Creating Sacred Space Devotionals for the Perplexed

(And Most Anyone Else) Free E-Book By David W. Fournier

A devotional guide provided by Restoring Grace http://www.restoringgrace.com

dave@restoringgrace.com

Acknowledgements This E-Book is dedicated to Pastor Betty France, who lovingly taught me that looking both ways before crossing the street is to benefit others, and not just myself.

To my wife Jana, an unbelievable source of Light from the Creator. She gave me the opportunity to try again, and I live each day hoping to measure worthy. To Ruth Esther Ingraham (of Blessed Memory), my Grandmother, who expressed the highest form of love was truth.

Peace, Love and Light to all that read on from here

Table of Contents Eliminating the Victim Mindset Sexual Energy Getting Re-charged Victims and Vampires The Sin of Adam Death Before Dying Dialing God Divine Circuitry Finishing What You Start Following the Path of Jesus Getting Past Our Past Heaven on Earth Looking Inward Making Miracles Mopping Up-Removing the Remnants Removing Hatred Starting Your Day-At Night Sweetening Judgment

Introduction

For many of us, connecting to God is a Sunday activity. It centers on a specific location and a specific religious routine. For most of us, this specific route is specifically unfulfilling. Being connected to God is more than a service; it is a relationship of ongoing dialogue and involvement. It is more that a church, more than a denomination, and in fact, more that all of Christianity combined. It is you and the Creator together on a path. The following eighteen articles are short and concise writings designed to provoke thought. My goal here is to show you what has shown me true meaning and understanding. Fulfillment is about depth and not width. As you read these 5-10 minute articles, I pray that the Divine Spark in each of you awakens to a new level of curiosity and direction. If this e-book can accomplish that goal, then it has far surpassed my dreams for it. As you read through this material, questions may arise. Here is my contact information and available resources. I welcome your input and would be honored to carry on the creating of sacred space with you. God be with you on this and every journey you take for Him!

David

http://www.restoringgrace.com (Homepage) http://www.blogtalkradio.com/restoring-grace (My online radio program) http://www.twitter.com/restoringgrace (Twitter account, Follow Along!)

Eliminating the Victim Mindset

For many years, the Rabbis and Sages have taught on the importance of taking personal responsibility. The Torah addresses this concept, but most modern societies, especially the North American mindset, promote a sense of victim mindset. People often tell me they feel powerless and out of control in the events of their lives. Each one of us has the opportunity to utilize the gift that God has given us. God makes Himself available to us to bring His Light into our lives. He asks that we seek the Light by recognizing His presence and involvement in our world. Our faith in Gods ability to help us is crucial in bringing His warmth and love into our lives. Here is a prayer for us to use when we feel like we cannot control our lives: I am not a victim. The path I take is up to me. I will be proactive and take control of my current situation. I am suffering from (enter your specific affliction here) but I know God can bring healing. With each breath, I am filled with the Light and restorative power of the Creator. I focus the Light like a radar beam on the afflicted area. I see my internal chaos and push it away with Gods help. As healing Light fills me, I focus on (pray for someone elses need here). My prayers for this person will send warmth and Light into their life and they will feel the love and protection of God.

Sexual Energy

For years in the church I attended, Sex was always talked about in a dirty or negative aspect. It was long lectures on pre-marital sex, pornography, homosexuality, affairs, adultery and so on. By the time I was 15, I was pretty sure that I wanted nothing to do with sex. On top of that, we watched films that taught us about diseases we could only get through contact with women. These diseases could cause parts of our bodies to fall off and rot. What a beautiful way to express the importance of Sex to young people. The Song of Solomon does not make any sense unless it is read as it was meant to be read-an erotic review of the relationship between two people- amping up their sexual experience through erotic language and imagery. Here are a few quotes from the man writing to the woman. All quotes are from the Song of Solomon (NCV). 7:6-9 You are beautiful and pleasant my love; you are full of delights. You are tall like a palm tree and your breasts like its fruits. I said, I will climb up the palm tree and take hold of its fruit. Let your breasts be like bunches of grapes and your breath like the smell of apples, and your mouth, like the best wine. 4:3+5 Your lips are like red silk thread; and your mouth is lovely. Your breasts are like two fawns, feeding among the lilies. Got the picture? The rest of the book is about the chasing and pursuing of each other. There were tons of other examples but I thought the above info should send you reeling for your Bibles to look at the rest. You wont be disappointed. Sex is the amazing physical union, created for us by God, to depict in the physical realm what happens in the spiritual realm. The kind of oneness described in the Shema, Judaisms most loved and repeated prayer, tells us of an inseparable bond between God and His creation. In the same way the act of intercourse forms an inseparable union between male and female, God desires us to be united in Him. If this seems odd to you, re-read the comments of Jesus in John 17 about His Oneness with the Father. It is time to re-energize our martial relationships and understand the beauty and awesomeness of Sex. The shared intimacy and pleasure, the arousal, the pursuit, should be elements that heat up the relationship for years to come. Seek out ways to bring pleasure and satisfaction to your partner, devote yourself to their fulfillment, and watch the sparks fly. Here is a prayer for us all as we approach the Divine act of Sex.

I will approach sex with passion, fully present, putting my lovers needs before my own. When we are together, we will be a part of the Divine Universe, fully connected to the Light and Love we are generating. During Sex, I will be tuned in, letting go of my own desires, and allowing the genuine care and unity I share with my partner to radiate into the cosmos.

