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creativity as an act of worship, a powerful intention, Artist's Prayer, Great Creator, Divine Love,

Creativity as an act of worship: a powerful intention

Beth - blogger, coach, consultantLeave a comment

In the exercises for week 4 of the Artist’s Way (by Julia Cameron) one of the tasks is to write your own Artist’s Prayer.

AN ARTIST’S PRAYER O Great Creator, We are gathered together in your name That we may be of greater service to you And to our fellows. We offer ourselves to you as instruments. We open ourselves to your creativity in our lives. We surrender to you our old ideas. We welcome your new and more expansive ideas. We trust that you will lead us. We trust that it is safe to follow you. We know you created us and that creativity Is your nature and our own. We ask you to unfold our lives According to your plan, not our low self-worth. Help us to believe that it is not too late And that we are not too small or too flawed To be healed— By you and through each other—and made whole. Help us to love one another, To nurture each other’s unfolding, To encourage each other’s growth, And understand each other’s fears. Help us to know that we are not alone, That we are loved and lovable. Help us to create as an act of worship to you. Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

AN ARTIST’S PRAYER

O Great Creator,
We are gathered together in your name
That we may be of greater service to you
And to our fellows.
We offer ourselves to you as instruments.
We open ourselves to your creativity in our lives.
We surrender to you our old ideas.
We welcome your new and more expansive ideas.
We trust that you will lead us.
We trust that it is safe to follow you.
We know you created us and that creativity
Is your nature and our own.
We ask you to unfold our lives
According to your plan, not our low self-worth.
Help us to believe that it is not too late
And that we are not too small or too flawed
To be healed—
By you and through each other—and made whole.
Help us to love one another,
To nurture each other’s unfolding,
To encourage each other’s growth,
And understand each other’s fears.
Help us to know that we are not alone,
That we are loved and lovable.
Help us to create as an act of worship to you.

Of course, we’re now in Week 8, and I haven’t done it yet.

So, perhaps it’s time to really look at how I wish to co-create with the Creator.

Great Creator and Spirit within,
I rest easy knowing that my purpose is to share my learnings and that when I lean into you, I know enough.
I acknowledge and accept that all my creative urges and yearnings are Divine,
So today, I offer myself into the flow of your creative energy.
I open myself to co-create with Divine Love, welcoming new ideas and new ways of connecting and working with old ideas.
I am willing to let go of the need to know it all now before I get started.
I trust that it is safe to explore my creative yearnings, trying new methods and ways.
I dare to ask that you supply all my needs: emotional, mental, creative, health, and even financial.
I am learning to trust and surrender.
I am perfectly made and created; I am healthy and whole.
Allow me to be a vessel for your Divine and Creative love to flow to others, accepting Divine Love to fill me and overflow.
Let my creativity be my act of worship.
And so it is.

MY ARTIST’S PRAYER Great Creator and Spirit within, I rest easy knowing that my purpose is to share my learnings and that when I lean into you, I know enough. I acknowledge and accept that all my creative urges and yearnings are Divine, So today, I offer myself into the flow of your creative energy. I open myself to co-create with Divine Love, welcoming new ideas and new ways of connecting and working with old ideas. I am willing to let go of the need to know it all now before I get started. I trust that it is safe to explore my creative yearnings, trying new methods and ways. I dare to ask that you supply all my needs: emotional, mental, creative, health, and even financial. I am learning to trust and surrender. I am perfectly made and created; I am healthy and whole. Allow me to be a vessel for your Divine and Creative love to flow to others, accepting Divine Love to fill me and overflow. Let my creativity be my act of worship. And so it is.
choose life, thy will be done, have it your way, doubting God, painful trial, you are suffering, rejoice, overjoyed, god, goddess, dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, energy, joy, wisdom, love, boundless power, mere human beings, God has been making it grow, earthly life, all religions are true, a better Christian, child of God, relationship with God, personal transformation, eternal life, gift of forgiveness, omnipotent, onmiscient, ever-present God, no other gods, loving God, walking in His ways

Choose life

Beth - blogger, coach, consultantLeave a comment

C.S. Lewis said:

“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “All right, then, have it your way”. ”

For those of us who have a hard time saying “Thy will be done” C.S. Lewis identifies:

We may be thinking about those verses in 1 Peter chapters 4 & 5 that say:  “Beloved, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering… but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings… so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.”  “… those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”   “and the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Chris, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself make you perfect, strong, firm and steadfast.”

