Month: Sep 2019

singleminded, single-mindedness, you cannot serve God and money, no servant can serve two masters, dishonest in much, dishonest in little, faithful in little, faithful in much, godly and dignified, a peaceful and quiet life, raises the poor from the dust, buy the poor for silver, deal deceitfully with false balances, trample on the needy, jeremiah, amos, I mourn, my heart wounded, we are not saved, summer is ended, harvest is past, foreign idols, carved images, provoked me to anger

Single-mindedness – No slave can serve two masters

Beth Gray - blogger, coach, consultant1 Comment

Where attention goes – energy flows.

As you set about your day, today, what were your thoughts focused upon? Who were you serving as you prepared breakfast?
As you drank your coffee?

Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. Proverbs 4:23

What were you thinking about?

We are warned:

Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.

But even more than that, in James we are told that when we ask for anything in prayer, we are to believe that it is ours, otherwise, it will never be. There is no room for doubt in our mind when we ask because if we hold onto doubt while asking, we should expect to receive nothing.

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choosing faith over fear, raising your consciousness, decision-making with faith, deciding from faith, choosing to believe, inspired action, thy will be done, aligning with faith, responding with faith

Choosing Faith over Fear: raising your consciousness in decision-making

Beth Gray - blogger, coach, consultant2 Comments

I’ve been walking a hard road over recent years, learning to live from a place of faith instead of fear. I recently wrote a post about the road of fear, and how my religious experiences as a child garnered more fear than faith!

Now, as I untangle all the old belief systems and build a new faith and connection with the Infinite, I am learning to trust – myself and the Divine.

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living in faith, living in fear, which God do you serve, focusing on money, focused on your problems, no other gods before me, you shall love the Lord your God, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, I am that I am, I will be what I will be, the self-existent one, the alpha and omega, beginning and the end, awareness of the allness of God, graven images, idols, let God be God in you

Which God do you serve?

Beth Gray - blogger, coach, consultant5 Comments

In this Sunday sermon, I want to take on a challenging topic – challenging for me, personally, that is!

In recent days, I’ve posted about living in faith, rather than living in fear. When I am living in fear, I am focused on the external – what I might lose. When I am living in faith, the focus is internal, on my beingness and enoughness with Spirit.

Today’s lectionary readings come from Deuteronomy 30: 15-20 and Luke 14:25-33. And the question in both passages is very simple:

Which God do you serve?

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guilt and shame, faith or fear, loved by God, controlled by fear, use fear to rule, saved from hell, fear and social control, fear versus power, fear vs power, using fear to control the masses, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, why do you believe in Jesus, Jesus as a saviour, saved from sin, the way, the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father but by me, I am, overcoming fear with faith, church scares me, dread going to church, religion based on fear, controlling through fear,

Guilt & Shame – motivating you towards God?

Beth Gray - blogger, coach, consultant3 Comments

This is Part 2, following on from Faith or Fear: Love of God or saving you from hell?

As we continue to move up Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs, the motivating factors become weaker. So, while fear may be the strongest, with guilt and social acceptance being another strong external motivator, when you reach shame (internal), the power it holds over you lessens.

Nonetheless, shame as a learned behaviour is something that carries with you all your life! The effects of the manipulation and emotional abuse are scars carried until healing takes place on a deep level.

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faith or fear, loved by God, controlled by fear, use fear to rule, saved from hell, fear and social control, fear versus power, fear vs power, using fear to control the masses, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, why do you believe in Jesus, Jesus as a saviour, saved from sin, the way, the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father but by me, I am, overcoming fear with faith, church scares me, dread going to church, religion based on fear, controlling through fear,

Faith or Fear: Love of God or saving you from hell?

Beth Gray - blogger, coach, consultant4 Comments

I’ve written a lot lately about how mission boarding school and growing up on the mission field has influenced my faith and my journey to practicing Presence. Today – I want to dive into the darkness of the journey from a culture of fear, into learning to lead from faith and love.

A topic I have been ruminating on recently: How many of my choices and decisions in life are made based on faith? What decisions were fear-based?

Where does the fear come from? Unfortunately – indoctrination.

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