I Am Renewed Daily

"I am an individualized center in the Consciousness of God. I am an individualized activity in the Action of God. I am eternal. Therefore, I do not have to wait for immortality. The resurrection of life is today. Living today as though I were an immortal being, I allow all thought of death, all fear of change to slip from me. I step out of the tomb of uncertainty and into the light of eternal day. The nighttime of my soul has passed and the eternal light of everlasting day dawns as the great Reality in my life. Joyfully I am resurrected into that which is beautiful, enduring, and true. Silently I pass from less to more, from isolation into inclusion, from separation into oneness.

Today, realizing that there is nothing in my past that can rise against me, nothing in my future that can menace the unfoldment of my experience, I declare that life will be an eternal adventure of greater and better experiences. I revel in the contemplation of the immeasurable future, the path of eternal progress, the everlastingness of my own being. am renewed daily by that Divinity within me that has forever set the stamp of individualized Being on my mind."

Excerpt From 365 Science of Mind Ernest Holmes

I Enter the Port of Attainment

"I enter into my Divine Inheritance and know that all that my inward vision perceives will be mine. Like Moses, I stand on the mountaintop of spiritual perception. Now, free from all obstruction, the vista is perfect, the vision is sublime. There are no clouds in the sky. I look out across innumerable other mountain peaks and in each I recognize another Divine subject of the Heavenly Presence. The gates of my soul are lifted up and a flood tide of intuition flows through. Confronted with discord, I will see harmony. Confronted with unhappiness, I will unmask it also by seeing through this false face to the true countenance of joy. It is written that "joy comes with the morning," and I know this morning is eternal. Confronted with a sense of lack, I will unmask this false sense and reveal the divine Horn of Plenty. I will lift up my bowl of acceptance that it may be filled with the divine gifts.

I embark upon the sea of today's experience, knowing that the heavenly Pilot is at the helm. I seek the bold adventure of discovering new lands, realizing that there is a place within me where thought springs spontaneous from the Infinite and where the idea and the thing merge into one. I permit the inspiration of the divine creative Genius of the universe to impart new ideas, to create new scenes, to enlarge all my horizons. I feel that the ocean beneath me is teeming with life, that the air is vibrant with invisible forces. My boat rides safe and sure, and even now I am entering the Port of Attainment."

Excerpt From 365 Science of Mind Ernest Holmes

I Glorify in the Power of the Word

"I have faith in the invisible because everything that is visible proclaims the invisible source of its being. I feel as though all things, even though they are temporary, are rooted in a changeless Reality. Today I enter into this divine play of Life upon Itself. Today I attend and witness the eternal birth of divine ideas. I recognize these ideas as supplying me with everything I need. Today I have implicit faith that Substance is taking form in my affairs. This Substance takes the form of joy, friendship, and love. It takes the form of abundance and of perfect physical conditions. Everything is increased and multiplied, and the good that goes from me also is increased and multiplied. I believe in the power of my own word because I understand that it is not I but "the Father that dwelleth in me" that does the work.

I know that I individualize the Power of God. Through my spoken word, I exercise dominion over everything that comes into my experience. I do this without any sense of strain or compulsion, but rather with a joyous sense, a sense of the one who beholds that the works of God must be altogether good and perfect. I use my word and glorify in its power."

Excerpt From 365 Science of Mind Ernest Holmes

For so many years when I thought about my relationship with God, it was something I felt I needed to earn. Before I could receive God's love and approval, I would have to make myself perfect. In order to receive God's love I would have to make all the crooked places within me straight. I would have to kick all of my bad habits, meditate every day, never get angry or frustrated, give up all resentments, feel deep compassion for everyone I meet, and love myself perfectly and completely in every way, even when I made bad choices and even when I acted badly. Then, and only then, would I qualify for God's Love. Then and only then could I be worthy of having the kind of loving, personal relationship with the Father that I longed for.

And for years, decades really…actually, most of my life, I yearned to have that perfect, personal relationship with God that I imagined Christ had. But the problem was that I couldn't ever clean up my act enough to actually allow myself to have that relationship. So, I kept postponing it. "Someday" I would secretly promise myself, "I will qualify. Someday, I really will be good enough to receive that perfect Love. When I am enlightened, then I will be able know God."

It wasn't until recently that I realized that I had it completely the wrong way around. And the epiphany came to me in a very small moment while reading Ernest Holmes' 365, a year of daily wisdom. It was just one line from the September 18th lesson.

"Realizing the presence of life in all nature, I know that it responds to me."