C.S. Lewis goes on to say:

“If we let Him–…we can prevent Him, if we choose–He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less.”

cslewisOur 4 lectionary readings have a common theme: they demonstrate to us how simple and yet profound the choice presented in the Bible is.

1st Corinthians 3, verses 3 to 7:

You are still worldly.  For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says “I follow Paul” and another “I follow Apollos” are you not mere human beings?  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? … I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

We are not to get caught up this earthly life, or on whose teachings we follow, who is right or wrong.

Gandhi said:

“all religions are true … So we can only pray, if we are Hindus, not that a Christian should become a Hindu … But our innermost prayer should be (that) a Hindu should be a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian.”

Spiritual maturity is being able to admit “God makes me grow” – not what I do. I am not “trying” to become a “child of God”: I already am a child of God. We have all been redeemed and bought with a price.  Our objective is not to win salvation; our objective is to become more Christ-like.  As my relationship with God evolves, I realise that salvation, sanctification and justification is about personal transformation.  I am not looking forward to eternal life when I die: eternal life began the day that I accepted God’s free gift of forgiveness.

But, am I allowing God to work in me or holding Him back?  Do I love myself and God enough to become a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as I cannot now imagine? Or am I caught up in this world?

In my adventure of getting to know the omnipotent, omniscient, ever-present God, Deuteronomy 30: verses 15 to 20 sheds light on my relationship with God.  Deuteronomy means “the second giving of the law.” In this Book, Moses repeats the law of God for those who will cross the Jordan into the Promised Land.

If you recall, before going up Mount Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments, Moses challenged the Children of Israel with the basic rules. Exodus 23:25 “Worship the Lord your God and His blessing will be on your food and water.  I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land.  I will give a full life span.”  And so, in Exodus 24: 3: “they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said, we will do.”

A couple of days later, while Moses is up on Mount Sinai getting the 10 Commandments, these same people ask Aaron to make them the golden calf.  Who here can honestly say they’ve never done this? “Everything the Lord has said, we will do” except for the “no other gods”, or whatever your favourite exception is.  We promise God one thing, and days later have completely failed.

So, here we have Moses, in Deuteronomy 30, repeating the law of God to the new generation; he offers them a choice:

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.  For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commands, decrees and laws… This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, that you and your children may live, and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to Him.  For the Lord is your life…

This passage is about my relationship with God, not about material prosperity. No magic formula for worldly success.  Nor was this was some “altar call”.  This was a call to surrender, each new morning, to Him.  “Choose life” refers to loving God, hearing Him, walking in His ways, keeping His torah, holding fast to Him and not going astray (each morning, each moment of each day).  It’s a radical difference – a life-style choice.

Psalms 119, verses 1 to 8 remind us.

1-     Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.

2-    Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart.

3-    They do nothing wrong; they walk in His ways.

4-   You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.

5-    Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!

6-    Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.

7-    I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.

8-    I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.

Even David, a man after God’s own heart, admits that he is NOT perfect in obeying God’s decrees.  He feels put to shame when he considers God’s commands.  “I’d love to say I am obeying fully, but I’m messing up”.  If we are truly honest with ourselves, obeying God’s Word is challenging.  It’s a very high standard!  The Bible is the mirror in which we see our own inadequacies.

David admits he’s still learning God’s law, and finishes with “I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.”  Don’t give up on me God; I’m going to keep on trying.  We know David had some serious slip-ups in keeping God’s commandments.

He coveted his neighbour’s wife.

He committed murder.

So, how is it that he’s the man after God’s own heart? Well, firstly, although he obviously went through a period of rebellion (more than just a couple of months… maybe more than a year). He was far, far from God.  Yet, when Nathan confronts him, he repents.  There is true remorse, grief and shame.  There is a certain tenderness that comes with this repentance.  Surrender.

We see it again in Peter, who rejecting Christ 3 times, realises his rejection and rebellion, and goes out weeping bitterly.  Somehow, having reached the bottom, Peter was able to put aside his pride, accept Jesus’ forgiveness: was able to bow down and surrender.

Sai Baba said:

“Give up all bad qualities in you, banish the ego and develop the spirit of surrender.”

As a child of God, in our walk to become more Christ-like, we have to understand the importance of the spirit of surrender to God:  “Choosing life.”

Jesus makes it clear, in the sermon on the mount, that it’s not about legalistic fulfilment of the law.

It’s not enough just to know the law.  Last week we read: “let your righteousness surpass that of the Pharisees”.  Pharisees followed the letter of the law; even added a few for good measure. What have we humans done with God’s law?

