Should you ignore those yearnings, they inevitably turn to pain. Listen to your soul. 

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Fountain of Youth

The Spiritual Way to Happiness 

FEATURE ARTICLE

     “WE GOT THE POWER!” 
the kingdom of Heaven is within You  
    Luke 17:21    
Look first  for the Kingdom of Heaven. 
 And all things will be provided for you. 
Mathew 6
If they will make kings of men to depend 
on then they will lose their God 
who gives them freedom. 1 Samuel

Like Albert Einstein once said,
  when the answers outside us are not 
working, we need to go inside! 
So we must reach within ourselves to 
a Power Greater than our understanding 
or anyone else's if we want to live long and 
prosperous.  It should not be acceptable for any
 human being to be suffering from mental illness, 
disease or any disorder whatsoever when each 
and every human being has the Power within 
himself to cure himself and live happily.

So how can we get in touch with our power or our soul?
  How can we get to this "heaven within us" without
 having to die on the operating table or leave this
 physical body or physically die?  How can we draw
 on this Powerful Source? How can we meet our Maker
 in this lifetime?  And how can we get healed without
 the physical Presence of Jesus or some great 
Spiritual Healer?  How can we heal ourselves? 
 Jesus himself said, "greater miracles than these
 shall you do." And He commissioned all of us to 
heal the sick and cast out demons.  How?  
How do we tap this miraculous Power and restore our lives? 

If it is inside of us how do we manage to get it 
without necessarily having to come near to death or insanity? 
 Why can't we just experience this or tap into it naturally?  

In Psalms David tells us exactly what will happen 
if we go within ourselves. 

He says in Psalm 91: "he who dwells in the secret 
place of the most High shall abide under the shadow.
 He is my refuge and my fortress...no evil shall befall me...
..nor any plague....his angels shall take charge over me...
He shall call upon me and I will answer Him." 

                   Many doctors and therapists 
now believe that the physical and mental disease or 
illnesses are symptoms of spiritual disconnection with 
our Higher Power, God, or the Power Within us.  
The premise of this article assumes
you the reader believe that disease, unhappiness and
poverty is our disconnection with our Higher Power
or God within us. And the article assumes you have accepted 
2 essential spiritual conditions:
that we are made in the image of God and 
what Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is within you"
Spiritually the cause of disease is essentially 
a disharmony or disconnection within us. 
We are out of sync "Off balance"  DISEASE means 
what it spells DIS EASE. Uneasy. Without "EASE" 
or assurance.  NO peace. Discomfort. 
The body is not functioning "easliy."  
The condition within us is disturbed. 
DEPRESSION is what it spells 
DE PRESS or PRESS. PRESSURE. 
"under pressure" Spiritually speaking
suppression, repression, oppression-
means the Spirit inside of us 
is being pressed down. The resulting symptoms
would be DEPRESSION & IRRITATION & DISCONTENTMENT
IRRITATION is from the word IRE 
meaning anger.  We are angry inside. Agitated. 
In spiritual terms the Spirit is battling with some 
force that is holding the Spirit down. 
 "God that gives breath
 unto the people, and spirit to them
 that walk therein” Isa 42:5
DISCONTENT
 means CONTENT-our content within is not 
"content" or happy.   What we contain within us.
 Content of character. 
 Like a table of contents or the contents of something.
 What it contains.  To be discontent means 
we are not happy with our content. Simply stated 
we are not happy with what is inside ourselves. 
 To be content is to be satisfied with all parts of ourselves. 
Therefore, the mental and physical states of disease 
(dis-ease or dis-content or de-pression are all 
symptoms of some disturbance within us.  
When this happens it's like a disturbance or 
brawl breaking out in our house. 
Something has come into "our house" 
and has severed our connection with our Spirit and GOD.
It, they have disturbed the peace and put us out of sync
 or out of harmony. The normal parts can not operate
 efficiently because something keeps upsetting 
them or  may be even attacking them and killing them. 
An internal battle!  So the natural functions of the body 
and the mind are under stress. And the outer appearance 
of disease-physical and mental are merely symptoms 
indicating an internal disturbance. 

Many of us are unhealthy because we are trying to be 
the person someone else told us to be. Go inside yourself. 
Only you can find yourself. Contact with your Soul! 
Follow the dictate of your conscience. 

"Fear not for
 I am within you" Isaiah
"We have seen this day 
that God speaks to man" Deuteronomy

Therefore our conscience is our connection with God. 
 It is like a transmitter within us connecting us 
with the Life Force. It is always LIFE AFFIRMING, 
POSITIVE, NURTURING, ALL GOOD, HARMONIZING.

And anything that speaks in us of fear, hate, 
self-hatred, defeating, anger, revenge is NOT GOD! 
 God is always Life Affirming of us and everyone and everything in its Creation!


"And God created everything. 
And when he saw all that he created 
he said behold it is very good!"  Genesis

Whenever our conscious mind separates from our "Self" or "Soul" we develop fear.  Why?
There is a separation with our mind and our Spirit.  

"God created man in his own image" Genesis 1:27 

The Spirit is God!

"we have seen this day that 
God speaks to man" Deuteronomy

And God speaks to each of us constantly.

"Peace, be still and know that I am God"
"I will protect you, I will guide you, I will strengthen you"

We have lost contact with our Guide and are unsafe in fear.

We sense we are vulnerable for no apparent reason. 
Things do not make sense. We develop fear. We look 
for power but not within us. Something has distracted us. 
 Broken connection. And distracted us to things outside 
of ourselves. When this happens we seek and become 
dependent on people and things outside of ourselves 
to tell us who we are, to give us power for safety and 
security and happiness. This takes on outward illness 
or death producing actions such as:  anger, competitiveness,
 seeking power over others, dominance,  obsession,  
dishonesty, arrogance, low self esteem, materialism, 
overeating, isolating, over-activity, fatigue, aggression, 
escaping, aggressive physical and sexual drive, etc....  
We see ourselves as vulnerable to forces outside of
 ourselves, therefore we have to get some power over
 them or protect ourselves.  That is because the mind
 and body senses it is dying. And it panics and pursues
 insanely things outside of itself to save itself.  When in
 actuality the connection has been severed within. 
 The Soul or Spirit is the LIFE FORCE.  It is within us. 