Getting Re-charged
As a Christian, I have been to a few church services. Along with pass the bucket, another seldom missed event is someone making the proclamation, I an so glad I came to church today. I really needed to get my spiritual batteries re-charged. While the saying is quaint and widely popular across denominational lines, it is evidence of a deeper problem with our mainline Christianity-for most Christians-getting charged is a weekly event, not a daily one. As a Messianic minister, my family and I practice Sabbath-keeping. The purpose of the article is not to address Sabbath practice, but to make this point: We do not suffer through the other days of the week awaiting for Sabbath to come rescue us from the mundane. Sabbath helps elevate the other days by its nature. We keep our daily practices in full swing so we can be fully vested for participation in Sabbath. One of the daily practices is the nightly prayer. Judaism teaches that at night, God removes your soul from your body to clean it, returning it to you before you awake. The Psalmist David told us that God restores his soul. Every wonder how that happens? Most of us have experienced terrifying dreams and feelings while sleeping. The Rabbis and Sages teach that evil abounds in darkness and tries to attach itself to you while you sleep. That s why Judaism embraces washing of your hands every morning when awaking. It symbolizes the removal of those evil glances/attempts. I believe we can ask God for nightly protection and renewal. Here is a prayer I like to use before hitting the sheets: I am at peace. As I fall asleep, I clear my mind and allow the Light of the Creator into my dreams. My soul is open to the truth, to His love. I feel its ascension. By letting go of the daily chaos, renewal is mine. The Lord God will renew my soul and I will be renewed and elevated each morning. I will share my Light with others.

As we have discussed before, we have two main purposes here on the earth. First, to learn as much as we can about God and pursue Him for the ultimate

and enduring fulfillment of life. Secondly, to help repair the world, bringing the return Messiah closer as we overcome the evil with our good.

Victims and Vampires

As the lyrics go to the song by Scandal, sometimes we need to say, Goodbye to You, to some of the victims and vampires in our lives. The truth is, and I have no problem telling it like it is, bill collectors are not the only ones you cringe at when the caller ID shows the name that cannot be named. I am talking about the person you just do not want to talk to. Each of us has a responsibility to answer to God for our time, and we often know when the person we are investing in and working with is trying to succeed, or if they are trying to leach off our Light. But our own stubbornness will sometimes give us an excuse to go further and longer than we should. Now, you are probably thinking these are harsh words coming from a guy that promotes sharing and investing in people, and in working hard to correct the world. The fact is, we owe it to God to take action when we see precious resources, such as our time, training efforts and support, not reaping a harvest in the life of the person. The Sages teach that we only have so many words and so much time before the call home, and to use them wisely. I am very guilty of this offence. I find myself rooting more for their success than they do. What started out as an investment has become a drain. I needed to tell myself the truth: God can take care of the people I cannot seem to reach. That moment of powerlessness was hard to swallow, but had freed me to invest wisely. Jesus Himself said, Do not cast your pearls before swine. Remember, pigs will eat anything and that is one of the reasons they are pigs. Some people in our lives are not going anywhere and we need an answer for dealing with them. We know they may never change, but our approach to them can change and we can use them to grow spiritually on our Path. God will even allow these people in our lives for our growth, not just theirs. Here is a prayer for your consideration I do not want negative, spiritually bankrupt people in my life. (Perhaps there is someone in particular you are struggling with. Visualize that person as you read on) I see them going away. I am blocking them from my Light and Desire for God. I am allowing the Spirit of the Creator to fill and surround me, keeping out other negative forces and people. As more of God flows through me, I attract others full of godly energy and desire.

The destructive forces are pushed away, and people who carry those traits are blocked out. One of the true characteristics of spiritual development understands that you and I have power (through God) to take charge of our circumstances. We can change our perspective, which often changes our vision of the situation. Time to let a few people know Goodbye to the Drama!

The Sin of Adam

The Rabbis and Sages pour over the texts of Scripture looking for every little jot, every dot, every marker, making sure they have not missed any possible conclusion or outcome to the texts. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their tireless efforts. There are many sacred texts that recount their findings, such as the Mishnah, The Ethics of Our Fathers, the Talmud (just to name a few) and a rather stunning text, some 17 volumes long, known as The Zohar (The Splendor). The Zohar contains many stories about the Torah and the characters that appear within its pages. One such story is the subject of our article. Very few Biblical characters are as well known as Adam. Much of the glory of his story has been diminished by the fact he is best known as the cause of The Fall of Man. We will now turn to a section of the text of the Zohar for a keen insight about Adam. Hear these words... So it is that when a man is about to depart from life, Adam, the first man, appears to him to ask why and in what state he leaves the world. The man replies, Woe to thee, that through thee I have to die. To which Adam replies, My son, I transgressed one commandment and was punished for so doing, see how many commandments of your Master, negative and positive, you have transgressed. For years I was raised in a church environment that embraced the idea that we currently live in the Age of Grace, and that the Age of the Law of Moses, is done. The Old Testament is about an angry God, taking vengeance on those that disobey Him with acts of violence, death and plague. Surprisingly, this was the whole teaching premise of an early church influencer named Marcion. His doctrines, while as a wholesale we rejected, parts were engrained deeply into Christian thought and Theology. But Adams narrative here expresses an interesting change in Gods approach: God started the Age of Grace right after the Garden, not some 2,000 years later. Adams point is clear; he was judged quickly and severely. He lost his immortality, his perfect environment and his direct connection with the Light of the Creator. You and I do not fall under that same judgment. Gods grace started immediately after the Garden of Eden and extends to all today. This is not a license (as mentioned by the Apostle Paul) to sin and expect to live unscathed by God. As a matter of fact, if you are currently living out of fellowship with God, with un-confessed sin in your life, and you are not experiencing Gods

Right Hand, remember, He chastises those He loves. Sometimes we allow our connection to get so weak, we think we are not being watched. When Adam comes to me on that final day, and asks me about the what and why of my world, I will tell him I wrote about him once. Maybe he will give me a tour of the World to Come, my home after death.

