Affirmations and Denials

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AFFIRMATIONS: TOOLS FOR LIVING

Most people start out on a spiritual journey because they're dissatisfied with

their present life. The human mind is convinced that somewhere, somehow, it

ought to be able to bring to itself whatever it desires and would satisfy it.

This thought is simply foreshadowing the reality.

The hunger that we feel is the prompting of the Divine within us, which longs

with an infinite longing to fill us. It is one side of the spiritual law of

supply and demand, with the other side being unchangeably and unfailingly the

promise: " All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive

them, and ye shall have them " (Mark ll:24).

We can all reach a state where we can stop our doing because we realize that

Spirit is the fulfillment of all our desires. We simply become still and know

that all the things we desire are ours already. This knowing, or recognition,

has the power to bring the invisible good (God)¾the innermost substance of

things¾into precisely the visible good we have desired.

But to get to that state, we must take the first steps, faithfully, earnestly,

and trustingly, even though they may seem at first glance as useless and empty

as the ancient ceremonies and rituals of the high church.

Understanding Affirmations

Those who have carefully studied spiritual laws find that, besides being freed

from apparent evil by denying its reality or power, they also can bring any

desired good into their lives by persistently affirming that it's already here.

To affirm anything is to assert positively that it is so¾even in the face of all

evidence to the contrary. We may not be able to see how, by our simply

affirming a thing to be true we can make it happen¾especially a thing that to

all human reasoning or sight doesn't seem true at all. But we can compel our

minds to stop quibbling and go to work to prove the rule, each in our own life.

Spiritual laws can't always be expressed verbally, but they are nonetheless

infallible and immutable laws that work with precision and certainty. The

beautiful Presence within us and around us is the substance of every good that

we can possibly desire¾even more than we can desire, for " eye hath not seen, nor

ear heard, neither have entered the heart of man, the things which God hath

prepared for them that love Him " (I Cor. 2:9). So, in some way, difficult to say

in words, there's power in our word of faith that brings all good things right

into our daily life.

Practicing Affirmations

We speak the word. We confidently affirm. But we have nothing to do with

bringing it to pass. " Thou shalt also decree a thing and it shall be established

unto thee " (Job 22:28). So as we decree, or affirm, unwaveringly and

steadfastly, we hold God by His own unchanging laws to do the establishing or

fulfilling.

In the first instructions given to students, this set of denials and

affirmations take a major place. Later, the students' own experience and inner

guidance lead them to an understanding of divine law that makes it easy for them

to follow simple rules that at first seemed difficult.

Saying over and over any denial or affirmation is a re-training of a mind that

has lived so long in error and false belief that it needs this constant

repetition of the Truth to function in the new way.

Useful Affirmations

As with the denials, so with the affirmations. There are a few sweeping

affirmations of Truth that cover many smaller ones, and which are wonderfully

effective in bringing good to our own experience and to others:

1. God is life, love, intelligence, substance, omnipotence, omniscience,

omnipresence;

2. I am God's manifestation, so God's life, love, wisdom and power flow

into and through me in every moment; I am one with God and governed by divine

Law;

3. I am Spirit: perfect, holy, harmonious; nothing can hurt me or make me

sick or afraid, for Spirit is God and God cannot be hurt or sick or afraid; I

manifest my real self through this body now;

4. God works in me to will and do whatsoever good God wishes me to do and

God cannot fail.

First, God is life, love, intelligence, substance, omnipotence, omniscience,

omnipresence. These are ideas we learned in the second lesson. As you repeat

the affirmation, please remember that every particle of life, love,

intelligence, power, or real substance in the universe is simply a quantity or

degree of God made manifest or visible through a form.

Try to think of what it means to say that God is omnipresent, omniscient,

omnipotent. God is everywhere present (omnipresent) and God is good. Then why

fear? God is all-powerful (omnipotent). Then what other power could prevail?

Since God is all-powerful and everywhere present, we must forever put aside the

traditional notion of the Devil as an adverse power that might at any moment

bring someone harm. There is and can only be one power, one presence, and that

is God, the good.

If faced with the appearance of evil, stand true and unwavering in the knowledge

that God, the good, is omnipresent. By so doing, you shall see the seeming evil

melt away as the darkness before the light, and good will come to take its

place.