A separation of the Spirit or Soul by disconnection 
sets people in an aggressive pursuit for a power 
outside of themselves to control the  conditions in
 "their world."  In doing that they become recklessly 
dependent on the very outer conditions which they 
hoped to harness power over.  Naturally they find 
temporary satisfaction, comfort, and physical ease.  
Yet disappointment, depression, frustration and inadequacy 
constantly lie in their minds.  Because their souls know
 they haven't made the necessary connection between
 their minds and souls.  They are restless, irritable, 
constantly not satisfied.  Constant re-examining 
of their physical conditions and people around 
them drive them to constantly improve on their 
ability to master the forces and people around them. 
 The feeling of never being quite satisfied or not getting
 enough of what think they need to get power 
from keeps them in constant vigilance. 

The temporal powers one relies on or 
tries to control whether it is another person, 
group of people, job, business, machines, 
a house, a place where they live are actually 
in control of them.   When they seem "to control"
 these outer powers and have derived some sort 
of happiness or success from those people and 
things, they begin to rely on them to be there for 
them so they can derive their power and happiness 
from them. 
And if that is the case then isn't logical that they
 become afraid of losing those people, things and 
conditions which they depend on for happiness and 
power and even physical and mental health?   

    “Look not outside 
yourselves, behold, 
the Kingdom of Heaven
is within you" 
said Jesus according to Luke 17

 Outside forces are not harmonious nor
 are they dependable. And seeking things 
outside or trying to control things outside 
of ourselves aggravates us and rearranges 
our psyche.  Thus causing disease - DIS EASE!   
It is stressful and draining to keep depending 
on things and people. Our life source power or 
spirits become diseased. 

EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE OUTSIDE 
US THAT WE DEPEND ON IN SOME FORM 
OR ANOTHER USES OUR POWER SUPPLY!!
 IS THAT PERSON OR THING GIVING US 
SPIRITUAL ENERGY IN RETURN? Happiness, 
Love, Hope, Faith, PEACE, PEACE of MIND, HEALTH? 

Only GOD gives us an endless supply of energy. 
God dependency is like being plugged into electricity. 
Anything else we are dependent on is a lie because it or they are really plugged into us!! 

  "God that gives breath unto the people,
 and spirit to them that walk therein”  
Isa 42:5

Depend on people and things outside ourselves 
and we lose spiritual contact.  Look within ourselves
 and we immediately get contact.
    Why? 
Where the mind's eye focuses it either gets energy 
or it gives out energy.  So, look within and we get energy. 
 Look outside and we give out that energy.
And what is outside ourselves that we are giving that
 energy to is either reciprocating that energy back 
to us which is good.  Or it is depleting our energy
 because it can not return that energy back to us. 
All living beings that get our energy return it to us.
  Non-living things deplete our energy because
 they can not give energy. 

 Energy is LIFE - living!
"I am the Living God within you.
 Do not turn to false idols"
Depending on mechanical routine, artificial life,
 fantasy, idols, celluloid and videos, virtual reality, 
objects, material things, abstract ideas and worry,
 anything which distract us and makes us fearful 
or anxious is non energy and it takes our energy-
draws it into it like moths around a light-we are
 depleted of our life force and become diseased, 
ill and prematurely age and eventually die.   
Unless what we are looking at outside ourselves
 makes us reflect back into our souls.  
Like nature, or the love in another person's eye or smile.  
So when we are dependent on forces and
 things outside ourselves and pursuing
 to control things outside ourselves 
we are without Power, therefore without judgment
 and are being drained of our internal energy.  
    “Look not outside yourselves, behold, 
the Kingdom of Heaven is within" Luke 
"Fear not for I am within you" Isaiah

We need to get to our true selves inside ourselves.  
The true self knows the truth. Our true self knows 
who we are, what belongs in us and where we need to go.
That SELF within us is our core.
 It is the constant part of us. The LIFE FORCE. 
 In many ancient spiritual books it was called 
the "ATMAN" or "ATOM" or "SELF" or 
more familiar to us the term "SOUL." 
And what connects us to our soul? 

Our conscience.  Our entire life operates 
on the Power of our Soul. What is it then that
 interferes with our contact with our soul?
Beliefs. Our beliefs either connect us with 
our conscience or disconnect us. A positive belief
 connects us and a negative belief disconnects us.  
And beliefs are really about ourselves and 
our relationships to everyone and everything. 
Therefore a positive thought is something 
we have accepted about ourselves which is 
self-affirmative. Our minds, our bodies 
are healthy and happy.  
A negative thought is a negative belief about
 ourselves- our minds, our bodies get unhealthy. 
Even though we may be materially successful, 
we can still have a negative belief about ourselves 
which motivates us to acquiring material success.
 On the other hand we can have positive self belief 
and have little or no material success.  For instance,
 the world is out to get what I have so I better protect myself 
is really a negative belief for it puts oneself 
into feeling that they are inferior or likely to be oppressed. 
 In fact they already are oppressed 
by their own disconnection with their souls.  
 

Thus the Power of the mind brings 
whatever it is focused on alive-
it empowers it. 
Where do our beliefs come from?
 
If it is life affirming it comes from the Source of Life within us.
If it is negative and destructive, 
it comes from our mind that has received this thought from someone or something outside of us.  Negativity is a sign that we are hooked onto someone or something outside of us that is depleting our energy.
DANGER!   Someone or 
something outside of us is using our Life energy.  

That is why it is important to know the truth about things!  
When we allow lies and propaganda 
to enter into our minds and our imaginations,
 we become disturbed, distressed, fearful!  
And what is fear? 

 FEAR IS A SIGN THAT WE HAVE LOST CONTACT
 WITH THE PEACE WITHIN US. AND PEACE IS GOD! 
OUR MINDS HAVE BECOME FIXATED ON NON-LIVING 
or better NON SPIRIT(ual) THINGS. 

