To live a true and honest faith-filled, whole and abundant life, is to live life in the Hebrew Way. Here are some truths I have found about this lifestyle:
1. Be Loving the Lord Your God, not mammon.
When we put God first, life begins to make sense. Order and beauty replace chaos, love and humility replace fear and pride.
When I first put this principle into practice, my life had no direction. I was just there. I had just moved across the country to begin college and I did not think much about my purpose or who I was. Then, a desire grew to fit in to this new world to which I had traveled. Then, everything changed for better and best. After I starting putting God first, I began to have inner desires to love and serve those around me. The fears I had of fitting-in left and soon I had created a little piece of heaven in my apartment and community. It was a glorious contrast.
2. Be Virtue and Light, not living your life with vice and darkness.
To be virtue and light is to be who you were made to be. For the most part, God made our bodies and minds with a strength and acting power like His. With full control over our mind, body and will. Why do we expect anything different for our entire lives? Is it normal to hit a point where we can't walk, run, remember, think, eat, or breathe? I plan on living until one day, I enter a new door, whether that is still here on this Earth in spirit or physically is yet to be determined. There is no reason I cannot keep walking, running, remembering and thinking. I have heard this saying, "You are what you eat." How about all of it? "You are what you eat, see, read, watch, hear or think."
The 1828 definition of virtue is:
strength; that substance or quality of physical bodies, by which they act and produce on other bodies
moral goodness; the practice of moral duties and the abstaining from vice or a conformity of life and conversation to the moral law
It is our virtue to act in the way our True Self was created to act. That may mean doing hard things like overcoming addictions with sugars or processed foods, useless wasting of time, speaking when we should not, watching shows, playing games, desiring material things, etc, but we are beings of Light and we can choose. Whatever area we are playing and learning in, we have the tools within to overcome our Human Nature and live our Divine (& Light) Nature.
Just say, "No" to the dark and negative thoughts. Say "No way," and replace it with Virtuous thoughts, Positive Words, Light and The Word.
3. Be True and Faithful, not living in self-deception and fear.
Are you honest in all your dealings with your self, God and others? This is a question I am
asked frequently to be able to enter my Holy Temple. Each time I reflect on the depth of that question. I always want to answer in the completely honest way. I am really trying to be!
There is an affirmation I learned from Primary School while teaching my children in devotional:
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I am honest with Heavenly Father, others and myself.
One morning, this phrase hit me like a rod of lightning. I wondered what this really meant? Completely, not just "yeah, yeah" kind-of stuff. I sought understanding for months to really understood this phrase. Was I really honest with my Heavenly Father, others and myself? (Try asking for yourself. You may learn something new.) There are books and whole organizations teaching this one simple and very important principle. One of my favorites is Leadership and Self-deception by The Arbinger Institute. This truth is worth years of study and yes, sometimes it takes that long to understand this principle. Being True and honest is a daily pursuit. No worries, God is very patience with our awakening.
Being faithful is another one of those phrases that tend to glide right by our consciousness.
We sometimes associate it with our religion or church instead of what it is: Living and acting void of fear. Do we make decision with our children, jobs or other stewardships based on avoiding the pain of dealing with whining or the efforts it takes to delegate? If so, we are not making decisions based on faith. The Hebrew Way & Lifestyle is one filled with all things of faith-FUL-ness, vision focused on belief, positiveness and trust. It is fully living in the here and now and not in the future or past. Let's try it more. Be present. Be "in" with your life, today.
My husband and I have recently had the opportunity to take classes from Matt Townsand. The first thing he teaches is "I'm in." He does this to get our higher brain into the game of our relationships and life. We went around the room stating our name and "I'm in." It is a fabulous practice for our daily tasks, our family relationships, our events, classes, education, meetings, etc. If you want more power in your life, live in the present and in Faith.
4. Be Recognizing, Reflecting, Releasing, not scarce.
This is the key to unlocking who you truly are and living The Hebrew Way & Lifestyle. Work hard at becoming truly aware of yourself. It will bring you the most happiness because you will be connected , balanced, grounded and shielded. There are lots of people and events to help walk us through this process. There are even lots of different names for it. (So you know, my Unlocking the Chambers and House Celebrations are ultimately about this and provide the environments and tools to help nurture this.)