Death Before Dying

This weekend my wife and I rented the documentary, This Is It, starring Michael Jackson. The theme of the film was the rehearsals surrounding the much-publicized return of Michael Jackson to the music world and eventually a world tour. The film starts out recording the auditions for dancers and singers, all whom seemed very emotional about the opportunity to work with Michael Jackson. The remainder of the documentary shows the intense practices, including the spectacular stage settings and mind-blowing props. In my mind, they were way further along in production and overall readiness than I had imagined. I am moving quickly through this to get to the reason I am writing this article. Worth noting, even though I am not a Michael Jackson fan, the DVD is worth the rental. I realize that the documentary was edited to place Michael Jackson in the best possible light, given the many challenges he was facing in his attempted comeback. But I can tell you for sure, not one person in that production was considering the option that they would be soon unemployed because Michael Jackson would die before the show even made its debut. Watching the video and seeing him dancing and singing, I would not have predicted that the so-called King of Pop would be gone from this world in short notice. As his story was later revealed, he had been addicted to an assortment of prescription drugs that eventually lead to his earthly demise. Michael Jackson, just a couple of years older than I am today, is dead. His music lives on, they say, but given the choice, Michael Jackson might be willing to trade his music legacy for another shot at living. That is the point. Many of us are carrying in us our death, even before dying. I am referring to a spiritual death, the part of us that will not forgive, will not forget, will not love, will not think of others first. Some are carrying the weight of guilt from past failures and disappointments. Some of us have major moral failures in our past that seemingly live themselves out before us everyday. This is the work of our Adversary, working hard to blind us all from the Light of the Creator; lest we see firsthand Gods desire and plan for our lives. Here is a prayer for us all: God, in Your infinite Power, reach into my soul, and in cooperation with the effort I give You, remove the death before dying. Give me the opportunities to right the places I have made wrong, and to accept what is mine and fiercely reject what is not.

May the accomplishments that I achieve through this process bring You the Glory. Help this be the prayer for us all. I know for many of you reading this article, you believe that Michael Jackson got exactly what he deserved. For those of you that think like that, I pray you get exactly what you have coming as well. For those of us that draw daily from the sweet waters of forgiveness, may God sweeten His judgments against us all, and reward us based on our obedience and not our accusatory actions. Gods grace is extended to all, regardless of how we feel towards each other. Today, regardless of how others feel towards you, Gods grace and forgiveness are available right now, so that none of us live a death before dying. Think deeply on these things

Dialing God
Prayer is an everyday and commonplace event in the life of Christianity. For most Christians, prayer is what we do when a need arises, a prayer service is called, or a great tragedy occurs. Prayer is when we stop talking to humans and start talking to God. Oddly, the Scriptures do not make any mention of prayer in such a light. Prayer is the connection between the Upper Worlds and us. It reaches into the Throne Room of God. It creates a conversation between the Father, who is listening, the Sprit, who is making sense out of our words, and Jesus, who is standing in for us. In the Book of Daniel, we are told that a spiritual battle fought in the heavens held back the Angel from delivering the answer to Daniel. This teaches us the importance of understanding blockages. Blockages occur when we put things over our lives, blocking out the connection of the Light of the Creator. When we sin, when we fall short, when we are controlled by our Desire to Receive for Self-Alone, we cover the Light in our lives, much like placing a blanket over a lamp in your home. The light is still on, drawing power and illuminating, but not affecting the environment around it. Some people have deeply concealed, or covered, the Light of the Creator in their lives. This explains why some people take much more time and training for them to get back on the Path, while others remove one simply obvious blockage and regain their vision. We must understand clearly that any blockage, any restriction that occurs in our lives that holds back the Light of the Creator, is in our lives as a result of our actions and choices. We are not victims. Through the power of genuine connectivity with God, we can banish the darkness and obtain the Light. Here is a prayer that I think might help. I will quiet the static that blocks my spiritual path. I see chaos and difficulties, negative energy that I have created, standing in the way of my Light Source. One by one, I remove the obstructions. As I throw them away, the Light becomes brighter and clearer. I am connected to God, the line is clear. There is an opening through which my prayers can be answered.

We must understand that our path, our growth, is for us to struggle with, work for and enjoy. We must be willing to come to our own rescue. While it is true that the Highest Wisdom has ordained us to have leaders and guides along the path, we must see how we can effect our own lives through nurturing and developing our relationship with God.

Divine Circuitry
True spirituality is about connection. The Laws of the Universe teach us many things, but one that stands out to me is this simple axiom, Nothing rises higher than its source. Regardless of what amperage or wattage a bulb might be rated to accept, it can only produce the light based on the provided current. Simply put, it cannot produce anything higher than its established connection. I am amazed with myself at times about how little connection I seem to desire, how limited my own thinking can be. I sometimes treat God like a passenger in my car, just another person along for the ride, when all the time, God desires to not be in the vehicle going places with me. God, in His Highest Wisdom, desires to be the vehicle that takes me places. Into His presence, into His Wisdom, into His world. Why would God want this? Why does He seek us out for relationship and not for religion? Because God is working a two-fold purpose in our lives; first, to mend our souls and get us back into the shape of His original plan for us, which is Paradise, a spiritual return to the Garden of Eden. Secondly, He invites us to journey with Him to repair/rectify this world to get it ready for the return of His Son, the Messiah. He knows that the ultimate fulfillment for mankind is Gods will being performed here on Earth as it is in Heaven. How is this accomplished? Through Divine Circuitry. As we share with our fellow mankind, and I mean share ruthlessly, we begin a spiritual vibration that effects the whole world. Sound far-fetched? Look at it like this, if one spark can set off a fire that can destroy thousands of acres, if a person can press one button that ignites a bomb that can blow up an entire city, why cant these events happen in the spiritual world? Because we exercise limited thinking on a daily basis. We live in a spiritual state of awareness instead of consciousness. We think all that is happening is what we see right in front of us. We use our past experiences to meter how our future will turn out. That, by the way, is the tool of the Adversary, always using our past to limit our possibilities about the future. Sounds like the Adversary works in us rather than in books and movies Consciousness tells us that this world and our work in it is more than what we see. It is a collaborative effort between God and us; He takes our efforts and multiplies them based on the intention (kavanah) of our hearts. He empowers the investment and makes it complete. God said that unless He builds it, all who labor do so in vain. Here is a prayer I use to remind myself to stay connected I will concentrate on receiving from God for the purpose of sharing.