 Some news, some pleasure, some propaganda, 
some terror, something has caused us to leave 
ourselves and become focused outside of ourselves.
 By our constant focusing on things and events 
and people outside of ourselves we fail to tend 
to our own internal fire - OUR SOUL! 
 When this happens for too long, we become diseased. 
 The body is not being nourished by the soul. 
 Without the soul the body dies, right?  
Well then isn't it simple to see that when
 we are not connected within, body and mind with the soul,
 then we become diseased, discontent 
and then very ill and eventually die!

Hasn't history shown over and over that nobody 
has ever mastered for a long time people and conditions 
outside of themselves?  Throughout all of history 
these have been the driving forces of all people
 who seek to control and master the outer forces 
around them in hopes that they could secure 
happiness and peace. Yet in every single case eventually fear, 
aggression, and war and poverty, corruption, greed,
 paranoia, and the breakdown of the entire structure 
came about sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly 
as in the Roman Empire.  Not only is it a spiritual fact 
that we can never get any power outside of us to satisfactorily
 keep us content but also an historical fact.  
Regardless of what went wrong. 
 We can learn from history why a country collapsed
 or a group of people were conquered but 
the pragmatic fact  remains ~ it happened! 
And even the history of our own individual lives 
when we try to gain health and happiness
 by depending on people and wealth and so on,
 has been characterized by betrayal,  failure, 
unhappiness, unrequited love, death, poverty, and so on. 
 Even mother nature doesn't always seem to co-operate 
with sudden earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, 
and drought.  And the wonderful dedicated scientific
 and medical profession throughout the ages have constantly
 faced a never ending challenge to find "cures" 
and vaccines and antidotes. Some work some 
don't but even what they find as the longest successful 
remedy does not last over the course of time.  
Thus many people become fearful, doubtful, even paranoid. 
 Sometimes taking great measures to protect those things 
which give them this "power." 

  False powers outside ourselves-other people,
 places, things that we depend on regardless of
 what or who they are not stable!  
They are not constant or even eternal. 
  It is often necessary for people to become 
dependent on others or employ or enslave or 
befriend others to keep those powers stable for them. 
Even those people can not be totally reliable. 
And even when we replace those people with 
machines and computers, those even are not as constant. 
And we spend money and more money ~
colossal sums of money and energy 
to make those outer people and things constant and stable.
 So much so that those people who waste 
this money and time and power drive themselves mad
 and collapse or become conquered 
by the very forces or people they sought to control.
 And once again hasn't history and 
even our own personal lives shown this to be true?
  And ad infinitum as long as we keep 
looking for more things and ways outside
 of ourselves we will always get the same unhappy result! 
 That even includes medicine. 
 How often do pills and medical treatments
 lose their effectiveness only to be replaced
 by an improved one or an old one
 and ad infinitum again. Why even with the best 
and most reliable medical treatments are people 
not responding?  And yet when the odds are against them
 some people pull through. Why is this?
 Even the medical doctors have to rely on the patient's will 
to live or the "fight" for life going on within that person. 
And where is that fight coming from if the person
 is unconscious or under physical or psychological duress? 
 When the person has absolutely no will power,
 nor adequate mental capabilities to even think
 let alone think positively?

Often patients who have pulled through 
describe something they experienced inside
 themselves, even having an "out of body" experience.
 And sometimes some people don't have any of that. 
 Well then what happened to reverse the conditions?
 Certainly it wasn't something either the person did nor the doctor.

 

A mystery!  
Maybe. Maybe not. 
Even though no evidence is apparent as to the spiritual
 disposition of the individual, somehow something 
inside and not outside of the person has intervened 
and manifested itself in the form of health and restored
 a person to life. 
An awakening!  
What woke up? 

     “Look not outside yourselves, behold, the Kingdom of
 Heaven is within" (Luke 17:21) gives us a good clue as 
to where this may have come about.  If in fact some
 people have visited while dying or even clinically 
dead a peaceful place or an out of body experience
 or that "bright light" or having gone through a "tunnel", 
it can then be understood that heaven is within them. 
They physically did not leave the room, nor did their 
body temperatures or body movements indicate they
 were in another place. Yet somehow they were seeing 
or experiencing something which one would believe 
that the body would have had to have been there for 
them to have experienced it.  They describe this
 peaceful feeling. This detached state of witnessing 
themselves. Where were they? Their body was still there.
  They woke up in it.  They didn't leave this physical world. 
So where were they?  

If we believe what the Bible says that the Kingdom
 of Heaven is within us, then perhaps that's the answer.
  They were "in heaven."  Within.  And if that is the state
of peace and where God is, then the person must have 
temporarily returned to "heaven" and witnessed 
his body "out of body experience" and if he was 
witnessing it, he had to be witnessing it in some 
"state of mind" to be able to know that was his body
 and he was seeing it and then when returning to it,
 he remembers having witnessed it. That "state of mind" 
is what the Eastern mystics called the "eye" within us
 that witnesses what we are doing as we are doing something. 
 It's our conscience that seems to be an audience
 to our actions. That place or state of mind is
 the "soul" and we are always connected with it 
even if we are not conscious of it.  Perhaps the 
person when having an out of body experience 
is disconnected with his human state of mind as
 is freed to be his soul.  And during that short time, 
he had healed his body and "resurrected" on
 returning to it.

So how can we get in touch with our power or our soul?
  How can we get to this "heaven within us" without
 having to die on the operating table or leave this
 physical body or physically die?  How can we draw
 on this Powerful Source? How can we meet our Maker
 in this lifetime?  And how can we get healed without
 the physical Presence of Jesus or some great 
Spiritual Healer?  How can we heal ourselves? 
 Jesus himself said, "greater miracles than these
 shall you do." And He commissioned all of us to 
heal the sick and cast out demons.  How?  
How do we tap this miraculous Power and restore our lives? 

