Blog

“Nobody else can involve you in difficulty or limitation. Neither parents, nor wives, nor husband, nor employers, nor poverty, nor ignorance, nor any power whatever can keep you out of your own when once you have learned how to think.” Emmet Fox (Find & Use Your Inner Power)

Learned is the keyword in his writing. Meaning; (of a person) having much knowledge acquired by study.

Most of our limitation was instilled in us by others. We block most of God's work in our lives because we do not understand the limitations given to us through the sins of our fathers. 

For example, what do you picture when you read "given to us through the sins of our fathers". The word sin has a meaning we did not learn for ourselves. We were taught the meaning of this word from the limitations of our fathers and never question it. The word "father" you probably think of your father, grandfather, and down through your linage. Maybe "father" is someone in a teaching role.

To learn I needed to first unlearn.

“Personal criticism is one of the dead weights that hold us in limitation. The sole reason why some people do not get their healing, or find their True Place in life, is that they constantly indulge in personal criticism – mental, if not spoken.” Emmet Fox (Sparks of Truth)

Personal criticism starts with "I could have done better".

Well-meaning adults drilled "You could have done better" into us from our birth. This is the biggest lie we were ever told. It is impossible to have done better. We did not have the knowledge or it was not part of our heart's desire.

Without those two things, you can not have done better. The bible tells us the sins of the father will be passed down to 5 generations. Today I look at what I have done and decide if I would like a different outcome I need to educate myself and Golden Key the action I wish to change. With sufficient learning and prayer, I will demonstrate my desired result.

Forgive yourself for the seeming deficiency. Remember attention was focused on our mistakes. In school, every mistake got a big "Red" checkmark. Any other mark was in regular ink. There was never a purple or green mark for doing it "right". There was no celebration, only move on to the next task. 

It is not surprising that we criticize ourselves. It was drilled into ourselves from our home, schools, and the pulpit. 

“Meet each challenge with the realization – God in me is stronger than anything I have to meet. God has given me dominion over my circumstances. Let nothing in your situation frighten you, continue in that vein & you will get further spiritual understanding & you are on your way to a miracle.” Emmet Fox (Diagrams For Living)

This wallet card says it all. When I am talking to someone and they are talking about the strengths of their mountain, I casually suggest they get a bigger God.

I am out of these cards at the moment. If you are interested in getting a few, contact me and I will let you know when I receive a new batch.

“There is a big difference between what you really believe, and what you think you ought to believe, or what you want to believe. You demonstrate what you really believe.” Emmet Fox (Power Through Constructive Thinking).

This was hard to comprehend at first. I thought everything I shot my mouth off about, I really believed. But why was I filled with remorse and regret after some of the things I said? When I started to make changes in my life, I had men in my life that would stop me from talking when I started to talk from my head. We would talk and as soon as I stop talking from my heart they said stop. I thought they were crazy. I could not tell the difference. By watching my insides as I talked I gradually was able to see the switch. Now I talk from the heart, my true beliefs.

"The way he acts speaks so loud. I can not hear a word he says." Henry Thoreau 

"The art of life is to live in the present moment and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God himself.” Emmet Fox (The Sermon on the Mount)"

If I have one foot in yesterday and one foot in tomorrow, I am wasting today.

If I spend all my time in prayer with God and I am discussing yesterday and tomorrow with him, I am still wasting today. I can not be of two minds. I can not focus on yesterday or tomorrow and live in today.

If I petition God in prayer about today and spend my time discussing yesterday, tomorrow and the worries of today with my brothers, this shows God where my heart is. This cancels out the petitions I had in prayer. You can not be of two minds.

I must have a singleness of purpose to be effective in prayer. No matter how much I struggle with not discussing with my brothers my tales of woe, I am still focused on the singleness of purpose and will ultimately demonstrate living in the moment.

