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Unity Church of Castro Valley

Sunday Message for January 21, 2007

I Will Live in Joy

We spend so much of our time trying to heal our physical ills and praying to God for help.  We spend so much of our time asking God to give us the things that we think we need.  We spend our time in drama, trauma, resentment, and hurt.  We are so focused on fixing everything that is wrong that we are blind to what may be right.

Take stock right now.  Are you alive?  Give thanks for life!  Are you breathing?  Give thanks for the air that nurtures your body.  Can you hear me talking?  Give thanks for the ability to hear.  Can you see me standing here?  Give thanks for the ability to see.

How did you get here this morning?  So, you have a method of transportation – even if it is just the ability to walk.  You have clothes on your body, so you have a wardrobe to clothe you.  Some of you have cell phones, I know because I have heard them.  Some of you have computers at home, I know because I have emailed you.

If you really take stock of what you have, who you are, and the opportunities you have to live free – you have to admit that you live better than most on this planet.  So, why are you not joyful?

BECAUSE YOU DID NOT SERVE JOYFULLY…

(Deuteronomy 28:47-48) “Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and lack of everything.”

So who are these enemies that we are serving?  We are serving the Gods of illness, lack, hunger, and depression.  Last week I briefly mentioned the seven enemies, they are the seven sins: pride, anger, lust, covetousness, envy, gluttony and sloth.

We may think that we could live joyfully if it wasn’t for all those other people who are such idiots.  People who we work with that just can’t do things right; or do things the way we think they should be done.  All those people we have to go to church with that don’t dress right, or act the way we think they should.

This is the enemy of pride.  We think that we are better than others.  But the deep, dark secret of those who are prideful is that they actually have a problem with self-respect and self-love.  Their greatest fear is that someone should judge them as not good enough.

Another one of the enemies to living joyfully is anger.  You cannot hold anger and joy at the same time.  What, really, do you have to be angry about?

Do you get angry when people say something bad to you?  Why?  If a person is being an idiot – why is it any concern to you?  If you are comfortable within yourself, no one else should be able to anger you.  All you need do is to look at them as if they were insane, and say to yourself, “Isn’t that interesting that they need to act that way.”

And then there is the enemy of lust.  What do you lust after?  Because you are making it a God to be worshipped.  There are those who lust after alcohol, clothes, jewelry, sex, money or status.  Take a good look at what it is that you lust after – because it is the thing that you are putting before God and before being joyful.  Whatever it is that is consuming your life is getting in the way of your joy.

Then the enemy of covetousness is very similar to lust.  But, to covet something you have to come from a consciousness of lack.  If you knew that God provides everything you might need, you would have no reason to covet what others have.

Next is the enemy of envy.  Envy is nothing but a distraction.  If you are busy envying others, you are merely distracting yourself from your own spiritual growth.  Your focus should be within yourself – not out there somewhere.  We are each individual children of God, unique in our own ways.  There is no way to compare yourself to another unique individual.  When we appreciate ourselves, just the way we are, we have no room for envy.

Then there is gluttony.  Gluttony is more than just food.  It is about being insatiable about anything.  Too much fat in your diet and you have cholesterol problems.  Too much sugar and you risk diabetes.  I think it was Ben Franklin that said, “Everything in moderation.”

And then there is sloth.  You suffer from this enemy of sloth if you never organize your time to do the things that are important.  We need to consciously take the time to do our spiritual work every day.  Prayer and meditation every day keeps you fit to resist the rest of the enemies.  When problems do occur, we handle them better when we are ‘prayed up.’

It says in the Bible, (Exodus 23:22) "But if you listen attentively to God’s voice and do all that He says, then He will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes." (Exodus 23:27) "He will send His terror in front of you, and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and He will make all your enemies turn their backs to you." (Leviticus 26:7) "You shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword."

So, merely by turning to God we can wipe out the enemies that we have fought against and start to live in joy.

MAKE A DECISION FOR JOY

Start by recognizing who those enemies within you are.  You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.  So take a long, hard look at what you are doing now in your life.  Then make a decision to change those things that are not bringing you joy.

Susan Jeffers recommends these eight tips for change:

1. Build your sense of trust in yourself.  Your first task is to build the trust that whatever happens in your life, you can handle it all.  When you know that you can handle it, you learn from it, grow from it, and emerge victorious.

2. Do your very best, then let go of the outcome.  Develop the trust that it’s all happening perfectly.  Find a way to be enriched by whatever life brings you.

3. Stop complaining.  Complaining is a big clue that you are not taking responsibility for your experience of life. See life’s obstacles as opportunities opening the door to growth.

4. Feel the fear and do it anyway.  We often think that we will do it when we are not so afraid. But in reality the doing comes before the fear goes away. Action is the key.

5. When making decisions adopt the “no-lose” philosophy.  You can’t lose regardless of the outcome of the decisions you make.  If you learn through your mistakes, then there are no mistakes.  So all your decisions are the right decisions.

6. Know that you count.  Your presence in this world makes a difference.  If you don’t know this, then act as if you did.  Ask yourself, “What would I be doing if I were really important here?”

7. Commit 100% to all areas of your life.  Whether you are at work, at home, or volunteering at church give it all you’ve got.  When you commit to giving 100% your sense of focus, excitement, participation, enjoyment, fulfillment, and happiness come alive.

8. Say “thank you” a lot.  These words can help you appreciate and focus on all the good that is around you.

Do whatever you need to do to change your everyday habits to something positive.  Study Charles Fillmore’s book on the twelve attributes of man.  Or pick up a one of the Shift games in our bookstore which gives you a fun way of looking at your thinking.

Then start to change your attitude and your habits of life.  Pray more.  Take your problems to God more.  Forgive more.  Be more grateful for what you have.  It says in (Nehemiah 8:10) "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

MEMBERSHIP INSTALLATION

And now I would like to welcome two new members to our church.  Would the Board of Trustees please come to the front!  And I would like to invite Percy Amos and Hank Rivera to also come to the front. 

(Matthew 18:20) “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

(to applicants)  For Unity membership, there are no requirements other than a desire to know God, and to unfold spirituality.

We offer no prescribed doctrine or creed other than to seek the Truth and to follow the only commandments Jesus gave us which are: (Mark 12:30-31) “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” And "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

We unite so that we have a place to work together, a community in which to commit so that we may help one another – in prayers, in thoughts, in spiritual powers, for in this manner we strive to become a force for good.

In our unity of purpose and our love of God and as dedicated students of Truth, we believe that the revealing of Truth (direct from Spirit) is the rock on which the one and only Church of Christ is built.

We believe that the church is not really a place, but always a people; never a sacred building, but always a believing assembly.  The church is you who pray, not where you pray.

All things are sacred in this world.  The only true sanctuary to God is the soul.

Christ consciousness is the head of this assembly, and the only true organization in Spirit.  (John 4:24) “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Unity means oneness.  We create this unity by bringing with us our various backgrounds to blend together in the name of the living Christ consciousness.

Friends in Christ, as minister of this church, it is my privilege, on behalf of its membership, to receive you into the full and active membership of this church, extending to you the right hand of fellowship.  God bless you!

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

SCRIPTURE: Psalms 16:11; Deuteronomy 28:47-48;Exodus 23:22; Exodus 23:27; Leviticus 26:7; Nehemiah 8:10;
            Matthew 18:20; Mark 12:30-31; John 4:24

REFERENCES: Susan Jeffers, Ph.D Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

Last updated January 21, 2007