Second, I am God's manifestation, so God's life, love, wisdom and power flow

into and through me in every moment; I am one with God and governed by divine

Law. Remember while repeating this affirmation that nothing¾no situation, no

person, no group of people¾can in any way stand between you and the Source of

your life, wisdom, or power. It is all " hid with Christ [the innermost Spirit of

your being] in God " (Col. 3:3). Nothing but your own ignorance of how to

receive, or your own willfulness, can hinder your having unlimited supply.

No matter how weak or sick or inefficient you seem to be, take your eyes and

thoughts off the appearance and turn them within to the central fountain there.

As you do so, say calmly, quietly, but with absolute assurance: " This appearance

is false; God, manifest as life, wisdom, and power, is now flowing into my

entire being and out through me into the world around me. " You'll soon see a

marvelous change in your self as a result of the realization that this spoken

word brings to you.

Third, I am Spirit: perfect, holy, harmonious; nothing can hurt me or make me

sick or afraid, for Spirit is God and God cannot be hurt or sick or afraid; I

manifest my real self through this body now. You do not change God's attitude

one little bit by either begging or affirming. You only change your attitude

toward God. By saying these words you put yourself in harmony with divine law,

which is always working toward your good¾never toward harm or punishment. Your

real self, the " I " of you, knows this and lives this, always.

Fourth, God works in me to will and do whatsoever good God wishes me to do and

God cannot fail. Our affirming God's mind working both to will and to do makes

us will only the good. And since God, the Father in us, does the works, there

can be no failure. Whatsoever we fully commit to the Father within to do, and

affirm is done, we shall see accomplished.

These, then, are the four comprehensive affirmations; memorize them so you can

repeat them in the silence of your own mind at any place and any time.

Wonderfully, they will act to deliver you out of the greatest external

distresses¾places where no human help avails. It's as though the moment we

assert emphatically our oneness with God the Father, all the power of omnipotent

love is instantly set into motion to rush to our rescue. And when that power

has begun to work for you, you can stop doing things, boldly claiming " It is

done; I have the desires of my heart. "

The Power at Work

" Thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing " (Psalms

145:16). In reality, God is always moving within us to manifest All-Good more

fully through us. Our affirming, backed by faith, is the link connecting our

conscious human needs and desires with God's power and supply.

Those who have claimed their inheritance by calmly affirming their oneness with

God, know how free they can be from human effort and planning. This power has

healed the sick, brought joy in place of mourning, literally opened prison doors

and bid the prisoner go free, without ever a request for human assistance.

You need to understand that it's not necessarily these particular words that

have done the job. It's denying apparent evil and, in spite of all evidence to

the contrary, affirming good to be all there is, and our oneness with God's

omnipotent power to accomplish, even when there are no visible signs of God's

presence, that has accomplished the feat. In one case, just simply claiming " God

is your defense and deliverance " opened all the doors to restore a man to his

family within a month¾after five years of failed efforts by lawyers to return

him from exile.

Guidelines

No definite rules can be provided as to what will be most effective. Some people

get better results from repeating denials. Others do better by using denials

less frequently and affirmations more. A few hints, however, may be helpful.

Denials tend to erase or dissolve. Affirmations build up, and give strength or

power. People who remember vividly, and are inclined to dwell on past pains or

sorrows need to repeat denials frequently, for denials cleanse the mind and blot

out of memory all seeming evil and unhappiness, so they feel more like a dream.

Denials are particularly effective for people who are intolerant, judgmental, or

aggressively immoral, and for those who have become overconfident, thinking the

human is sufficient in itself for all things. Denials are important also for the

selfish and any who find it easy to harm others.

Affirmations are most powerful for the timid and those who feel inefficient or

incompetent, those who are afraid of others or " give in " easily, and those who

are anxious or doubtful. Affirmations help those in positions of

responsibility, as well.

People who are self-negating or passive need to use affirmations more, and

people who are self-confident or unforgiving need denials more.

Deny the appearance of evil or harm; affirm good. Deny weakness; affirm

strength. Deny any undesirable condition and affirm the good that you desire.