“God is Light and in Him, there is no darkness at all. God is Life and that Life builds every cell in your body. The tide of Divine Life sweeps through your body, carrying before It any toxins, any foreign things that should not be there. It reforms, re-creates, regenerates every organ and tissue, and charges it with Its own Divine Life. I claim that the peace of God surrounds you and fills you. That peace goes with you as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. In that peace, and that health, and that harmony you dwell. I claim that the power of God goes before you and makes your path straight. It opens your way for true prosperity, for freedom, for unlimited spiritual growth. I claim that God will bring into your life the right people who can help you and make you happy and that those whom you do not wish will fade out of your existence and prosper elsewhere. I claim that all that God is, is now working to move you into your true place. The outer thing is but a picture, and the power of God is changing your picture now and moving you into your true place. One Presence, One Power, and One Mind. One God, One Law, One Element. You are part of that Divine Presence and in that Presence, you dwell forever ... And according to your faith, it shall be done unto YOU.” Emmet Fox meditation (Stake Your Claim)

I must not try to force this perfect healing. I can only demonstrate to the level of my faith. Educating myself on the causes and effects of foods on my body is essential for me to demonstrate good health. One example is most headaches are caused by dehydration. The second cause is stress. God put a warning system in our bodies it is called pain. Although not impossible, I wonder how much faith I would need to drink alcohol excessively and pray for my liver to be healed and it would be healed. "And according to your faith, it shall be done unto YOU." Emmet Fox (Stake Your Claim)

“The great days lie ahead. All of the greatest achievements of the human race are still unborn. Turn your eyes to the future. The best is yet to be.” Emmet Fox (Make Your Life Worthwhile)

Today is either a stumbling block or a springboard. Which one it is going to be is my choice. Since the beginning of mankind, every day has been an improvement on the day before.

It is easy to think that today is as good as it can get or in the good ole days. It relieves me of all responsibility. I no longer need to demonstrate my inspiration found in prayer.

Till my last breath, I will make this a better world. Today is a better world because I lived yesterday. This being a better world does not depend on what my fellow man does. It depends on only me.  

“Don’t fight your rheumatism, debt or the uncongenial job, or even your critical tongue (if you have one), but build health, prosperity, harmony & goodwill into your consciousness, and the unwanted things will disappear.” Emmet Fox (Make Your Life Worthwhile)

In 2011, I decided to lose 50 pounds. I followed Emmet Fox's recommendation. I did not remove anything from my diet. Nor did I start to exercise. I introduced fresh fruits and vegetables, along with more water into my diet. I paid no attention to the things that are "bad" for you. I lost 50 pounds in a year. All the junk food, processed foods, and meats left my diet without a conscious decision or effort on my part.

In 2012 I wrote a book on my experience of losing 50 pounds in a year. It started with my unwillingness to move up to larger pants size. When something becomes unacceptable to you something has to change. I reached that point and became committed to losing 50 pounds. I did not say I will try, or I will give it my best shot. No, I am not going to larger pant size.  You can read the whole story by following the link below and purchasing the book.

"People often say, I try to do this, or I try to do that, but I fail. They wonder why things will not come right. The explanation is contained within the words themselves. You should never "try" you should "let" – let God. Let go and let God, this is a wonderful recipe for overcoming fear & getting out of tight places." Emmet Fox (Find & Use Your Inner Power).

The word "try" is a trap. It is a self-destructive trap. When we were children, adults told us, "give it a try, and you may like it. How do you know if you can not do it till you try?" As children, this was sound advice. We need to try new things to find out our talents and build confidence. The problem is we never gave up childish things. As adults, we enter a new challenge with the childish thought and escape mechanism of at least we gave it a try. This lets us feel good after failing. "I tried." When I hear myself using the word "try," I know that I am not committed to completing the adventure to a successful conclusion.

I need to go to God in prayer to resolve the doubt in me and to solidify our partnership. Everything I do is in partnership with God. I talk to him in prayer. Study his laws that govern our actions and give me the determination to see it through till the end. In our partnership, we are 50/50, and God is the managing partner. As the managing partner, he only asks for 10% of the profits instead of the 50% he is entitled to as a 50% partner. Why would you not let God be the managing partner?

