So how are you? I’m on vacation! I’m fabulous! And I hope you’re wonderful, too! Thank you so much; I just wanted to share. There was a couple of messages that, before I left for vacation, I wanted to give to you. And this is one of them. Last week was one on forgiveness and karma, and today is another one. And I hope you enjoy it, because it was really important for me that I get to speak this to you. That I get to teach this one. Because this is important stuff.
So what we’re going to look at tonight is your burdens. And I want you to really get honest with yourself about the burdens that you’ve had to deal with through the course of your life. And especially right now, with all that’s going on with our world today, I want us to be aware of the burdens that we carry and how we carry those burdens.
Psalms 55:22 said, “Cast your burdens upon the Lord, and he shall sustain you.”
So how do you hold your burdens? What do you do with your burdens? You know, when I look at the burdens that I’ve carried in my life, and the things that felt heavy or hard, there was a time where I really carried them with my ego. Where I carried them from my personality. Where I carried them where I felt like I had to carry them. And there were other times when I was willing, over and over again, to give them to God. To really trust that there was a presence and power that was at work in my life, and that I could really surrender them.
One of the things that I always was intrigued by in ministry was people saying to me, in leading a large church, is: “How do you handle that responsibility? Doesn’t that just get overwhelming being a minister in a large church where so many people look up to you, or they want your guidance, or they want your input? Doesn’t that feel like a burden?”
And I honestly would look at them and go, “Maybe it should, but it never really resonated as a burden. It never really felt like a burden.” And because of the way that I carried it, I really feel like this was God’s church; this was God’s work. And my job was just to show up being a goombah, being my little goofy self, and let God do it. And any time it was hard or heavy, I realized that I was in my own personality. I was trying to do it from my humanity. I was trying to carry the load on my own.
And over and over again, what I want you to see: I want you to be aware of your burdens. I want you to acknowledge those things in your life that feel like burdens.
You know, many of us have heard that expression that we have “a cross that we have to bear.” And when we’re bearing our cross; when we’re carrying our responsibilities; when we’re doing all the things that we think we need to do, we are doing it the wrong way! Because your personality — as cute as you are, and as adorable as you are! — your personality was not designed to carry the burdens of life. That is 100% God’s job.
Reading from Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all who are labored and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
See, I really want you to get this! That if you’re feeling overwhelmed tonight; if you’re feeling heavy; if you’re feeling distraught; if you’re feeling depressed; if you’re feeling, “Woe is me!” … And, you know, it’s fun to say, “Woe is me,” but it’s not as much fun to live it, right? So we can affirm, “Woe is me!” But when we internalize — when we actually start feeling heavy, like life is hard and heavy — what I want you to see is that we haven’t let it go. We haven’t given it up. We’re holding on to it.
And the moment we turn it over to God — the more we practice what Jesus taught — we feel a level of freedom and relief. And if you’ve ever felt overly burdened, what you want more than anything else in your life is a feeling of freedom and relief. And that’s what God offers us!
Over and over again, when we are carrying the burdens of life, there’s this opportunity to cast your burdens … To give your burdens, to give the heaviness of your life — the parts of your life that you don’t know how to manage, that seem overwhelming and out of control — that you absolutely in those moments need to be walking with God.
And I want you to see tonight that, if you drew a circle on a piece of paper — a big circle on a piece of paper — and you wrote all your burdens, and if you put in that circle all the things that feel like your burden tonight … What I want you to see is: underneath every one of those burdens is an unspoken desire. And sometimes the desire that is underneath every burden is the desire to be free of the burden. And sometimes, whatever’s going on in your life, that is our cross to bear. That is the situation that we find ourselves in.
You know, having been with my wife for several years as she’s gone through this health challenge, there isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t pray, “God, heal us completely. God heal this situation.” Where we don’t ask for that burden to be lighter.
But underneath that is a greater desire: a greater desire for joy and peace and love and abundance. And what I want you to see today is that sometimes we get so locked in the burden that we don’t ask for the desire that’s underneath it. And every burden is a desire unspoken, not recognized. That every time we’re living from that heavy place of a burden, what I want you to be crystal clear about: “What is my desire? Oh, I want to have more fun. Or I want my life to be easier. Or I want to know greater joy or peace or abundance.” What’s the desire underneath the burden?