Letting go of my desire to receive for myself alone, I allow the Light of the Creator into my realm, connecting me to the Divine Circuitry of Life. By giving and receiving with the right consciousness, for others, I will not share only that I may get something back, and I will not take from others for the wrong reasons. I will spread the Light of God and share, knowing that blessings await me and that I will get everything I need from sharing with others. You have to empty a vessel to put more into it. Empty your vessel in ruthless sharing and watch the connection between you and God strengthen and brighten. That is Divine Circuitry!

Finishing What You Start

Each of us has an opponent. Much has been written in almost every religious adherence about this enemy. More than the understanding of God, a Higher Power or a Supreme Ruler, almost all religious teachings agree on an enemy of our souls. Part of gaining victory over our opponent, which I understand and teach to be Satan, or Asatan in the Hebrew, is recognizing that he exists and looks for opportunities to torment us mentally and emotionally, which he fully understands will impede our growth spiritually and possibly misdirect us on our path. These attempts by the Adversary are not always blatant frontal attacks, with a postcard signed, This attack made possible by the Prince of Darkness. His attacks work inside our ego, the regular grain of our existence. One big area he must operate in is our past. No portion of Scripture tells us that the Adversary has the knowledge or ability to know the future. So, he throws the past in our face to blind us from the Light of the Creator. Unfinished tasks or goals are one of his favorite playgrounds. Unfulfilled promises, missed opportunities, being late to an event, forgetting a birthday, all these situations create the opening he needs to remind us of what total failures we are. To squelch his attacks, we need to become finishers. Many people can start well, but there is great power in finishing well. The Apostle Paul addresses finishing well in the closing days of his life. Finishing well brings Glory to God, the sense of accomplishment and finality to you, and closes the door to the Adversary. It is one thing to meet your goals when someone is standing over you shouting, Get it Done! But true spiritual growth, true connection with God gives us the ability to be our own drill instructor, to carry out the tasks we have in our life to help mend our souls and help repair this world. Gods plan for us is with His help, to work through our spiritual growth ourselves, gaining the valuable lessons from our experiences. The good news, the great news is, that God, in His Highest Wisdom, accords us a Helper. This Helper was addressed in the teachings of Jesus as the part of God that will guide us. This Spirit of God, the Ruach HaKodesh, will give us the strength and direction to not only start well, but to finish well. We need to fearlessly and shamelessly evoke the Spirits influence in our life, making the Spirit of God a welcomed part of our development. Here is a practical prayer to help us get started in finishing well

(Think of an unfinished project that is an obstacle in your life. Decide you are going to finish it and follow through, and begin this prayer) I see the unfinished project/work in front of me. I am going to complete (enter it here), as I visualize myself (enter the process fro completion here). I feel frustration and procrastination drifting away. I am getting closer to completing my goal. With each breath I take, I feel the Spirit of God strengthening me on my path. I feel stronger, as the fiery darts of the Adversary are being rejected by my partnership with the Holy Spirit, who is guiding me to completion and certainty. Laziness and doubt are gone, and I see myself fulfilled, creating more spiritual space for more of Gods Spirit and even greater future accomplishments.

Lowes hardware store has a motto that says, Lets Build Something Together. It is a great sounding motto, because once you buy their building products, they do not care whether you finish or not. Out motto for attaining the Light of the Creator should be, God, lets finish this together. I hope this helps

Following the Path of Jesus

There is a vital and important difference between knowing Jesus and knowing about Jesus. I have never met anyone who has not heard about Jesus, and more to the point, does not have an opinion about Him. There is knowledge about Jesus available at churches, study centers, Internet and many other available resources. But knowing of Jesus, as in second hand sharing of information, is not what He spoke about. His entrance into this world was not to introduce a new religion that discusses principles of a system of belief. He came to bring hope to the hopeless, at a time when hopelessness was a national possession. Jesus told us very little about Himself, and those mysteries still plague followers and scholars alike. He emerged from a virgin birth, which never is retold in any part of the Gospels except for the actual birth narratives), his family fled to Egypt to avoid a persecution of Hebrew male children that is not recorded in any historical writings of the day, He stayed mainly in smaller populated areas, and His earthly father, Joseph, seemingly vanishes off the map. Jesus did not feel He needed to explain any of these mysteries about Himself. He focused His message on the connection between God and Himself, giving us the path to have that same kind of relationship with God that Jesus maintained. He was a Rabbi of the people, with His only obvious loyalty being to His Father. Some 2,000 years later, Jesus is the recipient of the greatest hijacking in religious history. An unbelievable religious institution (or two, or three) has formed that gathers adherents, collects tithes, holds services and ceremonies, and details what the followers of Jesus do and do not do. The iconography assigned to Him is not even close to the actual picture of the Man from Galilee, and many of the teachings and sayings attributed to Him are not any words or thoughts He would have had as a First Century Jew. From the millions of dollars in buildings and real estate named after Him, to the billion dollar enterprises known as non-profits all the way down to the book and music industry, raking millions in revenue while yielding very little return to the needy, disenfranchised and broken, Jesus has become a religious brand name. The good news is He is more popular than Diet Coke or the Beatles. The bad news is this: Thats not Jesus. I know there are many arguments dividing the Christian religion, but even with those arguments aside, we have created a legend about Jesus and not a reality. Our spiritual landscape is more concerned with awareness than