If it is inside of us how do we manage to get it 
without necessarily having to come near to death or insanity? 
 Why can't we just experience this or tap into it naturally?  

In Psalms David tells us exactly what will happen 
if we go within ourselves. 

He says in Psalm 91: "he who dwells in the secret 
place of the most High shall abide under the shadow.
 He is my refuge and my fortress...no evil shall befall me...
..nor any plague....his angels shall take charge over me...
He shall call upon me and I will answer Him." 

In Psalm 23: "He restores my soul...and I will
 dwell in the House of the Lord forever."
 House is our "soul.” David speaks with God
 and God answers him. 
Where? 
Inside.
How did he get inside?  
Meditate, prayer, go to nature, go to the ocean, 
lake or a river, a forest, listen to soft or ambient
 music, or just sit in silence. That's all; simply 
just do it and it will naturally happen.  
Do something loving for someone - 
you will notice a warm feeling inside.
Well then what is God and what is He? 
or She or It? God is NOT HUMAN!  
Thank you Michelangelo and all the holy cards
 and paintings which depict "Him" as a human. 
 Perhaps that's because people needed 
to "understand Him better"?  Well, God is
 a Power we can all agree on.  
And we need to let go of God being another 
human being or even a Powerful Eternal human being. 
 God is a Power.  Very much like a power that propels 
a combustion engine propelling a car or a turbine
 propelling a plane or even the power causing our
 whole human body to move. Even the power in 
electricity.  And what about the power of the weather,
 the oceans, the earth...the power of life and rebirth
 in nature...the sun and so on. That's Power.  
Yet do we see any of this Power?  Maybe by
 infra red or other heat measuring devices. 
Or a spectroscope, radar, etc...  Yes, there's 
power there and the human eye can not see 
it but it is aware that it is there.  And yet that 
same power or even a Power very similar to
 those powers is within us that causes cells 
to multiply and causes us to move and even 
causes us to heal.  How do we get to harness
 that Power?

God or Power is within us.  Like a drop of the 
ocean contains all the characteristics of water
 that is in the body of  water known as the ocean. 
God is like an ocean and we are like those
 droplets of water.  Each of us contains all 
of the ingredients of God or that Higher or 
Larger Power. Whenever we meditate or 
take a simple "quiet" time or even a walk 
in a place which gives us peace, we are in
 touch with that peace from within. Our minds relax.
  Our bodies let go of stress.  We feel restored, 
rejuvenated.  Relaxed.  Stronger and healthier 
than we were before. Therefore when we go 
within outside or tap that Peace, our minds 
shift to be inner directed.  Our imaginations
 become alive, memories, and so on.  
We have tapped our inner constant or 
that "SELF" That WITNESS which is CONSTANT. 
And it is very much present.   Peace is man's 
natural and real state.  Why else does he search for peace, 
for calmness, for a reliable constant...or someone
 or something to depend on?  Because it is a
 natural part of who we are.  It is our Spiritual nature.

"God that gives breath unto the people, and 
spirit to them that walk therein” Isa 42:5
"God created man in his own image" Genesis 1:27 

That is why we humans just naturally pursue 
spiritual perfection, bliss, awe, and wonder and youth. 
 Especially when our minds have lost contact with our 
inner selves in pursuit of happiness and materials 
and pleasures and power outside of ourselves. 
Just like leaving our houses to look for the bedroom, 
we panic because we can't find it!  And the more we 
keep searching for our inner Power outside 
of ourselves the more insane, greedy, restless,
 discontent, possessive and fearful we become. 

THE SOLUTION just be still. Take a quiet time.
"Be still, and know that I am God" Psalms

And just as quickly as we left ourselves 
to seek things outside ourselves, we can
 just as quickly go back inside of ourselves 
and sit there and wait for THE PEACE to take 
over us. Then, we can really find hope, we see
 the Truth, we begin to see where we are at. 
Thus we are empowered because then we 
know we have to change in order to get our
 "house" back in order.  Naturally our addictions 
and need for material and others and approval
 and solutions from things outside of ourselves
 become obviously futile and we see where we
 have tricked ourselves into enslaving and causing
 ourselves to drain our power. If we cease from 
allowing our Power to be spent on outer things, 
pleasures and pursuits, we contain it. Then the 
Power rekindles itself through our constant nurturing
 through prayer and meditation. And as the Power
 or Flame within us grows, its warmth and Light heals us.
 Then disease or emptiness is consumed
 by the flame of our Spirit.  

"Fear not for I the Lord your God am within you; 
I will strengthen you; I will save you; I will protect you!" Isaiah

"Your Faith has healed you" Jesus says in Mathew.  
FAITH is our beliefs! It is a Power.  
Like directing a lazer beam on something. 
Or directing a microscope or telescope onto one thing.
  It zones in. The Buddhists speak of thinking as 
amplifying something and giving it Power. 
 Where we direct our thinking is like directing
 a magnifying glass. 
 With the sun's rays directed on a magnifying glass, 
it can burn something underneath the glass with 
enough time.
  That's the same thing with our minds. 
 The mind is our magnifying glass and
 the soul is our sun.
  Where do we direct our mind's attention directs 
our souls-our life force.  "let the eye (mind) be single" 
as Jesus said.   Let the mind dwell on God and 
all things good will come to us and to others.  
”GOD IS LOVE and he who dwells in Love 
dwells in God for God is in him.”
1 John