“A good housekeeper sees to it that dirt and dust do not accumulate in nooks & corners. Too often in our spiritual lives, we allow negative things to accumulate in the corners of our mind. Clean out every nook & corner of your thoughts & He will make you worthy of great accomplishments in the future; a Great way to begin anew.” Emmet Fox(Around the Year)

 I am on guard for negative thoughts. I do not want them to get into the corners of my mind. The corners are the hardest spots to clean. God said if you have anything against your brother do not waste your time with me. Go first to him and make it right. Then come to me with your gifts. 

“Miracles, in the popular sense of the word, can and do happen as the result of prayer. Prayer does change things.” Emmet Fox (The Sermon on the Mount)

Miracles are not winning a lottery. If they were, then God would be nothing more then the present-day Santa Claus fulfilling a wish list. 

Miracles happen because of prayer and our readiness to receive them. There are many books on prayer that I needed to read and educate myself on what prayer was and the many forms and technics of praying. Reading the Book of Proverbs one chapter a day then putting it into practice produce fertile good for miracles to manifest themselves.

When I did this, miracles in the popular sense of the word became commonplace. 

 "Everyone is building his consciousness all of the time. Hour by hour, moment by moment, he is building failure or success, happiness or suffering into his life by the thoughts that he thinks & the beliefs that he accepts in the hidden studio of the mind." Emmet Fox (Make Your Life Worthwhile)

Here is where we start to separate " the men from the boys." Those who entertain negative thoughts and those who have given little more than lip service to a positive outlook on life are starting to show their heart's desire. Now is the time we make our world a better place by living what we have developed in the studio of our minds.

“Infinite Wisdom knows a simple way out of every difficulty, an answer to every problem, a solution to any dilemma that can come to anyone. It is only our ingrained habit of limiting God that keeps Him from giving us perfect harmony. Don’t limit the power of God for good in your life.” Emmet Fox (Sparks of Truth)

I have a vision of living 120 years.  I hear of people living for more than 100 years. Kirk Douglas has died at the age of 103 and his wife is 101. I know that to do this exercise is a very important solution/tool to accomplishing my goal. I am struggling to develop that habit of exercise. I have set an attainable exercise goal.

Once I have disciplined myself and ingrained the habit of exercise the danger of settling for this level of exercise is very real. This may be enough to get me to 75. God will know this so he urges me to do more. I feel accomplished with the habit I have. I am feeling like a new man. But, I am looking in the wrong direction. I am looking backward not forward towards my goal of living to the age of 120. I settle for mediocracy blocking God's power all the while praising God for giving me the strength to accomplish my mediocracy. 

“If, when you are faced with trouble, whether it be old or new, you can affirm positively the harmony of being and then refuse to open the case, no matter how much fear may urge you to do so, you have to cast your burdens upon the Lord, and you will win.” Emmet Fox

Many thoughts pass through my mind. They only become mine when I stop them and start a conversation with them. "Resist not Evil", trying to remove old thought patterns when trouble comes gives the trouble power. I go immediately to prayer/thoughts of God. With this treatment, most trouble disappears by itself. If it persists refuse to open the case and persist with the treatment till you are victorious.

“In the long run, no one can retain what does not belong to him by right of consciousness, nor be deprived of that which is truly his by the same supreme title.

Therefore, you will do well not to lay up treasures upon the earth, but rather to lay up treasure in heaven; that is, the understanding of Spiritual Law. If you are looking to outer, passing, mutable things for either happiness or security, you are not putting God first. If you are putting God first in your life, you will not find yourself laboring under undue anxiety about anything, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

Treasure in Heaven" from "The Sermon on the Mount" Emmet Fox

It is always dangerous to cherry-pick a phrase out of the context it is in. Here is one case especially if you have never studied Emmet Fox's writings. Reading the preceding 4 paragraphs in "Treasure in Heaven" is essential to get an understanding of what he is saying here. Most adults taught that you should do good works without getting compensation. That God would pay you when you die and go to heaven. With this logic, if you love what you do to earn a living you will never get to heaven.

