Does moving toward Christ require us to live in poverty and misery? We only need to look at Jesus’ admonishment not to worry about being provided for but to seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:25). Obviously we can have material wealth before we are living as Christ, as illustrated in the story of the rich man. Therefore being able to manifest riches is not an indication of being enlightened or Christ-like. So, those who peddle “abundance teachings” outside of Christ truth or by perverting the truth, are really attempting to lead us on the false path – a path away from Christ.
These New Age abundance teachers like to tell us that in pleasing ourselves, we are pleasing God, and that the more money we have, the more we have to give, but the most important gift we have to give is Being the Christ on earth, for then we can be the “light of the world” for our brothers and sisters.(Matthew 5:14) On the way to this goal, we will be tested on our willingness to sacrifice, surrender and serve selflessly. We have to be willing to follow our inner direction and be obedient to it in order to pass these tests. We have to be willing to give up or delay having anything and everything in our lives. This is how we purify our desires; one by one we give them to God, and see what we get back.
In the end, our joy comes not from doing or having something that pleases us superficially, but from Being who we are in the highest sense, which naturally draws to us what best suits our individual expression of God and our divine plan. We find out that when we give from our hearts, we always feel blessed. That is because we are God’s gift; we are created to be God’s gift. In giving we are being who we are in the highest sense, and this is pure joy.
When we have purified our desires, they will be in line with God’s Will, so that if we desire something, we know that it is God’s Will. If we attempt to force heaven by mechanically manifesting what we “want” before it is given as a result of our spiritual work, then we are as thieves attempting to enter from a doorway other than the door of Christ in our sacred heart (John 10:1). If Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, is this in our best interests? Are not those who teach this false way, the false teachers that Jesus warned us would come in his name, that is, in the guise of truth?(Matthew 7:15)
True abundance is a result, not a cause. Jesus did not say, “Seek ye first these things and the kingdom of God shall be added unto you.” We see where the focus needs to be – and the control. We are meant to surrender control to God. What the abundance teachers do is encourage us to remain in control. Yet our abundance is a gift from God, therefore, it is not something for us to take; it is something for us to receive by Being who we are in God. When we are Being, we are in the flow, and everything falls into place for the fulfillment of our divine plan and our service to life. We don’t need to toil or struggle, we just need to Be.
continued in part 3
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