There was a boy once who thought he knew what was best for him. He wanted what everyone else had and he wanted it now. He asked for his inheritance and went off to live "the life." He enjoyed what he though he really wanted, then it happened. Like they always eventually do, the times turned, his money ran out, and his relationships spent, he found himself sleeping with the pigs and starving. When he awoke to this reality, he recognized himself. He reflected: He had desired this. He had been impatient. He had been self-fish and unwise. He had chosen to leave the comforts of his Father's house. He was without comfort and in pain. "How could he have been so hasty?" he wondered. "His father and brother had all comforts back home, but why would my Father ever take me back?"
This boy came to himself and determined to try to make amends with his Father.
Coming to ourselves is a huge process. It involves recognizing, reflecting and feeling the pain of choices, situations, and life. Then comes the process of releasing. It is complex and very simple. Releasing should be the continual goal of our entire life.
I know releasing our emotional hurts, pains and burdens is one of the ultimate purposes of the life of our brother Jesus Christ. All things in the universe truly manifest this. In the record of Nephi it says, "All things denote there is a God." When your living The Hebrew Way & Lifestyle, you know it's true.
There is not a scarcity of freedom, love and gifts, physical and spiritual blessings when we recognize, reflect and release our stuff to Christ. Write it all down and burn it. There will be more than you can ever receive coming back to you when you do. I know it.
5. Be Restoring your True Self, and not the world's definition for your life.
Do everything you can to come to know your God and He will show you who you are. It's that simple. Then all you have to do is embrace it and work hard to refine areas you know, from your conscience, need refining. I have full confidence our Creator will guide and teach you. It's His way.
6. Be Connected to God, Family and Truth daily, not living in ignorance.
Live a life that is continuously connected. If there are contradictions between your behavior and ideals, between the life you live day-to-day and what you know you should be doing with your time or between what this expert says and what you feel, re-align your beliefs or actions. Get real and informed instead of never addressing it. Ignorance can only last for so long. You might as well live the connected life you were made for now.
It is so fun to make true connections with who I am and why I am here. It is so fun for me because I am connecting to Divine guidance. Life is better when I awake with solutions to my problems and my mind is clear and active because I am in control of it!
7. Be Protecting of God-given Agency, not creating dependency.
One of the things that bugs me the most, is when I feel I am not given a choice. This feeling quickly helps me to search for my choices. Every time I find them, and oh boy do they bring comfort. There is something within each of us that is driven by freedom. We as Human Beings, Christians, Mothers, Fathers, Mentors, Teachers, Daughters, Sons, and Citizens and Leaders of Nations, have a Godly duty to be protectors of the process each of us need to come to learn truth for ourselves. This especially applies to those in our homes.
Does that mean we go to the extreme and do not give firm direction and boundaries and consequences. Absolutely not! It is our job to STAND with love, faith, confidence and gentleness. We offer the best character building choices and communicate the choice to be happy or not. We use our foresight and faith to see what is best for others in the long run, not the short term, and we act. We promote their general welfare.
In other words, The Hebrew Way & Lifestyle is about freedom. Free yourself and your generations of patterns in which you are carrying and you will be an instrument protecting God-given agency for others.
8. Be Discovering Who You Are & Why You Are Here, not assuming you don't matter to God.
Have you asked God yet? Have you asked him what He wants you to do? Read through some of my posts about this and believe it. Life is not without challenges, but if you walk it with God, it is so much more joyful!!
One of the common assumptions I am challenging is that "you have to be one of those people for God to speak to you." Well... it is true there are Prophets and Enlightened people who speak the Truths of God to us His children. Most of the time, the directions and instructions coming from these holy men will apply to individuals and families on the whole. They will be universal and follow universal principles. Yes, we can get very specific instructions from heeding their words. Believe me, my life has utterly changed because of this. When one person is in Africa and another in Canada, the truths they share will usually be universal and apply to both.
To address this assumption, we must remember there is the Universal and the Specific. What applies to all will apply to the one, but what applies to the one, may not apply to all. God knows all things and provides for us always in all our ways. He guides us as part of the whole and as each individual parts. It's beautiful. Be asking for your individual guidance!
Now, another lie is that "God is too busy to care about my insignificant life." "He doesn't help us when we ask for small problems, only big ones."
It is The Way, The Pilgrim's Course, to be guided on an individual path and journey. It is my experience that when an honest seeker is in need, our Creator answers even the most insignificant prayer. And he usually prepares the heart to receive it. He know us. He knows where our heart is and when it's time and what we truly need. If you are sincerely desiring, ask, I know you shall receive.
There is so much Abundance everywhere. The Hebrew Way & Lifestyle is beauty, order and love. Embrace it fully!
