How I Used Truth - Lesson 5 - Annotation 8
What governs the outpouring of divine substance in our life? What inhibits its flow?
8. Our receptivity to God ideas, through faith in God as the source of good, governs the outpouring of divine substance in our life. Our inability to give or share substance inhibits its flow. The text points out on pages 62 and 63 that
"You can neither receive it indolently, or retain it selfishly. . . . Our giving is our only safety valve" (How I Used Truth 62).
It is obvious that if we receive substance and retain it, its flow will be inhibited. There will be no room in consciousness or in our outer life to receive more. Very often substance is retained only through fear. Once we have perception of the true source of our supply, and our right to it under divine law, there will be no attempt to hold back out of fear. Instead we will share wisely, joyously, and generously.
"There is that scattereth, and increaseth yet more; And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth only to want" (Prov. 11:24).
The Spirit of God in us is ready to pour into our mind an abundance of divine ideas to fulfill our needs. These ideas are ours without limitation, but they can only express and manifest in our life as we accept them and use them. Our acceptance of ideas is determined by our receptivity to them, and by the degree of faith we have that God substance is ours by divine right.
As freewill beings, we may either accept or reject the substance God has for us. If through lack of conscious faith we are not receptive to substance, it cannot fulfill the needs of our life. Substance is never taken away or withheld from us, for in it we "live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28), because God Himself is substance. We live and move in the air about us, but the amount of air that enters our lungs to keep our body healthy is determined by the process of inhalation. Thus our "breathing in" governs the inflow of air to our lungs. The exhalation or "outbreathing" will follow as a matter of course. In the same way our "inbreathing" or receptivity to God substance governs its inflow into our human experience as life, power, love, faith, understanding, joy, peace and so forth. These ideas in turn become clothed in visible substance to meet our varying requirements. When we are in prayer we are experiencing this "inbreathing" or inspiration of God. The giving of what we have received must follow. When our minds are cluttered by worry, fear, anxiety, frustration, doubt, then we cannot make contact with the substance of God.
"There is no scarcity of the air you breathe. There is plenty of air, all you will ever need, but if you close your lungs and refuse to breathe, you will not get it and may suffocate for 'lack' of air. When you recognize the presence of abundance of air and open your lungs to breathe it deeply, you get a larger inspiration. This is exactly what you should do with your mind in regard to substance. There is an all-sufficiency of all things, just as there is an all-sufficiency of air. The only lack there is is our own lack of appropriation" (Prosperity 15).
Perhaps our first true "giving" is when we yield or give ourselves to God in prayer that the "breath of the Almighty" (Job 32:8) might flow into and through us as the substance needed to fulfill our life and the lives of those around us. Our giving to others will be wisely directed when we have first turned to God for His guidance.
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Preceding Entry: Is it safe to teach that supply is a "gift" and does not depend only on the labor of head or hands?
Following Entry: In its true sense, what is work?