LOVE. Love is the most powerful creative, 
life affirming force in human existence. 
Why?
 Because it is simply LIFE AFFIRMING. 
The attributes of love: giving, understanding, 
peace, happiness, joy, nurturing, caring, forgiving, 
mercy, wonder, bliss, contentment, creativity,
 inspiration, compassion, innocence, joyous laughter, 
humility, servitude, tears of sorrow or compassion, 
empathy, the joy we get from doing something 
we love or being with those who love us or who
 we love, bringing a life into this world and nurturing him
 or her and watching them grow and reflect our joy
 and share in their experiences, and bonding in friendships,
 team "spirit" and on and on...are all positive attributes...
positive means good or uplifting, happy and healing...
prosperous, joyous.  People and things around us light up
 when we are loving, joyous, giving, caring, enthusiastic.  
LOVE with all the attributes just mentioned is the very Power
 from which all healers of all faiths have drawn their healing 
Power from. It's not the sappy kind of love that romance 
novels or movies pedal for passionate desire
 or "falling in love".  That is false love-vanity. 
Vanity meaning emptiness.  It's cosmetic without
 substance. The love we see on soap operas is not love.
  It's selfishness, vanity, it steals, it possesses, it cheats,
 it hurts, it cons, it makes people break down and 
become depressed and makes them long
 for the impossible. 
And the impossible is what it is: IMPOSSIBLE! 
Therefore, a lie! 
A scoundrel as the scoundrels in the soaps who
 steal women's hearts and makes
 them yearn and addicted and depressed. 
And take them away from themselves.  
All lies, cheating, double-crossing.  
That "love" is really the opposite of love. 
And the opposite of love is hate or evil!

Love has real substance. 
Models or actors or "idols" do not portray love!
 Love can not be portrayed.
  LOVE IS!  Because God is Love! And God is ALIVE and 
GOD IS LOVE!
Therefore LOVE AND GOD AND LIFE ARE 
ALIVE AND REAL!
Idols, models, movies are unreal-posed, 
artificial therefore IDOLS!
Now you see why the commandment
 "Thou shalt have no idols"?
We lose touch with the living God 
within us when we turn away from ourselves
 and put our energy and power into idols or 
non-living images which can not give us any 
Power back or any LOVE or any life or warmth in return. 
 Only a living being can do that. 
Another human or our own GOD-LIVING WITHIN US!
Models are vain.  Vanity means empty. Nothing is there. 
 Vanity is not to be mistaken for pride.  
Vanity means being proud of our image 
which is our shell - our looks - our appearance- 
the outside- NOT THE INSIDE!  
Take another look at the model.  
Is there something inside of them? 
Do they really have what they promise us they have??
 Maybe, but they look like their image is aloof,
stagnant,  dead, numb, mean or cute or indifferent
 and of course, unobtainable.  
Because they are IMAGES or IDOLS!!!
And that which we admire and seek after we become like.  
"You are what you eat."  You are what you consume or take in.
  Not only do we consume through our mouths but 
we also consume through our eyes and ears!
And what we eat in through our eyes or ears transforms
 our minds and essentially our whole nature. 
And unless what we consume or take in through our eyes 
and ears and all our senses is life enhancing and energy 
giving and loving, we will be depleted of all that energy 
we sent out and be left stolen and hollow and hungry, 
diseased, and very much like the objects we admire.  
Look at our children.  Haven't they been imitating idols?
 What do they look like?  Like the idols!!
So they can keep you distracted from yourself 
and focused outside on them!  False idols! 
 Why are the celebrities called "IDOLS"? 
 Idols means setting our affections and attention
 on inordinately; paying homage to someone deified.
No accident.  It is an intended misdirection
 to steal our attention
 to get our money and devotion and labor-  
and to humble us before someone who 
can not give us any real Power 
like God could, but to steal our money by using 
the same energy that "singleness of eye" 
attention and adoration
that Jesus talked about that we would be 
giving our loving and healing and living God within us.  
To pay homage to false "idols" And what are 
those stars called? IDOLS!!!!
Not very wise! Why not?   
"Thou shall not have false idols.  I am the LIVING GOD"  
Why did God give us that commandment? 
So we would not be slaves!
We are free in Him! 

 He says in Samuel 1 "Why do my people want a king? 
A human idol? They will lose their God and become slaves"!

 That is exactly it. By turning to people and things 
outside of ourselves, we lose ourselves. We lose our lives!
 God is alive within all of us.  
Therefore God states, "If you set up false idols, 
then I your God will visit the children of the 
3rd generation with disease and plagues. 
You will no longer have my favor.  
I will withdraw my Peace." Jeremiah.  
Why all the diseases of today?
 Cancer. AIDS. Diabetes. Leukemia. 
Heart disease. Stress. Depression. 
Anxiety Disorders.  ETC.....
And where is GOD?  WITHIN US!
SO who is giving us these diseases?
We are!
Our own inability to focus within ourselves!
So we become fragmented, diseased, disconnected!

A picture and a model posed in a picture or an "idol" 
is not alive.
It is a representation to lure us! To take our time.  
To set standards which make us feel inadequate.
To get us dependent outside of ourselves and enslaved 
into a standard which we will never achieve or become!
But keep us striving and giving our precious time, 
life, hard worked for money, to people who are like 
pampered babies who believe they were born to deserve 
luxuries and ambience.  But even they are depressed 
and go to so many doctors.  The models and
 the idols are even dying.  Look at them and look at the people 
who seek after them.  They are all caught up in the same trap.
Even the most brilliant propagandist or advertiser or image
 maker does not see what he or she is doing to himself and others!

"Father forgive them for they know not what they do"
 Jesus' final words as he lamented our ignorant disposition. 
 Please Father give them a break; they really 
are not intentionally doing this destruction to me
 and to themselves out of vindictive hatred.  
But only one being knows what it is doing and that 
one is the "Evil One"  or Devil or Mara (as the Buddhists call it).