And I want you to get to that. I want you to know what that is. I want you to be praying about that. I want you to be affirming that. Because the desire underneath the burden is what sets us free! The burden has come into your life to bless you. To take you closer to God. And when we try to dismiss the burden — when we want to get rid of that situation or that condition in our life — we miss the opportunity to see, “But what’s the desire that is bigger, greater, deeper than that?” And that’s what interests me tonight. What interests me tonight is knowing that we have access to a level of good that is greater than any situation or condition that we carry tonight.
So the first thing that I’m going to invite you into tonight is: If you’re carrying your burdens, it’s time to unpack them and give them to God. If you’re carrying a burden, it is absolutely time for you to turn it over to the will and the work of God at work in your life, so that you move the heaviness of that burden on to the shoulders of the Infinite, and let God carry your burden for you. You were not intended to carry the weight of life. That is God’s job! If you have a cross that you’re being asked to bear, God wants to carry the weight of that cross.
The second thing is that: I want you to see, over and over again, that underneath every burden is a desire. And when you ask — when you speak — into the desire; when you actually begin to affirm the desire that you want, everything gets easier.
You know, we’ve been using this book for the last several weeks: The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Shinn. And one of the things that’s so powerful in this book … We started by looking at the games we play. We talked about our vision for our life. We talked about affirming the highest and the best. We talked about non-resistance. Last week we talked about forgiveness and karma.
And today what I want you to see is: If you are in any way feeling overburdened; if you’re feeling heavy; if you’re feeling disappointed; if you’re feeling distraught; I want you to see that there’s an answer. As a spiritual principle, there is an answer for your life. And the answer is: Give it to God. Cast your burdens upon the Lord. And to be willing to speak your greatest desire.
Now let me give you a trick. Now, there’s a difference between a spiritual principle and a trick. A trick is one of the ways that we use to integrate or to practice a spiritual principle. A trick is one of those things that just helps us mentally or emotionally practice a greater spiritual truth.
So I have a trick for you tonight. And the trick is: I want you to practice saying to yourself, “I see myself …” and then fill in the blank. Because there’s an incredible power when you see yourself in a different way. When you use the power of imagination to see yourself in a different way, it’s incredibly powerful.
“I see myself myself …” and then fill in the blank.
And it could really be at three different levels. I see myself BEING something. Or BEING in a new way. Or I see myself EXPRESSING in a new way.
“I see myself free or happy or joyous.” “I see myself living spiritual principles in a brand new way.”
Because the moment you see yourself, you are absolutely impregnating the subconscious with a new possibility; with a new reality.
So the top level is a BEING level. So, “I see myself being happier than I’ve ever been before. I see myself prosperous: more prosperous than I ever have before.” Or, “I see myself joyous, healed, whole.” Whatever it is: “I see myself …”
I want you to say that with me.
“I see myself …”
Together: “I see myself …”
And at that moment, you move into creative cause. You move into being the master of your destiny.
“I see myself … I’m not a victim to this. I’m not a victim to circumstance. I’m not a victim to this burden. I see myself …”
And you’re actually using the creative power of your spirit to create a brand new reality. So the first level is: “I see myself BEING …” And who do you want to be? How do you want to live your life? What spiritual principles and qualities do you want to embody?
“I see myself BEING …”
The next level is: “I see myself DOING …” “I see myself doing life in a brand new way. I see myself doing vacations or I see myself doing relationship.” Or, “I see myself doing family.” And when we get to the, “I see myself DOING …”, what’s your most creative way of seeing yourself being involved in life?
“I see myself DOING …” Like, maybe your DOING is, “I see myself driving a brand new red Corvette.” Or, “I see myself doing a vacation in Hawaii next year.” Or, “I see myself on a safari in Africa.” Right? And as you begin to see yourself, over and over again, you’re actually imprinting your subconscious on a brand new reality.
And then the third one is “I see myself HAVING …” “I see myself having …” If you could have anything, what would you want to be seeing yourself having? “I see myself having a great time in my retirement.” Or, “I see myself healing completely.” “I see myself having this experience or that experience.” “I see myself having a lovely home with a courtyard and a fountain in the center. And there’s room for family and friends.” “I see myself with a large yard for the dogs to play in.” “I see myself …”
And you can actually speak it into existence. As you practice “I see myself …”, what I want you to see is that you unleash that. And when we pray for each other, that’s how I want us to pray for each other. You know, when you have a MasterMind partner or a prayer partner, that’s how I want us to be holding each other.
“I see myself …” And then your partner says to you, “Richard, I see you living in that beautiful house, and driving that fantastic car, and having abundance all around you! And being healthy and whole. I see that for you!”