consciousness. Christians are on the Path of Christianity, and in turn, missing the Path of Jesus. The faith has become a lesson in missing the point. While Christianity is battling to keep itself as the moral police of this country (and any other country), millions suffer and die from disease that could be prevented, illiteracy that could be reversed, poverty that could be relieved, and a host of social challenges and problems that have led the United States to a new world record holder-we are the most medicated society in the history of the world. God bless the churches that have re-invested their money into the needs of their communities rather than air-conditioning. God bless the study centers that operate with 80-85% volunteer staff so that more monies can go to meet needs. What moral evils did Jesus battle? What was His hot button? A religious society that turned its nose at the poor and needy and continued to build temples with human hands, that God stated clearly He does not occupy. A brief reading of Matthew 25 should put the priorities of Jesus in clear view. His path is no longer the Path of Christianity. While Christians often lament the Jews of Jesus time for being religious hypocrites (a subject for another time) they miss the plain and obvious truth: We are the religious hypocrites of our day. Here are a few simple road-signs to tell you if you might be on the wrong path: 1) When answers to your questions are responded to with Because it is Written or I have a degree in systematic theology, you are on the wrong path. 2) When the message of Paul outweighs the message of Jesus, you are on the wrong path. 3) When they need more money for a building fund and the missions fund has not grown in years, you are on the wrong path. 4) When you are told how and what to vote, you are on the wrong path. 5) If your churchs idea of social action is a pancake breakfast, you are on the wrong path. 6) If you paid $25.00 to hear your favorite Christian band play so you can be filled with the Spirit, you are on the wrong path. 7) If your faith-healing preacher were bald, wouldnt he have the power from God to re-grow his hair? You are on the wrong path.

Getting Past Our Past

Have you ever forgot something? Maybe something important, like a birthday or maybe picking up your kid(s) from school? How did you feel? How well did your focus become when you realized what had happened and what you needed to do to correct the situation? I bet you stayed with it until you solved it. Afterwards, we beat ourselves up for hours, days or weeks about forgetting this important thing. Forgetfulness is the gift that keeps on giving. We will work hard to remember what we forgot. Oddly, we create this friction in our life, remembering the things we forgot, instead of forgetting the things we remember What do I mean? Think how very different people we would be if we woke up tomorrow and had no past memory of events. The slate would be clean and we would have to start the hard work of re-training ourselves in almost every phase of our lives. From the workplace to the bedroom, from relationships to hobbies, every fiber of our being would have to start over, a virtual re-boot. In some cases, I am not sure this is a bad idea, or more to the point, a Scriptural idea. If Jesus truly does what the Apostle Paul states, making all things new, then a new start seems to be the answer to spiritual transformation. The key to this is understanding the concept of your movie. Part of the hard spiritual work we must all do is to be on the pathway of the Light while moving away from our previous life of Darkness. They key element is to know what to take with you and what to leave behind. When issues and challenges arise, we must stop the action and ask the question, Why is this in my Movie? The Master Producer, who knows exactly what your film should be like, designed your movie. You must make the difficult ongoing edits, bringing the most Light into your life and repelling the Darkness at every opportunity. Our Desire to Receive for Self-Alone will keep trying to bring Darkness into your movie, but remember; you are not a victim of chance. You can reject the Darkness and receive the Light by employing the Desire to Receive for the Sake of Others. Each time you make the right choice, your connection to the Creator becomes stronger and the negative influences of your past move away from you. Getting past our past is about two things: creating a present reality where we do not remake the same decisions we made before and telling our Ego to stop bringing the past memories of Darkness to our minds. Stay Connected!

Heaven on Earth
It may sound like a tall order, bringing heaven here to earth, but would you be surprised to learn that in the most quoted and revered prayer in Christianity there is a secret message of Jesus that gives this instruction? Would you be even more surprised to learn that this prayer has a major Jewish teaching at its very core? In what is normally known among Christians as The Lords Prayer, Jesus instructs His followers to pray that Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Probably a very familiar line in this prayer to most people, but its depth is endless. In Judaism, the concept of Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) is a very important part of Jewish life and teaching. As a Messianic Minister, I believe we should focus on helping this world become the place Messiah would want to return to. Our focus today had become so much on the destruction of the world at the end of the age; very little effort is going into its rescue. This was not what Jesus had in mind for His followers. By working hard on our personal transformation, utilizing the spiritual practices and disciplines we have talked about in the past, we can start to become an influence in this world and the lives of others. People often say to me, The world is in too big a mess. What can my single efforts do? This is a good question, which I will answer with a story. If your house was on fire, and you had the opportunity to go in and save a few of your pictures and your valuables, but not save everything in your home, would you say to yourself, I cannot save everything, so I choose to save nothing? Or would you risk safety to get out as much as you can? The answer is obvious and a very telling part of our faith. We would do it for ourselves, but not for the benefit of others. Here is a prayer to help us focus on the command of Jesus in The Lords Prayer.. I will experience heaven here on earth- I will work hard to spiritually transform and help usher the Return of Messiah to end the pain and suffering of this world I want to change my state of mind As I block out petty misunderstandings and frustrations, I allow more Light of the Creator into my soul As I concentrate on the changes that I will make internally, I help spread that Light of God around, and we move closer to Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) The Light of the Creator burns within me, and I feed it by sharing with others, always, with everyone, throughout the world.