Going after things we can never have. Such trickery. 
Such blindness.  "They know not what they do"
Such fear that we will not be able to survive 
and be healthy and happy without these things
 which enslave us.  
Yet, we have everything and we are so unhappy, 
so self-loathing, insecure, and co-dependent, and lonely.
Addicted, alcoholic, materialistic, hedonistic, 
rushed, stressed out!
Disease and violence.  
Misunderstood by others as well 
as by ourselves! 
Something is taking our energy! 
Because we are not getting back equal amount of energy 
for our energy put out! Not the energy that a Living God
 would give us
 in return for such devoted attention and energy. 
 And energy and devotion come from the Soul. 
And if the Soul is getting drained of its energy, 
it becomes DISEASED, IRRITABLE, DEPRESSED 
and eventually dies.   Watch what happens to 
anyone who "fixates" on an idol or non-living 
entertainment like a video or movie or TV.  
They're hypnotized.  As "HYP" in "HYPE"  
 Hype is a frenzy meant to hypnotize. 
Makes us NON LIVING as it draws out their energy. 
 Notice how the attention span drops in conversation, 
the emptiness in their faces, the fatigue, the inability
 to hold one's attention in conversation or even while reading.
  Studies show that students who watch television have
 poor attention span and low reading scores.
 Furthermore whenever energy is drained and 
not replenished, people seek out stimulants to 
make up for that lack of energy.  But the sources
 that are used to replenish it can sometimes be 
toxic and also draining. Illicit drugs, toxic medication, 
aggressive behavior, sexual promiscuity, loud music,
 excitement, daredevil stunts and inordinate passions 
and other forms of risky behavior which can be deadly 
or invite disease. Wanting more.  Like a drug.  
Wanting something we can never have and giving
 endless amounts of energy to pursue it.  
And never getting anything back for the energy
 we've given. Thus the dependency on medicines,
 therapy, co-dependent relationships, fads, escapism, 
fantasy, aggression, violence, clandestine remedies
 like health foods, charms, false gurus, mediums and 
readers, and on and on always leading them away
 from themselves where God can be found within them. 
  And enslaving them to others and passions and 
robbing them of their self-esteem, money and health.  
Short and unhappy and unsatisfied lives is the 
by-product of this outer dependency.

As God spoke to Moses, "I AM"  And if "God is Love"
 as Jesus said according to St. John then "I AM"
 means "LOVE IS"  And Love does not have to be
 sought after.  It is there right in us and right in front of us. 
All around us. IT IS. "I AM"  "IS" "AM" are all
 present as the form of the verb "is" means present. 
 NOW.  In this moment.  And if our minds are busy 
somewhere else then there is a disconnection with 
our soul and our mind! DISHARMONY, DISEASE,
 FEAR - because the mind can not find its soul! 
 Disconnected people are looking for their souls
 in other people and in other things.  Like leaving 
their houses to look for their bedroom outside.

 It's when the soul and we are ONE. Harmony is LOVE. 
Contentment. Peace.  It is Real Power! For it does 
not depend on anything nor does it need anything
 to promote it.  It's REALITY! It is the constant Power. 
And it is so simple and natural. It is found in the 
poorest of peasants.  It is seen in the eye.
 It is in the smile of a child or the affection of a cat or a dog.
  It is so natural and easy to connect with. 
And it can be found when all the noise and 
distractions and illusions have subsided.  
It is Powerful.  POWER. LIFE IS POWER.
 Anything that can grow has Power.
 Anything that can change has power.
  If it is growing then it is good.  
If it is dying then it is bad!  
That is why when Love is given for selfish reasons 
or is conditional or is sold it is deadly to all who pervert it; 
but when it is used unconditionally, it is miraculous!

Love heals.  Whether it is present in the
 same room with us or whether it is the prayers
 of loved ones thinking about us. Love is present. 
 Even when someone has never been loved.  
By the very fact that that person was created 
was an act of LOVE and is loved by that Power
 that saw to it that person would come into this world.
 Love reaches outside of ourselves.  It never seeks within us. 
 But it reaches out and sometimes is drawn out by 
others who show us love.  That is why Jesus was able to heal.

 LOVE.  GOD IS LOVE!
"THIS COMMANDMENT I GIVE TO YOU, LOVE ONE ANOTHER"
JESUS PROMISED US AND ASSURED US THAT WE 
HAVE THE ABILITY TO WORK MIRACLES.
HE SAID IN ST. JOHN: "If you do what I do, then greater 
miracles than these will you do "
WHY?
Because He wanted us to show us that we have God within us. 
All Power is from within. From God. He said,
 "With what is impossible with man is possible with God. 
With Love with God which is Love" Where are we to find 
this power then? JESUS TOLD US: "Look not outside
 yourself, for the Kingdom of God is within you."

 He saw the soul that He was connected to by the
 same creative force that brought us here. 
We do too.  Why do we look at each other 
and tend to recognize each other and see ourselves in others?  
Because we see our God with each other and It recognizes us! 
Our soul is a piece of God.
God made man in his own image.
"LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR OWN IMAGE" said God in Genesis. 
We know when it is there.  We know a miracle 
when we see it.  We know love when we have been 
blessed by it or healed by it or even made to feel 
special by it because someone showed us unconditional love.
 Love raises our hopes.  Lifts us out of despair. 
Elevates us to dignity and restores our will to live and go on.

The resounding lesson of every prophet is to go
 back within and seek God! 
And as St. John said, 
GOD IS LOVE. And he who abides 
in Love abides in God and God in him.
 How? 
Love someone.
And you will see yourself!
 And you will love yourself is what St. John is saying. 
Not love yourself and then love others.  That's selfish.  
When we love others, we then get a feeling within us that 
sparks us alive, Heals us. Moves us even to tears. 
 Makes us alive.  How often when we are loved we 
fail to return that love.  But when we send out love. 
 We always receive Love back.  And unfortunately
 when we send out negative aggressive actions or 
thoughts, we get those back in the forms of illness, 
fear, insanity.  We break contact with the Power 
within us and we become weaker as our outer drives 
become more aggressive and destructive. 
 Those people self destruct.  Love creates. Hatred destroys. 
 Peace attracts Peace.  Hostility attracts hostility. 
Everything that is outside ourselves is attracted
to us like a magnet.  Like attracts like.

Since all Power comes from within, it has to return
 to us in some form or another in the very shape it was sent out.
 Like a boomerang! That's physics.
Physics has shown that energy sent out returns in like manner. 
 That's nothing new!  The ancient spiritual scriptures 
like the Upanishads and even the Bible tell us that whatever 
we send out returns back to us.  Jesus said it himself, 

"What you do unto others will be done unto you." Mathew 7:2.
"What goes around comes around! "
Boomerang!  Everything that goes out comes back!
The Law of Physics!  The Law of the Universe.  Cosmic Law. 
 Jesus' Law. 
 And of course, GOD'S LAW!

