Discover the POWER Within You!
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By Rev. Richard Maraj
Lead Minister |
Growing up, I always felt a
distance between God and me.
I was taught that God, the
Creator and Source of all life,
was up in the sky in some far-off heavenly
place. The way I interpreted this was that I
wasn’t worthy of God. I prayed to a God “out there” hoping to make a connection,
hoping to bridge that gap, hoping that God
would give me the desires of my heart. I
felt disconnected from having any personal
power of my own.
When I came to Unity, I heard a different
message than I had ever heard before in
church. Unity emphasized that we are all
created in the image and likeness of God ...
which means we are all individualized
expressions of God and that divine
presence lives in us. We call that
indwelling Spirit ”the Christ”: the Spirit of
God in man.
This is what Paul refers to in Colossians
1:27 when he says, “Christ in you, the hope
of Glory.”
In Luke 17:21, Jesus said it this way: “The Kingdom of God is within you.” Ralph Waldo Emerson echoed a similar
message when he said, “What lies behind
us and what lies before us are small matters
compared to what lies within us.” In her book, Exploring Inner Space, Jane
Dunlap says, “Hidden away in each
individual is a vast gold mine but, as yet,
only a few puny and thread-like veins
have been discovered.”
All these statements are inspiring and
empowering. They each tell us where to
find God ... where to find authentic power
... where to find the answers and wisdom
we are all seeking. Yet despite these and
countless Scripture and other statements
that point us toward the Truth, most of us
continue to spend our lives searching high
and low, in books and in people, in far off
places — and even in outer space! — to
discover that “vast gold mine” we seek.
We look everywhere outside ourselves to
find God’s peace, joy, happiness and fulfillment
instead of the one place where we
will find it: and that is within ourselves.
My favorite Unity book is Rev. Eric
Butterworth’s Discover the Power Within You.
In it he says, “The hope of mankind today
lies in the great undiscovered depths
within. The time is at hand when men
everywhere must forsake the fruitless
search of the world at the circumference of
being and embark upon a courageous quest
into inner space.”
When Jesus was asked by his disciples
how to pray, he said, "Go into your room,
and when you have shut your door, pray to
your Father who is in the secret place; and
your Father who sees in secret will reward
you openly." (Matthew 6:6) Jesus was
advising us to close the door on the
distractions of the outer world, and go
inward to that secret place where we can
feel and experience the divine presence of
God within us. That is the way to discover
the power within us!
All of Jesus' teachings call each and every
one of us to discover the power of God's
Spirit within us. Through good times and
bad ... through difficulties and celebrations
... when we feel joyful or when we feel
powerless, hopeless and frustrated ... no
matter what is happening in our lives, it's
important to remember that the kingdom of
God is always within us. Christ in us is our
hope of glory. We are the temple of the
living God, and God's Spirit lives within us.
As a reflection of this powerful truth, our
ministry has adopted a new motto: “Discover the Power Within You.” This
single line sums up our basic belief about
our relationship with God and how to
connect with the Kingdom within us.
In addition, you’ll note that we have
changed the name of our newsletter from
Upward Venture to INWARD Venture. The
work of this ministry is to encourage and
inspire all of us — in all situtions— to take time to turn within. Seek and listen
with your heart for that still, small voice of
God, and allow it to fill and flow through
you. If you truly do listen, you will always
be led to something greater. Spirit will
bless, love, lead and guide you to
experience everything that is good and
that you desire in life.
God is not in some far off place; God’s
Spirit is within YOU! Are you willing to go
deeper within to listen to the still, small
voice of God? All the answers you seek
can be attained by sitting in the silence and
connecting with that amazing power and
Spirit of God! Are you willing to spend
more time in the silence to explore “inner
space”? Are you willing to open yourself
to the love, wisdom, peace, and abundance
that is already within you, just waiting to
come forth?
When we explore the depths of God’s
Spirit in the secret place of the most high,
the good we are seeking will flow in and
through our lives. Unity of Phoenix is here
to help you Discover the Power Within
You!