I'd read this line before, encountered this idea countless times in my Science of Mind studies, but this time, I felt something in me actually respond. Suddenly and very quietly I had no doubt, no question at all in my mind, that God responds to me -to my needs, my thoughts, my feelings. It wasn't a shaft of sunlight moment of revelation, just a very small twitch in my Spirit that confirmed God's Presence within me. It was a gentle quickening, and in a moment I was suddenly more certain than I had ever been of that one principle – that God responds to me. And it occurred to me that the reason I felt so certain of was because regardless of how I may feel about myself, or about God, I knew that God is always responding to Itself in me, and that it cannot help but love itself in me.

My opinion of myself has nothing to do with it. God loves Itself in and through me. This is spiritual fact. God doesn't need to be qualified to receive its own Self-Love. It is Love Itself. And suddenly, it occurred to me that I had been making it so much harder than it needed to be. I don't need to, nor is it possible, to effort God's love into place.

Christ didn't freak out when there wasn't enough wine and pray, saying "God, please! There isn't enough wine! This whole party is ruined. I'll be a better person if you will just send 20 cases right away!"

The whole point of departure for that approach is predicated on lack. It presumes that I don't have what I need, that God's love is absent somehow, and that there is something I need to do or become in order to have it. But the real secret is this: I already have it. God is in me, and the love it expresses for Itself through and as me happens naturally, automatically, when I can allow for it. And I allow for it simply by removing what Ernest Holmes calls my "bloated nothingness" so that I am a place of its happening. Because it's happening every moment, all the time, at the same time, everywhere, including inside of me.

So, when someone whispered in Christ's ear that there was no wine left, I imagine Christ turned to his own knowing that the Father cannot but respond to Him, and to Its own needs in and as Him, and made Himself a place, through that knowing, for a response to happen – and as the water flowed, it became wine. Christ didn't turn the water to wine, as though it were a magic trick. The water became wine through the act of God's Self-Love as Christ, and all needs were met.

That means it happens quietly. Softly. Inwardly. I have no control over how God responds or when God responds and what God responds with, which is a good thing because if I could use my will to influence God's will, it would not turn out well for anyone. But when I remember that God is always responding to itself in me, that it must respond, and that it cannot betray its own nature, I can turn my needs over to this Presence knowing that Its response cannot be different from Itself – which is love.

So, I don't need to Petition God for what I need or qualify myself to become worthy of being loved. I simply need to trust God's loving nature in me and know that I am already qualified. God is already and always in me as Love itself. And when I can consciously and quietly become a place for a Loving Response to happen, there is a quickening – and I don't need to straighten all the crooked places out in order to be with God. It is completely the other way around. Because when I am with God, all that is crooked is naturally and effortlessly…made straight.

My Soul Is at Peace

"When a problem confronts me, I take it into the silence of my consciousness. Instead of thinking of the problem, I think of the answer. The Divine Presence guides, guards, and protects me. It counsels me with wisdom. It sustains and upholds me in everything I do. Having recognized the Divine Presence as my guiding star of hope, assurance, and certainty, I also recognize the Universal Law of Mind as my servant. My faith in this Law causes It to act upon my faith, bringing into my experience those things I accept. I know that today I am free and unhindered. I feel the operation of Divine Love and Universal Law in my affairs. I know that everything I do is governed by Love and controlled through Law. I am conscious that I am one with all people. In complete reliance upon the Divine and with absolute faith in the goodness of God, I lay aside everything within me that contradicts the Divine and know that today peace, fulfillment, and happiness are mine. My soul is at peace, rejoicing in the eternal movement of Mind, of Spirit, and of God in all my affairs."

Excerpt From 365 Science of Mind Ernest Holmes

I Realize the Presence of God

"Expectancy speeds progress. Therefore, I live in a continual state of expectancy. No matter how much I am experiencing today, I expect greater good tomorrow. I expect to meet new friends. I expect to meet new and wonderful experiences. I know that when I live in harmony with the Divine Presence in and around me, I will be protected by Its power. No harm can come to me when I know that God is at the center of everything. There is an inexhaustible reservoir of life, of imagination, energy, and will flowing through me into action. Divine Power exists everywhere and takes form for me through my ideas, my faith. Today and every day I expect good. I anticipate meeting new friends. I joyously anticipate contacting new situations that will increase my livingness. My life is an adventure. I know that wonderful things are going to happen to me. I know that everything I do will turn into good for me and for others.

Something within me today sings aloud as I marvel at the limitless opportunities for my self-expression. My Real Self is God, the eternal, perfect Self, the One undivided Self. There could not be a greater wholeness or a more complete oneness. It would be impossible for me to have any more faith than I now possess. I realize the perfect Presence of God in me."