Make a difference today in this world and you could be the final act of kindness before Jesus returns to set the world right, to make it all God had planned in the Garden of Eden. Get caught in the act of doing Good

Looking Inward
What did Jesus really teach? If we could condense down the few words of historical records we have of Jesus, what would they tell us? If we removed 2,000 years of Western/Christian thought, and let them speak for themselves, what would be their primary message? Face it, if we crunched all the words of Jesus down into a straight reading, we would find we have about four hours of sayings attributed to Him, a man who lived some thirty-something years. This is a very small case-sample and one we should take very seriously, both in thought and practice. The teachings of Jesus fall into two categories, one of which will be the subject of our article. Jesus taught to be pure, honest and sincere in our lives, faith and practice. Look inward was one of His messages. His other message was quite simple: take care of each other. I believe the greatest weapon of mass-destruction and mass-distraction is our current religions and religiosity. This is not a Christian thing, a Muslim thing, a Mormon thing; it is simply a religious thing. And, I believe it is time to speak out. While Christians are accusing Muslims of flying planes into buildings for the sake of Allah, Muslims are quick to remind Christians that not many Muslims have attacked an abortion clinic or shot any doctors down in the street. Mormons announce that there are sects within Mormonism that conduct themselves outside of normal Mormon policy and practioners of Scientology are found jumping up and down on Oprahs couch. What does this all mean? It means that todays religious landscape is more occupied with the actions of other religious groups than actualizing any true or meaningful difference in the lives of the people around them. From my view, the faster we push this religious landscape and all of its useless dogma into the Pacific Ocean, the better. A return to a Godly nation (huge religious buzz-phrase) must first start with removing godless religions, hell-bent on profiting from their products and pulpits. Worth Noting: Godly nations are people united in service to the Kingdom of God and not allegiance to any earthly flag. Most people quote the Lords Prayer missing the depth and beauty of its mystic and profoundly moving narrative. Jesus requests that our prayers include the idea that on this Earth, Gods will be done, in the same manner as it is in Heaven. A tall order, but one Jesus felt we were equipped to carry out.

He also knew this mission would be carried out by individuals and not by corporate bodies. That explains His teachings on personal accountability and responsibility to God, and in the same manner, to Jesus as well. In truth, in His recorded teachings, Jesus never advises any one to go seek out a pastor, a rabbi or any spiritual advisor. He states clearly we are to communicate directly with God. Only in the case of rabbinic law and ruling does He mention outside intervention (case in point, the healing of the lepers). The carrying out of Jesus prayer starts with individuals doing what Jesus said. We are here to perform two main tasks: 1) To mend our souls and 2) To help God in the task of repairing this world. Religion preaches the eventual destruction of the world, spirituality teaches the eventual perfection of it. Religious people look forward to the unjust getting their due while spiritual people mourn the loss of all life, participating actively in practicing and not preaching the words of Jesus. Jesus taught on two paths, one that leads to peace and eternal life, the other leads to destruction. He did not teach that doctrines get you there, religious fervor gets you there, or that there will be some kind of an entry exam ensuring you believe all the right things. In Matthew 25 He spelled it out clearly; do these things-and I know you. Do not do these things, and I do not know you. We are not perfect, we all struggle, God knows I struggle. But each day, I seek to be better that the day before and look for a trait or action that is keeping me from the Light of the Creator and challenge myself to take action. Here is a prayer I use A revolution is possible. On a personal and global scale, I can change the world and in accordance to the words of Jesus in the Lords Prayer, I will. I concentrate on increasing the happiness in my own life, finding peace and contentment in what I have, and not focusing on what I think I lack. I do this so I can be better equipped to share with others, thus fulfilling my second greatest purpose in life. There are traits of mine I want to let go. (Enter those traits here) As Light spreads within me, occupying the space created by releasing these negative traits, I grasp the connection of the Creator. I imagine love spreading to everyone in the Universe.

I look into the world and see changes that need to be made, and know that they are a reflection of what I must do internally. I concentrate on letting peace into me heart, and allowing it to radiate throughout the world. Transform. Wake up to the idea the true mediator between God and man in Jesus, not a religious leader. Get connected personally and develop personally. As I have said before, people are not born in bunches, they do not develop in bunches and they are not saved in bunches. Pick your path and allow God, in His Highest Wisdom, to guide you. Remember, keep looking inward, that is the place you will find God at work!

Making Miracles
Regardless of what spiritual path you may be on, almost all paths talk about the possibility of miracles. Some miracles come in the form of supernatural events, like the parting of the Red Sea or when Peter walked on the water. Many of the Pseudagraphia written some 200 years after Jesus contained lists of incredible miracles performed by His Apostles to show their powers, often elevating one Apostle over another. Other miracles are of a more intimate nature, like a personal healing from a sickness or a dire spiritual disease. All these miracles require something outside of the normal day-to-day operations of the physical reality. They seem to attract the attention of poets, authors and readers alike with their effects. Sadly, some of the greatest miracles go unnoticed. The day you were born is a great miracle, as a soul created by God took human form and brought with it all the joy, love and hope your life has become. Many have shared your miracle and you have contributed to the miracles in the lives of others. You may not see your daily miracles as miraculous as the Parting of the Red Sea, but they are miracles all the same. Every blooming flower and every sunrise/sunset are miracles. Every laugh that erupts from the heart of a child is a miracle. Waking up this morning and being alive and aware is a miracle, one that did not happen for everyone who went to sleep last night. In trying to find a common definition for a miracle, I hope this helps. I define miracles as a demonstrations of energy from a spiritual or meta-physical source, obviously beyond a parlor trick, that is not explained by physical means. As a follower of Jesus, I believe this energy comes directly from Him, through the Light. What is worth noting is that this energy is always available. Our spiritual path is not about reigning down Gods power like some kind of a religious King Kong event, waiting for Him to come eat our sacrifices. The fact is, His energy is available and ready all the time and in every place of our lives. Miracles are not about bringing a special connection with God, they are about being the miracle ourselves. Who creates miracles? We do! Who empowers them? God does! The whole point of us being here on this earth is to work in partnership with God, helping to rectify the world and return it to its original state, the Garden of Eden. So there are a few touch-points to remember: 1) Look around and see the daily miracles happening and thank the Creator for His silent signs that show us He is watching and engaged in our lives. 2) Be the Cause and not just an Effect.

Create a miracle by tapping into the Light of the Creator and open the opportunity for the miraculous. Stay Connected!