Here are the three preceding paragraphs to give you some insight to his meaning.

The safest banks can and do fail; unforeseen catastrophes happen on the stock market; mines and oil wells five out or may be destroyed by some natural cataclysm; a new invention may easily ruin an old one, the opening or closing of a railroad station, or the starting of some new enterprise somewhere else, may ruin the value of your real estate, to say nothing of the unpredictable effect of unexpected political upheavals upon every kind of property. In short, it is a waste of time to give too much attention to collecting material possessions which are so vulnerable to changes and chances, to "moth and rust," and thieves.

If a reasonable part of the time and attention that most people spend in the pursuit of material goods were devoted by them to scientific prayer and meditation, the change in consciousness which would follow would put them beyond any possibility of suffering from any of these hazards.

If you had sufficient spiritual understanding of supply, your investments probably would not go wrong: but if they did, your posses would e immediately replaced in some other way, and before you had time to suffer from them. If let us say, the bank in which your fortune was deposited should stop payment on Monday, then, probably before the end of the week, an equivalent sum of money, or at least as much as you could possibly need, would come to you from somewhere else - if you had sufficient spiritual understanding. If any case, the owner of a prosperity consciousness cannot be impoverished; nor, for the matter of that, can the owner of a poverty consciousness be permanently enriched.

“Another of the great mental laws is the law of relaxation. In all mental working, effort defeats itself. This is just the opposite of what we find on the physical plane, but it will not surprise us because we know that in many cases the laws of mind are the reverse of the laws of matter.

On the physical plane, the harder you press a drill the faster will it go through a plank. The harder you hammer a nail the sooner does it go into the wall. But any attempt at mental pressure is foredoomed to failure because the moment tension begins, the mind stops working creatively. When you try to force things mentally, when you try to hurry mentally, you simply stop your creative power.

In all mental working be relaxed, gentle & unhurried for effort defeats itself.

...in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength... Isaiah 30:`15

January 24  Around the Year With Emmet Fox 

My application of this.

"Let us sleep on that." This saying uses the law of relaxation. You get to the point of exhausting your mental faculties and use "Let us sleep on that." chances are good when you wake you will have a resolution.

"Move a muscle change a thought." is another one. Moving a muscle distracts your mental pressure.

Both of these sayings allow your creative mind to find solutions. Once I learned these actions, I started to use them earlier and earlier in my thought process. This made me more productive. Forcing thought only causes friction, not solutions.

“Each man is an individual enterprise on the part of God, so no two of them are alike.” Emmet Fox (The Science of Living)

I pass this gate that squeaks. I wonder why no one oils the hinge? Then God presses this thought on my heart, "I have everyone else on other projects. You are the only one I have available to oil this gate. If you do not oil it, it will not get done."

“Thoughts of God, thoughts of kindness, of optimism, and goodwill, are the food of health, joy, and success; and if you furnish a bountiful supply of this food you will attract these things as well. When you want to get some condition out of your life, starve it out by refusing to furnish any of the food upon which it thrives, and you will be surprised how rapidly it will leave you. It will go away in a hurry somewhere else, where its food is obtainable.” Emmet Fox (Make Your Life Worth While)

Develop gratitude for everything that is happening in your life. The time we spend on deciding that a thought is not of kindness, of optimism, and goodwill, is entertaining the negative thought. "Resist not evil." The time we spend fighting off a negative thought is empowering the negative thought. Saying that we are grateful is not enough. We have to look for the reason that the red light is helping us not holding us back.

When you develop this skill in your heart and mind, you will be surprised to see how quickly your surroundings will begin to change to align with your new thoughts.