"THE FATHER IN ME AND I IN HIM" said Jesus in St. John.
"AND YOU AND I ARE ONE IN THE SAME" Jesus told his disciples.

Wake up! Don't little children imitate us?  
Don't we imitate what we watch?  
What we take in is all we're going to give out and vice versa!
  What are we taking in? What are we watching?  
What are we listening to?  What are our senses taking in? 
 Is it LIFE AFFIRMING?  Or is it deadly and non-reciprocal? 
 Are we hungry for more after what we take in?  
Are we addicted to it? Fixated?  Or are we content? 
Peaceful?  Feeling youthful or worn out-drained-empty; 
placid like the models?

Send out good, get it back.  Send out aggression 
or violence or hate, get all that back.  Send out Love get it back.
  Send out whatever you want to receive!
But first go within yourself to find the Source.  
You will find Peace, Love, and Youth. Through prayer,
 meditation, in nature.   Then once you have tapped that,
 you will be overflowing with it and send it out to others. 

 We can reverse negativity and disease 
and aging by tapping within ourselves 
and then sending out Love, Peace, 
Good deeds, mercy, helping others, 
kindness, forgiveness, health, food,
 helping the poor and the less fortunate,
 helping the aged and the sick, teaching and helping children, raising children and on and on. 
  Stop our own aggression, anger and self-hatred. 
 Stop being so hard on ourselves and 
putting ourselves to task.  Stop being self-critical.  
Forgive ourselves. Give up the past and past regrets. 
 Stop escaping ourselves and seeking happiness 
and power outside of ourselves. 
 Stop our selfishness, self-pity, guilt.
 Stop doing everything which is not life producing for ourselves and others.
WAKE UP AND LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!!!!!!!!  
WE WILL LIVE HAPPILY, PROSPEROUSLY 
AND LONG!!!
FOR GOD IS INFINITE AND ABUNDANT!
As Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet: 
Juliet of her love for Romeo,  
"THE MORE I GIVE THE MORE I HAVE
 FOR MY LOVE IS BOUNDLESS AS THE SEA"
God is love.  And God is boundless!  When we love we have more to give and get more and give more 
and get even more and give even more!

Give Love and we will receive Love.  It’s just that simple.  
St. Francis once said, “It is in giving that we receive.” 
BOOMERANG!!!!!!
We pay for everything we get.  That's simple economics!  
How true that it is.  When we go to the store, 
we have to give money, to get the product we want
 to purchase.  When we send out love we get love;
 send out anger, we get back anger; send out hatred 
and we get that back.    So naturally, if we want
 to receive the healing power of Love, the we have
 to send out Love by giving it to somebody. 
  And Love means giving without any expectation 
or obligation.

Only LOVE CAN REVERSE THE BOOOMERANG!
"LOVE KILLS HATE" 
Make someone else happy.  
Give something you have to someone who needs it!  Anything-even if it's your time!  And keep on giving 
without expecting anything in return. We always get 
Love back even if that person does not reciprocate. 
Love is an energy.  It's going out no matter what and 
has to come back from someone else in the near future! 
Give to see the joy in someone else.  
Give to make someone else's life a little easier!
  Their joy is returned back to us!
"It is in giving that we receive" You will not get more 
because you're holding onto things; things you have outworn! 

 Remember Old Ebenezer Scrooge when he kept holding 
back and hording his money?  Old Marley's ghost came
 back in chains to show him how every selfish decision 
and every added dollar just added another chain on his soul!
  So at the end Old Ebenezer freed himself by giving it away.  
And he got more!  More happiness than he ever could have imagined.  He gained a family, an invitation to dinner 
and became the benefactor of those who owed him money!
   He was so happy, so free, so young and jubilant!!  

Meditation and prayer are acts of going within. 
 Going to nature, taking walks in the country or 
along the ocean or river or lake, fishing, hiking are 
all forms of communing with the Power within us and nature reflects our energy back within us.  That's why we feel so rejuvenated (re-energized after being with nature). 
Meditation always brings us in touch with our YOUTH 
and peace of mind. Pills and alcohol and other substances or addictive behaviors only "bandage" or camouflage 
the truth.  When you meditate after awhile, 
(after cleaning out the excess weight in your mind) 
you will become very clear about the way you 
are to approach your life and become successful
 and happier.

When we look for God within us,

"IF YOU LOOK FOR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART 
YOU WILL FIND GOD"  Deuteronomy
In Deuteronomy 5:24, "we see that God speaks to man."
Go to God by going into meditation or silence, we find Him.
  "Peace, be still and know that I am God" Psalms
"Listen and I will direct your Path" We find  Power.  
Even the agnostics in Alcoholics Anonymous found 
God within themselves. "In the last analysis He is there. 
We find the Great Reality deep down within ourselves."  
Chapter to the Agnostics.
Immediately we shift our dependency from outer dependency
 to inner dependency. Peace! Thus "harmonizing" or "realigning" our soul, mind and body.  The result of that is HEALING!  WHOLENESS as in "HOLISTIC" as in "HEALTH"! 

see Meditation is the best Medicine
Simple Breathing Meditation

"let the mind be single" as Jesus said. 
 Let the mind dwell on God, nature, good, 
virtues, truth, Love and all things good 
actions will go out of us and then become 
attracted back to us. So we then receive 
the healing energy of our thoughts. Think good and attract good. And good (or God) will come to us and to others.    
GOOD IS GOD! All things good are of God.  

"And God looked at what He had created and said, 
"Behold it is all good, very good indeed!" Genesis.

"Depend on evil or vain people and perish with them. 
 Depend on the wise and become prosperous with the wise."  
And even wiser, Proverbs tells us "He who masters himself is better than he who conquers a city." 
“The Kingdom within”  We are the masters or Kings of our own dominion!
We will no longer are at the volatile inconsistency of our addictions, material dependencies, our reliance on others, or solutions outside of ourselves!

