Unity Church of Castro Valley
Sunday Message for September 2, 2007
The Persistent Millionaire, Jacob II
Today, in our series on the millionaires in the Bible, we are continuing our talk about the persistent millionaire, Jacob. We left Jacob, last week, working for his uncle Laban.
HOW PICTURING MADE THEM RICH
Jacob asked for a financial settlement from his uncle because he wanted to return home. His uncle didn't want to free him because Jacob was making Laban rich. Laban asked Jacob to state his wage. Jacob asked for all the speckled and spotted cattle that would be born in the flock, so that he could start his own herd and begin to feel financially independent.
Laban agreed that Jacob was to have all the future spotted cattle that were born for his own herd. It soon became apparent that Laban had no intention of sharing his flock with Jacob, even though Jacob had made him rich. Instead, Laban secretly ordered the spotted female animals removed from the flock, leaving only the plain ones which he assumed would reproduce plain cattle.
To keep from being cheated out of his good, Jacob used the picturing power of the mind. (Abraham had used this same prosperity principle when he had been cheated out of the fertile land by Lot.) Jacob took fresh poplar rods and peeled some white streaks in them. He placed these streaked rods around the watering troughs where the herd conceived, and they brought forth ring-streaked, speckled cattle.
Jacob proved that you can picture your good and have it quietly come to you regardless of what others about you are saying or doing.
Jacob increased his uncle's flock first, and then his own, through imaging. He reminded his uncle, (Genesis 30:30) "For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly; and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned."
When your good is withheld from you, instead of fighting, arguing, or trying to reason with anyone to make it come to pass, just picture the desired results. As Jacob proved, you can image your good and bring it through rather than trying to reason it through or force it through. You can hasten your good through picturing it!
Imaging was a well-known success technique among the ancient people. The wealth Jacob acquired through the picturing power of the mind is described: (Genesis 30:43) "Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, and male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys."
HOW A FATHER MADE COMEBACK AFTER DAUGHTER'S DEATH
There was a businessman who was heartbroken over the death of his daughter. He had been unable to pull himself together and his business dwindled, until he learned of the prospering power of pictures.
He made a success map picturing the financial success he needed to survive. At the top of his success map he placed these words, on which he meditated daily: "DIVINE SUBSTANCE CANNOT BE WITHHELD FROM ME NOW. DIVINE SUBSTANCE CANNOT BE TAKEN FROM ME NOW. I PICTURE MY WAY TO PROSPERITY, AND MY ABUNDANT GOOD QUICKLY MANIFESTS NOW." Soon afterwards, he began to rise out of his emotional slump and his business became more prosperous than ever. His new-found success proved therapeutic in overcoming his former grief.
So, let's say that together, "DIVINE SUBSTANCE CANNOT BE WITHHELD FROM ME NOW. DIVINE SUBSTANCE CANNOT BE TAKEN FROM ME NOW. I PICTURE MY WAY TO PROSPERITY, AND MY ABUNDANT GOOD QUICKLY MANIFESTS NOW."
HOW TO CLAIM YOUR FREEDOM FROM EXPERIENCES YOU'VE OUTGROWN
Laban and his sons finally became so jealous of Jacob's wealth that Jacob decided to leave the country and return home, even though Laban didn't want to release him. Jacob had to claim his freedom by just leaving anyway.
When you have learned all you can from an experience, after you have demonstrated prosperity in it and after you have helped others to achieve satisfactory results, you will probably grow out of that experience. If that experience does not want to release you, you will have to claim your freedom from it anyway. You can begin doing so by declaring, "MY SUCCESS CANNOT BE LIMITED, SO I AM NOW FREED TO THE NEXT STEP IN MY PROGRESS, GROWTH, AND SUCCESS."
Your success is progressive. When you have reached certain stages in your growth, others around you may become hostile to your success. Often you will find, like Jacob, that you have completed the phase of your growth due from that experience. You have outgrown that present experience and are ready to move on into new circumstances, where you will be able to expand rapidly without restraint or interference by others.
At such times it helps to declare, "MY SUCCESS IS PROGRESSIVE. I NOW GO FROM SUCCESS TO GREATER SUCCESS, QUICKLY AND IN PEACE."
The divine dissatisfaction arising at such times is good, because it gives you the incentive needed to dare to launch forth into new and untried experiences elsewhere.
So let's say the next two affirmations together, "MY SUCCESS CANNOT BE LIMITED, SO I AM NOW FREED TO THE NEXT STEP IN MY PROGRESS, GROWTH, AND SUCCESS."
"MY SUCCESS IS PROGRESSIVE. I NOW GO FROM SUCCESS TO GREATER SUCCESS, QUICKLY AND IN PEACE."
CATHERINE PONDER'S "GROWTH EXPERIENCE"
Like Pharaoh "hardening his heart" when the Israelites wanted to leave Egyptian bondage, so old conditions and experiences will harden against you when you have outgrown them. First, your former good may turn hostile, and then it will dry up completely. Though such events may startle you, they happen for a purpose. They help you to release that which you have outgrown, and to freely go on to something better. Your good is expanding, and you are experiencing the "labor pains" of birth into something better.