Excerpt From 365 Science of Mind Ernest Holmes

My Faith Causes the Unseen to Become Visible

"I know that the Spirit, which is Life, is present everywhere. Like the air I breathe, It presses against me, on the mountaintop, in the valley, in the desert, and on the ocean, It is ever present. There is peace at the center of my being, a peace that can be felt throughout the day and in the cool of the evening. I dwell on the unity that underlies everything. As I consciously poise myself in the realization that I live in pure Spirit, new power is born within me. I find myself renewed by the Divine Life, led by Divine Intelligence, and guarded by Divine Love. I focus my inward vision on this indwelling Harmony, knowing that as I contemplate Its perfection I will see It manifest in everything I do. Realizing that the Spirit within me is God, the Living Spirit Almighty, I open my thought to Its influx. I open my consciousness to Its outpouring.

I know and understand that Good alone is real. I know that silently I am drawing into my experience today, and every day, an ever-increasing measure of truth and beauty, of goodness and harmony. Everything I do, say, and think is quickened into right and productive action. My faith causes that which was unseen to become visible."

Excerpt From 365 Science of Mind Ernest Holmes

I Am Held in the Goodness of God

"I know that there is no influence, either visible or invisible, other than the influence of pure Spirit, acting perfectly upon all people. I know that there is no presence but Love, and no power but the Creative Spirit, which has neither enemy nor opposite. Goodness, joy, and peace abide with me today. I believe that every affirmation I make will immediately take effect in my life. I fill every statement with joy; therefore, I expect joyful happenings. I fill every statement with love; therefore, I anticipate love in all relationships. I fill every statement with kindness, with tolerance, and with divine understanding; therefore, I expect all of my relationships to be harmonious.

I believe with a deep, inward calm that my word of faith is the execution of spiritual Law in my life. I know that my word penetrates any and every unbelief in my thought; it casts out fear, removes doubts, and permits that which is enduring, perfect, and true to enter into my consciousness. I have complete conviction that my thoughts will be carried out in my experience with certainty. I have absolute reliance upon the Law of Good. I know that It will bring everything desirable into my experience. Today I proclaim my divine inheritance. I am rich with the richness of God. I am strong with the power of God. I am guided by the wisdom of God. I am held in the goodness of God, today."

Excerpt From 365 Science of Mind Ernest Holmes

I Rejoice in the Good of All

"There is a Divine awareness within me that leads me upward and onward. I prepare myself for this ascent, filling my mental life with spiritual realization. My bread is manna from heaven, my meat the living word, my fruit the inspiration of hope, my wine the essence of joy. Laying aside all fear and uncertainty, I enter into my Good today. Aware of my unity with Life, I loose all thoughts of discord and lack. I permit the true pattern of Wholeness to come to the surface. Tending only those thoughts of my Good with the fire of imagination and feeling, I refuse to think about anything unlike Wholeness. Knowing that Life gives according to my faith, I lift my mind, I elevate my faith, and I listen deeply to the song of my being.

Every good I have experienced is now increased. Every joy that has come into my life is now multiplied. There is a new influx of inspiration into my thought. I see more clearly than ever before that my divine birthright is freedom, joy, and eternal goodness. I realize that this same birthright is bequeathed to all people. The Divine Presence interprets Itself to all people through love and friendship, peace and harmony, joy and freedom. I rejoice in the good of all."

Excerpt From 365 Science of Mind Ernest Holmes

I Feast on the Idea of Abundance

"The One Spirit manifests itself in and through all, including me. I accept with positive certainty that the Spirit within me goes before me and prepares my way, making perfect, plain, straight, easy, and happy the pathway of my experience. There is nothing in me that can obstruct the Divine circuits of Life, of Love, of Beauty and Truth. My word dissolves every negative thought or impulse that would throw a shadow of unbelief across the threshold of my expectation. Today I have faith that my word shall not return unto me void. I surrender myself completely to this faith. My prayer, then, is one of affirmation and acceptance. I lift my cup of acceptance, knowing that the Divine outpouring will fill it to the brim. I identify myself with abundance and success. I identify myself with the Living Spirit—with all the Power, all the Presence, and all the Life there is. Realizing that all action starts in and is a result of consciousness, I prepare my mind to receive the best that life has to offer. I see through all physical and mental obstructions to the one perfect Presence within me. I see through all apparent contradictions to the one perfect Being in every person. I see through all confusion to the one Divine Presence at the center of everything. I fast from all ideas of lack and feast on the idea of abundance."

Excerpt From 365 Science of Mind Ernest Holmes