to your daily life that will greatly aid you in awakening your inner faith.

The first principle to follow as you begin to awaken your faith in divine grace is make a conscious, committed decision to remember it. Choose to remember those times when you were joyous and hopeful, and you could feel the presence of grace in your life. You knew it was there. Pray to remember those times. Make the focus of your daily meditations the remembrance of your divine heritage, the fact that you are a created being of God, and therefore, you automatically contain and exist in his grace.
The second principle of releasing faith is to focus inwardly. It is very easy to lapse into the erroneous idea that faith is something you acquire, something that is given to you. Nothing could be further from the truth. You are not an empty container that needs to be filled from an external source.

In reality, you are already everything that you could ever imagine. It is merely a case of realizing this. You contain all possibilities. It is up to you to look inward with positive intent and find the faith in yourself that is already there.

Visualize yourself living in God’s grace, a universe formed by personal love where there is no fear. In this vision, you will find new awareness, new knowledge, and a new, more powerful faith in yourself. It will surprise you, inspire you, and fill you with the unspeakable joy of life’s natural and right bliss.

The third principle of awakening faith is the willingness to risk giving. Do not confuse this with bargaining. Every one of us contains a spiritual switch that prevents receiving when the soul suppresses its ability and natural yearning to give. In reality, giving and receiving are one movement, so one cannot exist without the other. When there is a lack of trust, there is a fearful holding on, a belief in scarcity that paralyzes the movement of life.

This halts divine grace from entering one’s consciousness. This holding back only bolsters the illusion that one lives in an impoverished universe and that sad idea that one’s own inner life is equally bare. If you believe that you have nothing inside to give, then you must also believe that there is nothing to receive from the outside. You develop faith in your own inner bounty when you have the courage to reach out to life and give what you can freely, without expectation of what you might get in return, but with the knowledge and faith that this is a benevolent, giving universe. Your willingness to give of yourself, of your own divinity, with a since open heart verifies this. Your inner faith is awakened and released as you give to God in love and trust.

The fourth principle to follow in establishing your faith in divine grace is the commitment to seek balance in your life. There is a tendency for people to build on deficit, again an erroneous belief in scarcity. Trying to build upon a weak foundation is not possible. Running a continual deficit in life takes you out of harmony with the universe. In a state of balance, harmony is guaranteed. In harmony, the unlimited bounty of the universe, the grace of God is at your disposal. You build positive karma by living in the truth of your willingness to maintain in your own life the ever-expanding and equal movements of give and take that the universe itself runs on. In doing so, your developing faith allows you to forever participate in the process of unending growth and abundance that is divine grace.

John Ashbrook

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