Let’s see:

The Law of Moses established that we should fulfil our oaths:  Human interpretation says: “if I don’t make an oath, I don’t exactly have to tell the truth”.

Likewise, with respect to divorce:  what was “objectionable” enough about a woman to warrant divorce?  There were different views between various rabbinic schools:

One said:  A man may not divorce his wife unless he has found unchastity in her, for it is written, Because he hath found in her indecency in anything.

Another said: [He may divorce her] even if she spoiled a dish for him, for it is written: Because he hath found in her indecency in anything.

And yet another: Even if he found another fairer than she, for it is written (and this translation is a little more liberal than “because he had found in her indecency in anything), And it shall be if she find no favour in his eyes.”

And so Jesus explains that the true meaning of the law is to honour God, not just with your actions, but also with your thoughts, your motives and your attitudes.  What does it mean to “Choose Life”? Even Gandhi taught:

Before the throne of the Almighty, man will be judged not by his acts, but by his intentions.  For God alone reads our hearts.

These rules from the Sermon on the Mount are deeper and more personal than the laws of any country.  It delves deep into the innermost part of man, where only God sees.

We may think that our “thought life” is our own, hidden from others.  We indulge in “my thoughts” –save a little space, some room, for us to live in our little indulgences.  This hypocrisy of a secret thought life! – One way on the inside and another on the outside – This deep corruption and confusion is not “choosing life”.

We see another example of this when Jesus rebukes us for holding onto our anger, rather than choosing the higher way.   What do I choose to do with my anger?  Do I deal with it?  Buddhist teachings warn:

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; while holding it, you’re getting burned.”

Jesus says there is no real point in priding myself on the fact that I have never actually killed someone. Why? Well, because unresolved anger leads us to sin: saying “Raca” (empty head) or “you fool” (moron) – My angry, thoughtless words KILL my relationships, chipping away at the trust and love.

Jesus values our earthly relationships – important enough that he says we should leave worshipping God and go and make things right with our neighbour or brother.  We are to actively seek reconciliation.

True happiness and fulfilment comes from putting our relationship with God right and then our relationships with all of those around us.

Sai Baba says:  “Once we surrender our mind to GOD completely, HE will take care of us in every way.”

How do I really put into practice, in all aspects of my life, the grace that I have received, living a life of righteousness and holiness before God?  How do I “do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God”?  I “know” (head knowledge) it means to desire Him above all else: He demands first place in my life.  No half-hearted or part-time love: “just Sunday mornings.”

Much like Christ says in the gospels to the young rich ruler:  No one is good except one–God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’”  The young ruler said to him, “Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth.”
Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen “choices” in the Bible.  Genesis: starts with the exercise of free will.  We can choose to eat the forbidden fruit or not – our eyes will be opened: but… will we like what we see?

Augustine said:

“When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold.  When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness.  This is also the case when people withdraw from God.”

God doesn’t want me to pick and choose when I will love him, or under what conditions.  I am to Love God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength.

I’m happy to be a Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet lapping up all the teachings.  I enthralled by His teachings.  But that’s not enough: how do I let go of earthly things, daily struggles, and become a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as I cannot now imagine?

If I loved God, really, truly, loved HIM, I wouldn’t have any problem keeping His commandments; I would have complete faith in Him and His Word, put absolute trust in Him.  I’d allow Him to guide me, not snatch the reigns back when things get tough.  I would surrender all and trust Him, be filled with His light, and let it shine through me into the lives of others around me.

We know (head knowledge) that “things” cannot give us life – they don’t satisfy the inner longing of our soul.  No harm in trying, right? And so, like the rich young ruler, we distance ourselves from God, putting our trust in our “security”.

True righteousness is more than just legal or external obedience.  It’s not about seeing how much I can “get away with” and still be considered “righteous”.  Wrong-doing arises because of the mind.  But if my mind is transformed, wrong-doing has no place to live.  God’s righteousness is concerned with His “shalom” – well-being, peace and harmony.  This is His righteousness: a peaceful, life-giving relationship with God.  I want, this day, to choose life.

And so, as C.S. Lewis said:

“He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly … His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less.”

And so, I repeat:

So, as you walk out of here today, which of the 2 types of people do you choose to be?

Those that say to God: “I choose to surrender and banish my ego. I trust you to do the best for me and to give me the strength I need for whatever You have in store, however painful the growth process may be. I want to become more Christ-like. Thy will be done.”