And it’s like, “Really? You see that for me?”
And it’s like, “I do! I see that for you! And whatever you want me to see for you!”
“Well, I want you to see for me this situation or that situation; a healing here or a healing here; or I want you to see me getting that promotion or writing that book or living that life.”
“I see that for you!”
And the moment we begin to move to that level of creation, where the Christ in us, where the God in us, where the Spirit in us sees that for each other.
You know the whole term Namaste is: “The Christ in me sees the Christ in you.” This is what it is! Is: “I see for you you living your best life. And that’s how I want you to see for me! Me living my best life. I don’t want you to see me burdened or heavy or overwhelmed or sad or disappointed; I want you to see me in a brand new way.”
And as we impregnate our subconscious; as we claim the level of good that we desire, we begin to change our lives.
There was an article written in the Huffington Post that said this:
“Our brain is built to reinforce and regulate our life. Your subconscious mind has something called a homeostatic impulse, which regulates the function of your body temperature, heartbeat and breathing.
Brian Tracy explained it like this: ‘The automatic nervous system maintains balance between hundreds of chemicals in billions of cells so that your entire physical machine functions in complete harmony most of the time. But what many people don’t realize is that your brain is built to regulate, not only your physical self, but it’s also built to regulate your mental self. Your mind is constantly filtering and bringing to your attention information and stimuli that affirm your present existence — it is known in psychology as a ‘confirmation bias’ — as well as presenting you with repeated thoughts and impulses that mimic and mirror that which was done in the past.”
So when you begin to impregnate your subconscious mind, you actually change the focus of your life. You actually begin to move in a new direction. So as you begin to say more and more, “I see myself happier than I’ve ever been before; I see myself living the life that I’ve dreamt of; I see myself overcoming every hurdle,” you actually impregnate your subconscious mind, and it actually creates a whole new reality.
Florence Shinn in this chapter said, “When man knows the power and the workings of his mind, his greatest desire is to find an easy and quick way to impress his subconsciousness with good. For simply the intellectual knowledge of truth will not bring the full results.”
See, as spiritual beings, I want you to begin to see yourself in a way that actually allows the goodness of God full reign over your life. That you are not here to live in lack and limitation. You are not here to miss out on all the blessings of God. And as you begin to see yourself in a new way — as you invite your support system: your prayer partners; your chaplains; your MasterMind group — to see you in a new way, your life begins to reflect that. That we over and over again are programming our subconscious mind for the life that you want.
Okay; you ready for your homework? I want you to pick three things this week that you’re willing to make a commitment to. Now, it can be your vision from a couple of weeks ago. It can be your goal that you established this year. I want you to see at least three ways that you want to begin to see yourself every day.
And it can’t be … I mean, it could … You can continue to see yourself the way you’ve always been: stuck, unhappy, broke, whatever the limitation is. You can continue to see yourself that way. But I want you to use the power of your imagination. This little trick is so powerful! I want you to use the power of your imagination to see yourself in a brand new way. Three brand new ways! Happier, prosperous, more loving, healthier relationship, driving that little red Corvette … Whatever it is for you! Right? I want you to see what it is for you.
And then I want you to begin to build a team around you that see you that way. If you have a chaplain that prays with you, next time your chaplain calls I want you to say, “I want you to see me this way. And when you think of me as you go through your day throughout the month, I want you to see me this way.” And then, over and over again, we need to build a team of people around us that are seeing us in a greater way. That we impregnate our subconscious; we fill our subconscious, not just with images of the past, but images of what could be.
Over and over again, “I see myself … The God in me — the Christ in me — sees me in a greater way, and it is truly my joy to live a life that glorifies God. To live a life that lifts me higher. See me! See me in my fullness as I see you in your fullness.”
Will you pray with me?
And I invite you to open your mind, your heart, your soul to the activity of God that is right here, right now. And today we use the power of our mind — the power of our subconscious mind — for the highest and greatest level of good. We are actually seeing ourselves in the world in a brand new way. That we no longer need to see the world stuck or broken or limited; we see the world healthy and whole and loving and abundant, where everyone has enough. Where we live in the beloved community that Martin Luther King talked about.
“See me! And let me see you in the highest level of your good.”
Jesus said, “Where two or more are gathered, there I am in the midst of them.” Tonight I want you to see yourself in a brand new way. And I want you to invite the people that love you and trust you, and are of spiritual support to you, to see you in a brand new way.
“I see you. I truly, deeply see you.” And so it is. Amen.