This is what Jesus meant when He said " All things whatsoever ye pray and ask

for, believe [claim and affirm] that ye receive them, and ye shall have them "

(Mark 11:24). This is what is meant by the promise that " Every place that the

sole of your foot shall tread upon [that you stand squarely or firmly on]*, to

you have I given it " (Josh. 1:13).

Practice these denials and affirmations silently in the street, in the car, when

you are awake at night¾anywhere, everywhere, and you'll begin to experience a

wonderful new mastery over external things and over yourself.

If there comes a time when you're confused about what to do or say, stand still

and affirm " God in me is infinite wisdom; I know just what to do. " Then act on

whatever comes to mind in the stillness that follows. " For I will give you a

mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or

gainsay " (Luke 21:15). Don't worry, but depend fully on the principle, and

you'll be surprised at the sudden inspiration that comes to you.

This principle¾of denying and affirming¾always works. It can be used to solve

any of life's problems, regardless of the nature of the problem. This principle

frees us, God's heirs, from all undesirable conditions. It always brings good

into peoples' lives. All we need to do is use these simple rules and practice

them faithfully, until they lead us into such complete realization of our own

Godhood that we no longer need to depend on them.

________________________________________

* The word amen means " On this ground I stand, and I commit myself to this

occurring. " rlm

& #8195;

Denials

The first step toward freeing ourselves from our troubles is to get rid of these

erroneous beliefs about God and about ourselves

Some may doubt that wrong belief can affect our bodies or our situation. If so,

consider the child who is so afraid of the " bugaboo " under the bed that he has

convulsions. Or imagine, if you received, today, a message that your husband or

wife or child, who is absent from you, has been killed, your emotional,

physical, perhaps even financial, suffering would be just as great, even if the

message was proven over the next few days to be untrue. In the same way, our

imaginary " bugaboos " of divine wrath and false messages declaring our own

weakness overcome us.

Denial is the first practical step toward wiping out of our minds the mistaken

beliefs of a lifetime. We declare not to be true a thing that seems to be true,

and all negative appearances are directly opposed to the teachings of Truth.

Jesus said " Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous

judgement " ( 7:24).

Suppose you grew up believing that the sun moved around the earth, and someone

now showed you that the opposite is true. You would accept the demonstrated

truth, but still, at every sunrise or sunset, the old idea would come up,

seeming almost too real to be disputed. The only way to cleanse your mind of

the old impression would be by repeatedly denying the old beliefs. You would

say over and over to yourself, whenever the subject came up in your mind, " This

is not true. The sun does not move around the earth; the earth moves around the

sun. " Eventually, the sun would only seem to be moving.

Similarly, it appears that our bodies and circumstances control our thoughts,

but the opposite is true. Our thoughts control our bodies and our

circumstances. So, if you repeatedly deny a false or unhappy condition, it

loses its power to make you unhappy.

What everyone desires is to have only good in our lives and surroundings. We

all want to live lives full of love, to be perfectly healthy, to know all

things, to have great power and much joy, and this is just exactly what God

wants us to have. All good, of whatever kind, is God made visible. When we crave

more of any good thing, we are in reality craving more of God to come forth into

our lives so we can realize it with our senses.

Having more of God doesn't take out of our lives the good things¾it only puts

more of them in.

Now, we may be able to see the possibility of our own God-being, which never

changes, but what we need is to realize our oneness with the Creator at all

times. And in order to realize it, we must deny, in ourselves and others, any

appearances that seem contrary to this. We deny their reality. We declare that

they are not true.

Denials for Error Thoughts

There are four common error thoughts that most people grant power to. People

who have grown out of trouble and sickness through daily practice have found it

useful to deny these thoughts in order to cleanse themselves of the distressing

effects of having believed in them. They can be denied like this:

1. There is no evil.

2. There is no absence of life, substance, or intelligence, anywhere.

3. Pain, sickness, poverty, old age, and death are illusions and cannot

master me.

4. There is nothing in all the universe for me to fear, for greater is the

One in me than anyone in the world.

There is no evil. There is one and only one power in the universe, and that

is God: good. God is good and God is omnipresent. Apparent evils are not

entities or things of themselves. They are simply apparent absence of the good,

just as darkness is an absence of light. But God, all good, is omnipresent, so

the apparent absence of good must be unreal. It is only an illusion, like the

moving sun.