Or those to whom our Father in heaven, with great sadness in His heart says, like as to the rich young ruler, “All right then, have it your way”.

Remember: When we lose God, it’s not God who gets lost.

acupuncture, allowing the infinite to flow, the flow of energy, the flow of power, God is light, the power of light

Acupuncture – and understanding God…

Beth - blogger, coach, consultant1 Comment

Let’s start with the basic tenet from the Bible: “God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 Jn 1:5), and let’s take it literally:  God is LIGHT.

So, what is light? Light, scientifically speaking is particles and waves, which is a range of electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye, or photons.  Photons, which are massless particles and bursts of energy “quanta” which move at the speed of light. Electromagnetic waves start when an electric charge jiggles back and forth. In fact, you can actually think of an electromagnetic wave as being two waves in one – it has both an electric field and a magnetic field that move together. Being more simplistic, light is energy.   The Bible also says that God is an all-consuming fire.  Once again, we’re talking about energy.

Question by a 14-year-old: “doesn’t everything have atoms or at least mass and weight? if it doesn’t, then is it really there?”

Scientific answer:  “Lots of things aren’t made of atoms. Light and other electromagnetic waves are an obvious example. Individual protons, neutrons, and electrons don’t constitute atoms until they’re combined.”

So, while God doesn’t have atoms and mass and weight, if God is light, then as electromagnetic waves, God can exist even though we can’t see God.

So… then let’s look at what Chinese medicine tells us about the human body:  As the basis of Acupuncture, Shen Nung (oldest known acupuncturist) theorised that the body has an energy force running throughout it.  This energy force is known as Qi (pronounced Chee).  The Qi consists of all essential life activities, which include the spiritual, emotional, mental and the physical aspects of life.  A person’s health is influenced by the flow of Qi in the body. If the flow of Qi is insufficient, unbalanced or interrupted, Yin and Yang become unbalanced, and illness may occur. Qi travels throughout the body along “Meridians” or special pathways.  Acupuncture is the insertion of very fine needles, (sometimes in conjunction with electrical stimulus), on the body’s surface, in order to influence physiological functioning of the body. The acupuncture points are specific locations where the Meridians come to the surface of the skin, and are easily accessible by “needling” and Acupressure. The connections between them ensure that there is an even circulation of Qi or energy.

How does Acupuncture work? Scientists have no real answer to this; as you know many of the workings of the body are still a mystery!  By some unknown process, Acupuncture raises levels of triglycerides, specific hormones, prostaglandins, white blood counts, gamma globulins, opsonins and overall anti-body levels.   The “neurotransmitter” theory states that certain neurotransmitter levels (serotonin & nor-adrenaline) are affected by Acupuncture.  One of the most popular theories is the “Gate Control” theory.  According to this theory, the perception of pain is controlled by a part of the nervous system which regulates the impulse, which will later be interpreted as pain.  This part of the nervous system is called the “gate”.  If the gate is hit with too many impulses, it becomes overwhelmed, and it closes.

If the body has this energy flow, and there are pathways that the energy is supposed to flow through, and the pathway gets closed because of the person’s emotions or stress, then this will lead to imbalance in the energy throughout the body, and leads to illness.   We have all read, at some point in life, that emotions are the root cause of almost every injury and illness. Anger, fear, unworthiness and other emotions get ‘stuffed’ into the body, over time these limiting emotions weaken the physical body creating stiffness, aches, pain and general discomfort, which eventually can cause more serious conditions like tumours and cancer.  And so acupuncture is used to open the pathways that were closed, restoring the energy and balance to ALL organs and areas of the body, and reestablishing good health.

So… what does ANY of this have to do with God?

Let’s say that we accept that God is (at least, one facet and part of God is) ENERGY.  Pure and simple energy.  And energy flows and moves.  We can also, scientifically, prove that WE (human beings) are ENERGY and this flows through us.

As we’ve already seen, negative emotions (what the Bible refers to as SIN) block the energy flow through our body and may lead to illness.  If we believe that we are vessels put here on earth to do God’s purpose, and that as God is light and we are to be filled with His light, we need to have open pathways for the energy to flow, any sin in our lives will block the flow!  God, being the gentleman that he is, is limited to those areas of our life where we allow Him to flow freely.

That anger that I am holding onto, that resentment or bitterness, it not only affects my relationship with other people, but it directly inhibits me from having an openly flowing relationship with God!  The pathway is somewhat (or in some cases) totally blocked.  I can’t be used as a vessel for God to my full potential, because I have a blockage.