Mopping Up-Removing the Remnants

We have all fought and won major spiritual victories along the path. Some of the battles were long and hard fought; others were quick and decisive. Regardless of the degree of your fight, you remember the battle because of the toll it had on you, both during the battle and the immediate aftermath. God, in His Highest Wisdom, wrote these battles into the script of our lives, our movie, to provide a certain element of resistance. This resistance, call it Ego, The Adversary, the Satan, is a vital part of our growth. If the path was easy and no effort was required, what satisfaction would these battle victories bring? What tools would be required (or needed) to fight these fights? God designed us with the desire to receive. His desire is to share. By sharing Himself with us, we transform from beings that desire only to receive into beings that desire to share. This transformation is the whole purpose of our existence and the only source of true fulfillment. After the victory, when the battle ceases to rage, a period of celebration occurs. This is a healthy and smart practice. We should take the time to measure the accomplishment and give thanks to God for His empowerment to carry us through. Remember; God is working in partnership with us, not performing requested duties. If God lowers you a rope, you must reach out and grab hold, you must participate in your rescue. However, little focus is given to the clean up operations. There could be snipers still posted on the battlefield, either unaware the battle is over or desiring out of the spite of their defeat, to cause one more causality. A comprehensive sweep of the area must be conducted immediately and daily sweeps should be followed through. This eliminates a foothold for the Evil Inclination to try and restart the war. Here is an example. In the case of a martial infidelity, tensions in the home run high. Should the woman decide to extend forgiveness and the man is willing to submit to correction and guidance, the marriage has the opportunity to heal. But what about when the Evil One decides to cast doubt on the situation, by either telling the man that his forgiveness is not genuine or telling the woman he will revert back to his previous ways? Enter in the sweeping activity. When he goes to work, when he leaves to run errands, he willingly submits to her desire to check up on him, giving her complete freedom to his work, his phone, his e-mails. His life becomes an open book, removing the power of doubt and thus crippling the Adversary. The Adversary is not in books, or in movies, or even embodied by Harry Potter. He is in us, looking for the opportunity to return us to the limited thinking that enslaved us before.

Here is a prayer for sweeping the landmines left by battle and creating a deeper connection with the Light. I can drive all of the negative forces from my environment. As I concentrate on my life, my sacred space, my soul, Light pushes away the evil residue, and now my environment is free from any negative forces that might have been lurking here. I feel the security and openness of a house indwelled by God, and the world around me feels pure. In partnership with God, all things are possible. He gave us the desire to receive from Him, His fullness and His Light. Clean the battlefield and remove the renegade forces of evil that have their own desires: your destruction. May the Peace of God dwell richly in you! PS> As mentioned in other articles, the prayers listed in my articles are adapted from Yehuda Bergs book, The 72 Names of God. For further information, you can visit http://www.yehudaberg.com

Removing Hatred

It must be a very painful shock to our lives when someone who seems very healthy, very strong, takes a sudden turn for the worse and either suffer a major illness over a long period of time, passes away, or both. We struggle to understand how this person changed so quickly and so dramatically. In any event, it is a shock to our system. In some cases, the befallen person may have had an idea something was wrong. A certain pain while walking, a tightening in the chest, a moment of dizziness, or a spreading sore. We often try to pretend these health issues are not affecting us, we find ways of working around them, we avoid going places or doing things that would aggravate the condition. This often leads the people in our lives to wonder if we are ok, to wonder if we do not want to be around them, are we anti-social If you are a person with the health problems we have been discussing, as soon as you finish reading this article, invest in yourself what the Creator has invested and go get the help you need. For the rest of us, read on! The Rabbis and Sages teach, As it is below, it is above. Simply put, the physical realm and the spiritual realm are trains running on parallel tracks. Our spiritual health can be falling off, greatly impacted by a sickness in the soul, that one day leads us to a spiritual death. I believe this was what the Apostle Paul was referring to when he said A sickness that leads unto death. Some of the most deadly physical diseases are ones that are genetically passed down to us. Disease like diabetes, types of cancer and many other sicknesss are handed down to us through our bloodline. Other types of diseases can be found in the air we breathe, transfers of fluid, or contact with contagious materials. The disease of the spiritual world is not much different. The Scriptures address generational sins, cultural sins and a general state of evil in this world. All these serve as potential influences in our lives, creating obstacles and hindrances that block out or minimize the Light of the Creator in our lives and on our path. Of these sins, one with the most destructive qualities is hatred. Hatred of others and their actions dates all the way back in Biblical history to the first set of children born outside the Garden of Eden. The Torah (first five books of the Bible) tells us that the shedding of blood, which in Hebrew means, bringing blood to the face as in anger, hatred or humiliation is punishable by death. Quite a heavy consequence. For hatred to operate, it must be internalized. For some people, this process of internalizing their hatred is like a cancer eating away at their spiritual life.

They cannot understand why God seems distant or even absent from their prayers and activities. James told us to say we love God and hate our brother is simply the life of a lie. Because hatred is internalized, the person that hates is much more impacted than the person whom is hated. This hatred eventually becomes a fuel that drives the person to take action on their hateful feelings, often on other people than the object of their hatred. This expression of hatred is called wrath in the Scriptures. Just like the physically sick person needs to seek out a doctor, the spiritually sick person needs to seek out the Creator. All of us need to have hatred removed from our hearts with surgical precision. Only through the help of God can we overcome the grip of hatred in our souls. This is not an easy process. Hate is so much easier to hang onto than love, because hate does not require that you know the person, group or situation deeply. A lot of people hate others for the color of their skin, without ever speaking a word to them. Love, however, takes knowledge and the more intimate the knowledge, the more intimate the love! To release hatred from us toward another person, we must first admit that we have hatred in our hearts and that it is blocking our connection to the Light of God. Secondly, we need to verbalize our desire to remove the hatred. Here is a prayer I suggest I am going to be honest and clear and remove hatred from my heart. I feel (enter the emotion or feeling here: hatred, envy, malice, etc) toward (enter the persons name or the groups name here) and I desire in the core of my being to let it go. As Light fills my heart and soul, Light coming through the area I am opening up through the releasing of my hatred, disgust and intolerance drift away, and are replaced by compassion and understanding. I am filled with love; the negative forces are dropped from within. I feel love for all people around me, and release hatred from my soul. To be truly free from hatred also means to truly stop hating. In order to win this spiritual battle, remember two important steps: 1) God, in His Highest Wisdom, will place opportunity after opportunity for you to practice not employing hatred, so do not be surprised. 2) While God will empower you to win the battle against your hatred, He also expects you to be an active participant.