Catherine Ponder related this story of her experiences. She wrote, "It has happened to me more than once in my "growth experiences." I once had a job I had held successfully for 10 years, then it was no longer satisfactory nor seemed friendly to me. I was informed that I had gone as far up the ladder of success as I could go in that position; that I had reached the top and that no further pay raises or promotions would be forthcoming."
"Furthermore, my employers seemed to grow unappreciative, and even disinterested in my efforts in their behalf. My employers had long felt I should work long hours, do weekend and night work, with no overtime or other fringe benefits in return. Yet these same demands were not made of other members of the staff. My employers knew I was the sole financial support for my child, and they confidently told me there were no better jobs available in that town-and they were right. I had reached the top in that line of work and in that part of the country."
"After praying for many months for divine guidance, and in response to a sense of divine dissatisfaction growing within me, I finally located another job, in another line of work, in another state. After 10 years of working days, nights and weekends, I gave two weeks' notice."
"Even though I had often been told I was one of the most valued employees in that firm in terms of service, experience, responsibility and work output, none of the courtesies often extended to departing employees were extended to me. No farewell party or gifts; no termination bonus or other recognition for long-term service. Instead, the work load I had carried for so long was divided among four other employees, and I quietly left."
"What wasn't said or done seemed unfair in view of my long years of "going the second mile" in that job; yet how it all freed me to the next step in my good! Since-as Jacob had discovered-success is progressive, I blessed the old situation for what I had learned from it and given to it. Then I went forth happily to something new and better. The affirmation I used in this transition period was: "NEW DOORS OF GOOD HAVE OPENED TO ME. WITH A CONFIDENT SPIRIT I NOW GO FORTH INTO A LIFE OF HAPPINESS, SECURITY AND ABUNDANT LIVING." It happened."
"Later, in reflecting upon that early work period, I realized that my long-esteemed employers had first been a channel of blessing to me, then a channel of release, when it became necessary for my soul growth-and perhaps for their own."
So let's say that affirmation together, "NEW DOORS OF GOOD HAVE OPENED TO ME. WITH A CONFIDENT SPIRIT I NOW GO FORTH INTO A LIFE OF HAPPINESS, SECURITY AND ABUNDANT LIVING."
FIRST COMES RELEASE, THEN VAST IMPROVEMENT
After Jacob finally left his uncle, on his way home Jacob sent his family and possessions ahead while he stayed behind at the Ford of Jabbok. There he wrestled with the angel until the breaking of day - or the breaking forth of good in the situation.
At every forward step in man's evolution, he gives up present ideas and possessions, so that he may receive greater ones. First, Jacob had released his uncle, as a channel of his supply. Then he even dared to send his family and possessions on ahead. He released everything.
When major changes come, you may have to release everything connected with a past cycle: Income, possessions, people. This act of release frees you to receive your expanded good in new situations.
Jacob's wrestling with the angel symbolized his own doubts and fears; he was wrestling with his Higher Self as he released all he had attained. Such an inner struggle was natural. The person who desires to have his good expanded is often disciplined in this way. As he gains his emotional perspective, the discipline from it opens the way to his expanded good.
RELEASE OF WORN-OUT THINGS, RELATIONSHIPS AND CONDITIONS BRINGS HAPPY NEW EXPERIENCES
Catherine Ponder related another experience that she had. She wrote, "At another juncture in my life, after having been widowed for a long time, and being weary of it, I realized I needed to release present employment, friendships, living conditions and possessions, pleasant though they were, and that I should create new circumstances for myself in a totally new environment, if I wished to experience a happier way of life."
"So I did what might have been viewed by some as extravagant: I deliberately released all possessions connected with the cycle that was ending, whether those possessions were worn out or not. This included the release of all furniture and household effects. In a new city, I moved into a brand-new apartment that was nicely furnished and bought all new household effects: from towels, sheets, pots, and pans to appliances."
"And it worked. Within six months I had remarried and my husband helped to provide me with a new home and a sense of financial security I had not previously known. These happy new circumstances all began the day I started to declare: "I NOW LET GO WORN-OUT THINGS, WORN-OUT CONDITIONS AND WORN-OUT RELATIONSHIPS. I NOW MOVE FORWARD INTO HAPPY NEW EXPERIENCES WHERE I BELONG.""
So let's say that together, "I NOW LET GO WORN-OUT THINGS, WORN-OUT CONDITIONS AND WORN-OUT RELATIONSHIPS. I NOW MOVE FORWARD INTO HAPPY NEW EXPERIENCES WHERE I BELONG."