Consider one more thing:  1 Peter 1:16 “Be holy, as I am holy”.  If God is “holy” and God is light, and there is NO darkness in Him, then we are called to have NO blackout areas.  There is no room for short-circuits in our lives and the energy flow in our body.  We are to be totally free of any blockages which may lead to darkness having a place in our bodies.  We are to be holy (totally, not partially).

Holiness and sanctification go hand in hand.  We are told in 1 Corinthians 6:11 that we are washed, sanctified and justified.  “Sanctification occurs as a result of salvation. At the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit enters our life. We are no longer held hostage by death, but are free to live the life God desires for us. We are thus sanctified simply because of our standing as lost souls saved by grace.”  So, once we are saved by the blood of Christ, (let’s think of that like getting a blood transfusion, replacing all of our old & decrepit blood with fresh, oxygen full blood!), we are to live a process of sanctification.

Why a process?  Unlike the things and places that are sanctified by God in the Bible, people have the capacity to sin. Even though we have been “set apart” as God’s children, we have free will and may continue to behave in ways that are contrary. As Christians, we realise shortly after we have been saved that there is a new inner battle being waged within us – a battle between our old sin-lead nature and new Spirit-lead nature.

So, while we got the blood-transfusion, there are still parts of the energy pathways in our lives that are blocked.  That have to be unblocked (and not re-blocked), so that the Spirit can flow through us.   And this is a constant process – we must continually clean out any blockages (confess sins), so that the energy of the Holy Spirit flows through us.

If I am angry with my neighbour, I have a blockage in my relationship with my neighbour.  Unfortunately, this same blockage that doesn’t allow me to speak openly with my neighbour exists in my body also – and so affects my relationship with God.  The blockage is in ME.  It’s not just in my relationship with my neighbour.  In some cases it goes as far as physically affecting my body.

I read about the following exercise: close your fist tight, and hold it tight until your knuckles go white (lack of blood & oxygen).  If you kept the flow of oxygen from your knuckles for long enough, they fingers would eventually die.  It’s medically been shown that something similar happens with anger and resentment… and how this affects some of our digestive organs.  When we are angry, one of the muscles that cramps up is in the abdomen (yeah… that “knot in your stomach”).  This muscle, if it cramps up too much and too often, forgets to relax… and then may cut off the proper blood supply to our stomach (resulting in ulcers), our lungs (means the muscles won’t inhale and exhale as they should, reducing the oxygen in all our body), or our heart (which may lead to heart attack).  And this is the just physical aspect!

And look what stress does to us:  When you perceive a threat, your nervous system responds by releasing a flood of stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones rouse the body for emergency action.  We all know that your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breath quickens, and your senses become sharper. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed your reaction time, and enhance your focus – preparing you to either fight or flee from the danger at hand.  The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, stress can save your life – giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident.  Unfortunately, the body can’t distinguish between physical and psychological threats. When you’re stressed over a busy schedule, an argument with a friend, a traffic jam, or a mountain of bills, your body reacts just as strongly as if you were facing a life-or-death situation.

Long-term exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

How, then, am I sanctified? How do I become holy, because God is holy?

Well, if my body is a vessel through which energy flows, both my energy (Qi) and God’s energy, and I have blockages, then I cannot reach the level of holiness that my body (heart, soul & spirit) allows God’s energy to TOTALLY flow through me.  Sanctification is the process through which I let go of each blockage and remove it (confessing my sin, accepting God’s forgiveness, and then repenting – never repeating it, so as to never re-block that pathway), until such a point that the light of God completely flows through all of my being. Through the filling of the Holy Spirit, my energy and His energy combine, and I can do greater things.  I become a totally useful vessel, when I allow Him to flow through me, rather than wanting to do my own thing!  (No more singing, “I did it my way”).

One of Jesus’ parables teaches us that a farmer summarises whether or not a tree is good by its yield.  This isn’t the yield in one season or over 1 or 2 years.  This is the yield during the tree’s lifetime.  My works (actions) declare and manifest outwardly the reality of my faith which is not visible to man.  If I am bearing fruit, this shows that I am alive, healthy and productive.  My fruit is NOT what makes me alive.  It’s just the evidence that I am alive and well.  What makes me alive and well is the life ENERGY that flows through me!  And as I allow myself to be filled with God’s energy, and not just limited to my own, the results can be overwhelming!

If a man is to shed the light of the sun upon other men, he must first of all have it within himself.
If a man is to shed the light of the sun upon other men, he must first of all have it within himself.