Starting Your Day- At Night!

In the Creation Story, there are hundreds of subtle yet meaningful clues as to the Master of the Universe and His soon coming intervention in Human History. The text is loaded with spiritual and messianic overtones, which, with some careful and studious observations, can bring out sections of the text that for most people, lay dormant. One such noteworthy development is the fact the Darkness preceded the Light. This is one of the reasons that in Judaism, the holidays and Sabbath start in the evening, staying consistent with the Biblical Creation Story. This is also a great spiritual truth present in our daily lives. We often find that through the challenges we face, some of our biggest times of growth come while battling the Darkness. As tough as it may be to hear, God, in His Highest Wisdom, decreed this Darkness and placed this Opponent in our lives to create resistance to our pursuit of the Light of the Creator. Simply put, without the Darkness pushing back on us, placing these obstacles in our path, we would go through this life winning every game, achieving every spiritual height, yet being completely unsatisfied and unfulfilled in our life. Also, this Darkness reminds us of our constant need of God. This life is a partnership with God, as we strive to do the spiritual work and stay connected to Him, He provides the empowerment and fulfillment to keep us focused. We come to our own rescue, He provides the boat! One of the ways we can bring a spiritual tool from the Creation Story into our practice is to realize that the day starts Tonight! Echoing the Psalmist David, who says, He restores my soul, and the old nursery rhyme, Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, Christianity and Judaism alike share a common thought about God working on our souls while we sleep. I support this thought and practice because it promotes faith (certainty) in God. You must believe He exists in order to believe He watches over your soul. But beyond that, I believe that we can invite God to not just watch over our souls at night, but to refresh and restore our souls, as the Psalmist records. We push so hard during the day, that evenings can become a time of escape, and that is not such a bad thing. But as we prepare to retire, how much effort do we place in strengthening the connection between the Creator and us? Do we ask Him for blessed sleep and rest? Here is a prayer for those moments before we retire, asking God to give us His kind of rest I am at peace.

As I fall asleep, I clear my mind and allow the Light of the Creator into my dreams. My soul is open to the truth, to love, I feel its ascension. Letting go of daily chaos, renewal is mine. I awake in the morning elevated and recharged. My hope and prayer for us all is to daily (ok, evening) be recharged and renewed, prepared to face the Darkness. Remember, the Darkness has only one goal: covering your vision from seeing the Light! But even in our dreams and sleep, we can maintain our connection and limit the effect of Darkness in our life and on our path. PS> many people have asked me about the prayer sections I include in my articles. This is material taken from the book, The 72 Names of God, written by Yehuda Berg. Excellent devotional material and I highly recommend it.

Sweetening Judgment
In the town I grew up, flying objects were quite the rage. La Mirada, CA, hosted many Disc Golf Championships, Ultimate Frisbee Competitions and not to be forgotten, the fan favorite, the dog events. I spent more than a few days at the park in marvel of these athletes. One of my favorites events was the boomerang toss. These guys would toss these boomerangs 300 feet or more, and watch them turn around and come right back. It was amazing to see happen. They could speed them up, so they would return faster, they could also slow down the throw, and the boomerang would fly back slower. At the end of the day, the boomerang always came back. Our good deeds and misdeeds are just like the boomerang. As the Scriptures say, when you cast your bread out on the waters, it will come back to you. The part that often deceives us is the principle of time and space. God, the Creator, did not orchestrate rewards and consequences built on time and space. This helps us understand why sometimes when we do good, evil prevails and when we misbehave, good things happen to us. Because God is the God of Grace, He sees our efforts today and can lessen or sweeten the judgments coming against us. By being the people today we should have been yesterday, and all the days before, we can participate in our own rescue. We can influence the Divine Judge to consider us favorably. What a powerful and amazing concept. To be sure, we must accept accountability for our actions and stop blaming Adam. But we can also be part of spiritual time-travel, reaching back in our past and sweetening the judgment of our actions as the consequences are being prepared for delivery in our future. God loves us and wants us to learn from our mistakes, but also He wants us to earn our stripes. Evil is in this world for us to banish, so that we grow and transform into the original design the Creator has for us. Here is a prayer for Sweetening Judgment: I will spread love for no reason I will resist my tendencies toward judgment. As I look back on negative words or deeds from my past, I replace them with the Light and Compassion of the Creator. In doing so, I am participating in sending positive forces out into the Universe to replace the negative ones at play. I will look upon others with compassion-sweetening the judgments-as they come my way.

I hope we can all see that playing the sin nature victim will not help any of us. We must accept the accountability of our actions and realize that we can be positive agents of change for not only our lives, but for all the people connected to us. Make this the day you prayed for.

Epilogue
I hope that this short trip through the sacred space devotionals has been a blessing and a challenge. But every time someone says to me, That lesson was a blessing, that sermon was a blessing, that prayer was such a blessing, I often wonder what they were blessed to do? Take what you have read and learned here on your own journey. Stay connected to the Light of the Creator so that your pathway will be bright and highly visible. As mentioned in the start of this e-book, feel free to contact me with your comments, ideas and suggestions. Peace, Love and Light!

David

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