There is no absence of life, substance, or intelligence anywhere. We have seen

that the true reality is spiritual. " The things which are seen are temporal;

but the things which are not seen are eternal " (II Cor. 4:18). By using this

denial you'll soon break your bonds to matter and material conditions.* You

will know that you are free.

Pain, sickness, poverty, old age, and death are illusions and cannot master me.

God is all life, eternal. God is all substance, everywhere present. God lives

in and through you and is the truth of you. The " I " of you, therefore,

experiences eternal wellbeing and can never be touched by these material

illusions.

There is nothing in all the universe for me to fear, for greater is the One in

me than anyone in the world. The " I " of you is the infinite omnipotence of all

that is!

You need not wait to discuss this matter of evil, or of illusion, or even to

understand fully why you deny them. Simply begin to practice the denials in an

unprejudiced way and see how wonderfully they will, after a while, deliver you

from some of the so-called evils of your daily life. Repeat these four denials

silently several times a day, not with effort or anxiety, but calmly realizing

the meaning of the words spoken:

1. There is no evil.

2. There is no absence of life, substance, or intelligence, anywhere.

3. Pain, sickness, poverty, old age, and death are illusions and cannot

master me.

4. There is nothing in all the universe for me to fear, for greater is the

One in me than anyone in the world.

Denying Negative Experience

Denial of negative experiences brings freedom from bondage to the world around

us, and happiness comes when we can effectively deny the power of anything to

touch or trouble us.

Almost hourly, little issues and fears come up in your life. Meet each one with

a denial. Calmly and coolly say to yourself: " that's nothing at all; it can't

hurt me or make me unhappy. " Don't fight it. Let your denial be the denial of

any possible superiority over you, just as you would deny the power of ants in

their hill disturbing you where you stand across the road.

If you feel anger, stand still and silently deny its power. Say that you are

not subject to anger; you are Spirit, love made manifest, and cannot be made

angry, and the anger will leave you.

If someone is mean or tries to hurt you, remember that the One in you is greater

than anyone outside of you and silently deny anyone's power to hurt you or make

you unhappy.

If you feel jealousy or envy, deny their power over you. Declare that you are

really Spirit, love made manifest, and that negative feelings have no power over

you. There is, after all, really no reason for jealousy or envy, for all people

are one and the same Spirit. Shall the foot be jealous of the hand, or the ear

envy the eye? Remember that in reality, you, however insignificant you may

appear, are absolutely necessary for God to make the perfect whole.

If you find yourself dreading to meet someone or afraid to step out and do what

you want or have promised to do, immediately begin to deny the power of fear.

Say " It's not true. I am Spirit, and no one¾nothing¾in all the universe can hurt

me; I have nothing to fear. " Soon you'll find that all the fear has

disappeared; all the anxiety is gone.

Creating Our Circumstances

Chances are, you've been living in negative thinking for years, denying your

ability to succeed, denying your health, denying your Godhood, denying your

power to accomplish anything. That pattern of denial has paralyzed you and

weakened your power. When, in the next lesson, you learn the use of

affirmations, the opposite of denial, you'll discover how to lift yourself out

of the realm of distress into the realm of success.

For now, remember: no person or thing in the universe, no chain of

circumstances, can in any way come between you and all joy, all good. You may

think something stands between you and your heart's desire, and so live with

that desire unfulfilled, but it's simply not true. This " think " is the bugaboo

under the bed that has no reality. Deny it. Deny it and you will realize that

this appearance was false. Deny it and you will find yourself free. Then you

will see the good flowing toward you and into you, and you will understand

clearly that nothing can come between you and your own.

Denials are for us alone. Speak them silently or aloud, but not in a way to

create antagonism or invite discussion. This is your work, and its results will

be felt around you when you have fully realized the truth of the words you

speak.

To some, this sort of mechanical approach may seem a strange way into a more

spiritual life. But our thoughts determine our experience and changing our

thoughts is an essential first step toward experiencing Spirit in and around us,

every moment of every day. Practicing these steps wholeheartedly, without

prejudice, is the very best thing we can do for growth in divine knowledge and

fullness of joy in everything we undertake.