HOW INNER SUCCESS MUST BE BALANCED WITH OUTER RESULTS
When Jacob started homeward, he made his peace with his brother, Esau, by sending rich gifts ahead. Jacob said, (Genesis 33:11) "Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me". Esau did not need these gifts because he had become wealthy in his own right. Esau was a hunter. He had also received a minor inheritance. Not much is said about his success, because he had acquired it through strictly human methods by a hard-work, "sweat of the brow" consciousness.
Esau had earlier threatened to kill Jacob if he ever returned. Yet he graciously accepted the advanced gifts from his brother, after mildly protesting, (Genesis 33:9) "I have enough, my brother.", and they were harmoniously reunited. Jacob knew that willingness to make peace with a former enemy is a necessity for success.
Whereas Jacob symbolizes mind power, his twin brother, Esau, symbolizes the physical side of life. People often work hard mentally, as Jacob had, to achieve success, but there comes a time when their mind powers must be reunited with the physical side of life in order to balance them and their success. People who do not get this balance can suffer from mental, emotional, physical, and financial difficulties.
True success is both mental and physical. Esau (physical) and Jacob (mental) needed each other for their mutual benefit and balance. Their harmonious reunion gave them that balance.
CATHERINE PONDER'S EXPERIENCE IN GETTING BALANCED
Catherine Ponder relates, "I have often been happy to experience life's blessings on the mental plane of life alone. However, my husband insisted, soon after our marriage, that the time had come in my soul growth when I had earned the right to be experiencing the best of everything on the visible plane of life, too."
"He insisted we have a comfortable home at a time when I had lived in apartments for many years and assumed I was too busy to enjoy a home. It was he who insisted I have such blessings as the best clothes, jewelry, automobiles, private club memberships, and that we begin to travel occasionally for pleasure-not just to work."
"At first I felt all these improvements would be nice, but were not essential to my busy, work-filled life. However at his insistence, once we began to enjoy this enhanced lifestyle, I realized that these blessings did, indeed, add a sense of balance to my life that I had not previously known."
And so it's true: A time comes in our growth where the mental (Jacob) must be joined to the physical (Esau) side of life in order for one to enjoy all the blessings of a balanced life. Furthermore, these multiplied blessings seem to attract a multitude of good into your life which you could not have foreseen or anticipated. Your good can multiply as you deliberately balance your mental activities with appropriate physical blessings.
Just as Esau and Jacob were twins, so the mental and physical phases of our being are twin-powers that often first demand individual development, then need harmonious union for balance as we make progress in our soul growth.
AT HEIGHT OF HIS WEALTH, JACOB GAVE THANKS
After reunion with Esau, Jacob settled down in his homeland. He secured a parcel of land where he pitched his tents. There he erected an altar because he knew the time had come to give thanks.
The act of erecting an altar indicates that he again gave a "thank offering" or, perhaps, a tithe to God: (1) in appreciation for his vast wealth; (2) to give it a divine protection.
All that he had asked for years earlier in his Success Covenant had come to him: Guidance, protection, a satisfying way of life, a large household, vast wealth, reconciliation with his family, and return to his homeland. He wisely felt that the time had come to give thanks publicly.
HOW OTHERS HAVE PROSPERED FROM JACOB'S THANKSGIVING METHOD
With Jacob, many others have found there is a prospering protection in the act of giving. A retired businessman explained his continuing high income in this way: "Each year since I retired, my income has increased. The past year was the best ever - more than double any I had even while on a payroll. I attribute my growing income to the consistent act of tithing. I have continued to tithe a tenth of my gross income since retirement just as before. My retirement income continues to grow."
A housewife said, "Tithing works! We find our bills being paid and there is some left over each month in spite of the rising costs of living."
A businesswoman from Michigan wrote: "I am giving a 'thank offering' in gratitude that a recent health problem has now cleared up."
A housewife from Alabama wrote: "I am gaining an understanding of the act of financial thanksgiving as the great sealer and protector of one's good in life. How powerful that prosperity method is, and it works!"
Over the years, many people have used Jacob's thanksgiving method with increasingly interesting and satisfying results. You can, too!
After his son Joseph became a billionaire as Prime Minister of Egypt, Jacob went there to live amid vast wealth. For many years he enjoyed tremendous prestige as father of the popular Joseph. At Jacob's passing, the Egyptians paid him special homage as father of their beloved Prime Minister.
When you persist toward success through the constructive use of your mind power, like Jacob, your present success finally supplants and replaces all previous failures. Life forgives you for past mistakes. Life becomes rewarding and satisfying for you. You can persist into success by declaring often: "LIFE NOW FORGIVES ME FOR ALL PAST MISTAKES. LIFE NOW BECOMES REWARDING AND SATISFYING FOR ME. I AM GRATEFUL."
SCRIPTURE: Genesis 27:28-29; Genesis 28:3-4; Genesis 29:15; Genesis 29:18; Genesis 30:30; Genesis 30:43; Genesis 33:11; Genesis 33:9
REFERENCE: The Millionaires of Genesis by Catherine Ponder
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Last updated
September 5, 2007