 

and ALSO SEE THE ARTICLE The Spiritual Way to Happiness simple actions which will bring about health and happiness with questions and a plan of action for you to make for yourself.
Also read THE CASTLE   puts into perspective life within and all around us and how we can make wise choices for health and prosperity.

The answers to these questions may help to identify what is aging you, draining your life energy, causing disease, blocking you from happiness and success and defeating your Spirit:

INVENTORY

 * Is there someone or something in your life you can not let go of?
 *  Is there a behavior you keep acting on that brings you unhappiness?
 *  Are there relationships in your life which make you unhappy?
 * Is there something you are doing which is causing you harm to yourself or to others?
 * Is there something you are pursuing which is makes you unhappy?
 * Is there something you are doing which makes you feel emotionally drained?
 * Is there a past regret?
 * IS there something you have done which you will not forgive yourself for?
 * Is there something you are doing which is unloving to yourself? to others?
 * Do you treat yourself as an object? Do you look at others as objects?
 * Do you dwell on the negative? on the past?
 * Are you resentful or jealous of someone?
 * Are you a penny-pincher, or hording money?
 * Do you try to hold on to things?
 * Do you feel trapped or stuck in your relationship?  in your job? in your life?
 * Are you dependent on any substance (legal or illegal) which alters your mood and perception?
  * Are you dependent on it to alter your mood?   
* Is there shame? 
Identify what needs to be changed and gotten rid of.
It may take therapy. 
But the things that have you stuck or "hung up"  MUST GO if you are to live long and happy and not get sick or diseased.

SUGGESTIONS:

- LET GO! It's gone. FORGIVE! 
Dump all the things you are carrying around in you and with you that a child would not be carrying.  THAT'S WHAT HEAVEN IS! For more see article:
  In the Past or in the Present

Remember not the things of the past, nor consider things of old;
  behold I do new things."
Isaiah 43:18-19

 FREE YOUR SPIRIT DAILY! 

For any peace, happiness; DETACH yourself from anybody or anyplace.  Anxiety, fear, loneliness, are signs we have become attached to someone or something and are depending on them for our happiness or security!  WE'RE GETTING DRAINED!! Thus we are getting DISEASED!
LET GO!  Know that these TOXINS are evidence of spiritual drainage. Like the "RED DEATH" they can kill us. Certainly they will warp our judgement and our minds.  
Physical symptoms develop and some of them are mentioned here; they are indications that we are stressed and possibly diseased. All these things to a greater degree will cause disease, mental illness and spiritual disconnection with our GOD.

SPIRITUAL TOXINS 
THESE WILL SHORTEN YOUR LIFE!
FEAR     POWER    WORRY   REVENGE   PHYSICAL-VIOLENCE GUILT   SHAME   LONELINESS     ADDICTIONS     DEPENDENCY
DESPAIR  FANTASY  ESCAPISM  SUPERSTITION   
  RESENTMENT  (has been shown to cause cancer)  HATRED
DEGRADATION    SELF and OTHER ABUSE 
AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR    PHYSICAL-ABUSE-TO-THE-BODY
PAST REGRETS    DWELLING ON THE PAST
DEPENDING ON MATERIAL    ACCUMULATION OF "STUFF"
FUTURES    GAMBLING   OVERWORKING   CHAOS    
CROWDS   FRANTIC- PACE  IMPATIENCE
FAST-TALKING      IMPULSIVE-THINKING
OVERUSE OR OVERLOADING THE MIND
LOUD NOISE or LOUD TALKING  
NEGATIVE SOUNDS, IMAGES or WORDS  NEGATIVE NEWS   TERROR and FEAR  DESPAIR  ENVY  BITTERNESS  EXCESSIVE WATCHING TOO MUCH TELEVISION 
Television is an hypnotic !
 it draws our energy - fixation on a non-living thing or a trance! The mind is being separated from the Soul.
GREED  SELFISHNESS  AGGRESSION  COMPETITIVENESS
LUST  ARROGANCE   INTOLERANCE  TALKING EXCESSIVELY
GLUTTONY  GOSSIP   LYING     BELIEVING- IN- PROPAGANDA (warps our judgement and makes us distracted)
  DISHONESTY  ALCOHOLIC DRINKING  ILLICIT DRUGS
 TOXIC and ADDICTIVE MEDICATION
LET GO! 

 

- LIVE IN THE PRESENT

To stay happy, we must not become distracted.  Distract is dis=to take off tract = track.  To get off our track.  What happens if we drive off the road or get onto another road instead of the road we were meant to travel on to get to a destination? 

Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things do I declare; before you they spring forth.   Isaiah 42:9

  LOVE ! LOVE!  LOVE!!         

Whatever or whoever we worry about has control over us!  
LET GO!
 What are thoughts focus on grows our destiny!

Live in  reality!  Don't expect what Life can not get you! (FANTASY) !  And LIFE will be a lot better than you could imagine!

"So wake up!        
                     Remove the shroud from your slumber        
                  And see life while you’re alive                      
                               As it really is in all its glory           
            Life is not a grave to be mourned over             
      Or a memorial to the past to be commemorated    
SO GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE GREET THE NEW DAY!" 
                                               from Star Child                             

 

Also read THE CASTLE  an analogy which compares us to being the King or Queen of our Kingdom.  It puts into perspective life within and all around us and how we can make wise choices for health and prosperity.

 

                  SEE The Fountain of Youth on how the Power within us can reverse the aging process as well as bring us prosperity and healing.

“He that dwells in the Secret Place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91  "The Kingdom of Heaven is within You"  Luke  17:21

                                                   

FOR MORE SPIRITUAL ARTICLES see Articles

 

ALSO

You Are What You Think
 Our thoughts create the world we see or change the world...

Be Happy
A few simple activities you can use to be happy.

Our Relationship with GOD
The key to success in Life!  All our problems are the result of not having the right relationship with God, Life, ourselves and other people.  Having the right relationship will bring instant success and health and happiness. This article has prayers and offers activities to bring about the relationship with the Power within us !