HeartPeace Now Articles

Is your Spiritual Resume up to date?  Are you a disciple of some faith?  What is the Truth that you bear witness to through your faith?  By definition, a disciple of Christ is always stepping up spiritually by bearing witness to Jesus the Christ.  Being a disciple need not mean that you throw off all your earthly occupations or do away with all other endeavors in life.  However, if you are a disciple, it generally means that you regard the spiritual work that you do in Jesus’ name, his Spirit and his teaching as the overriding and pervading goal.

A practical way to express it is that this sense of alignment with Spirit is the glue that holds the parts of the chair together.  The glue of Spirit also helps us prioritize so that we do the things that matter most during our current short mortal existence.

Before Jesus was taken up in the cloud before the very eyes of the disciples and the others, he gave them his parting instructions.  Consider what you might say to your loved ones, to your family and friends and co-workers if you knew that in five or ten minutes you would be taken up from this earth.  What would be the most important thing to say to them?  What would be the greatest love and comfort you could leave them with to remember?  How would you help them to remember what your own mission had been and what their mission was to be?

Well, Jesus did know that he would be taken up and this is what he said to his disciples and followers:  “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.”  He said, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.”  This sounds like a commandment, doesn’t it?  It is certainly an affirmation, a declaration, even a decree.  And it is also a promise.  It is Jesus making a new covenant with those that follow after his life’s demonstration made all things new.  You mean that you and I can become a Christ, too?  Yes!

How many times have you thought about what your life is supposed to be about?  What is your witness?  Do you still wonder about those old questions:  Who am I?  Why am I here?  Well, whenever you feel less than confident about the answer, remember this commandment and promise from Jesus:  “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.”  This means you are to witness unto the Christ in action of Jesus, the Christ in action in me, and in you, and in all these others.

How many ways can you be a witness to the Christ and then be a witness to the Christ of your own Self?  In answering that question, remember that people would rather see a sermon than hear one any day.  The greatest way to teach and to witness is to be an example - a model.  Be an example of a Christ for your family, your co-workers, your leaders and even for your so-called enemies.

Remember that in order to demonstrate your belief in Jesus the Christ, you must become the Christ of you.  This is what he came to teach and to demonstrate - that all the things he did, we are supposed to do and even greater.  This Christ essence is in each one of us - waiting to be awakened, developed and demonstrated.  As you grow and develop the Christ of you, you are stepping up spiritually.  You are building your spiritual resume!

Alberta Fredricksen is a Spiritual Life Coach and her NEW book, Resume of a Disciple-Stepping Up Spiritually offers an easy primer on how to apply common job performance tools like resumes, job descriptions and on-the-job training to your own spiritual path and  witness.  Visit www.ResumeOfADisciple.com and learn about all the bonuses available to you!

 Most of us grow up conditioned to believe that conflict is bad.  That is a myth!  And it’s a pretty destructive myth because it places all of us in a position of being bad in some way because we are in conflict within ourselves or we experience conflict with others. 

Truthfully, being in conflict is as easy as falling off a log!  With a little shift in perception and some help in understanding the true nature of conflict, we can walk the log skillfully, with balance and reach our destination on the other side.  

Some say that conflict is not good or bad - it just is!  It is opportunity staring you straight in the face.  This is where you are empowered to co-create with Spirit and the Spirit in others to embrace conflict and let it teach you how to create something better for you and others. 

Aikido Master, Tom Crum, teaches that “Conflict is nature’s primary motivator for change.“  Change and conflict are frequent companions.  We often talk about needing a change - a change in direction - a change in pace - a let-up in the status quo - or to accelerate in one direction or another.  When you speak about change, conflict may be just around the corner. 

Whether your change process generates conflict or not depends on what you think about conflict.  And whether you think it’s good or bad, just realize that you are creating your own reality.  Knowing that conflict has the potential for creating change, most of us can accept that conflict is natural, necessary - even desirable at times.

Conflict is opportunity!  If you can make this ONE perceptual shift to see conflict as a natural phenomenon that is actually motivating you to movement, to look at options, to make a choice, to make a move - then you can look forward to something different.  Now - that’s a gift!

Getting to the gift of conflict is a passion for Alberta Fredricksen, a Conflict Resolution and Spiritual Life Coach, who can help you understand just how natural conflict is and how it can be a creative force for change, empowerment and transcendence within and with others.  If you are looking for a greater sense of HeartPeace, visit her website at www.HeartPeaceNow.com for more FREE resources and articles.

Karma, or cosmic justice, puts everyone into conditions where they can either learn or atone for something. Helena Roerich

Is Karma fair?  In Biblical terms, karma is reaping what you sow.  As it turns out, that word “karma” has karma of its own.  It sometimes has bad press because some people only think of karma as something bad coming back to punish them.  It is really just the principle of cause and effect but it is not merely limited to an act like slapping someone and getting slapped back.

Karma is also the sum total of all we have done and all that has been done to us.  It is not merely one action and reaction.  It is the totality of our experience from the beginning of our existence.  To understand karma, it helps for you to acknowledge that you are not just a body with a spirit inside of it; you are a soul—a spirit wearing many different bodies throughout time.

Karma helps us to understand why bad things happen to good people just as it demonstrates how good things happen to all people.  It is one answer to our eternal questions about divine justice - about what is and is not fair.

Some people criticize and even reject the concept of karma by saying that it merely defines fate.  This implies something preordained and unchangeable; something that you and I have absolutely no control over.  Since karma is the principle of reaping and sowing and since we play a very active role in sowing, it only makes sense that we must play a very active role in reaping—in experiencing consequences, seeking forgiveness and or in making restitution. 

God has given us free will, and this inviolable decree of God is demonstrated throughout the history of every religion.  But we also know that many of us will not notice that a lesson is being presented unless something first makes certain that we are paying attention.  That’s what karma does—it comes to us in a way that definitely gets our attention!

So how can you set up to learn from the karma of your circumstances?

1. Recognize that you always have a choice.  Yes—you always have a choice!  You can do – or not do – something.  You can choose whether you will react or respond to what appears before you.  You can choose how you will feel about what is happening – and even more incredibly, you can choose what you will think.  Everything begins with what you think. Then you add energy to your thoughts by having a feeling about them.  You choose to act in some specific way based on what you think and feel.  You get to choose!
2. Be grateful for what is!  Remember that what you are feeling is getting your attention for a reason.  You are being placed in a position to make a NEW choice.  Choose to acknowledge what is actually happening and let it be OK just like it is for this moment.  Choose to thank God or someone else who played their part in getting your attention.  Your decision to think and feel gratitude even in the midst of pain or conflict helps clear the energies for you to create something else.
3. Choose the next best step.  Gather your energies and your resources.  What are your choices?  What are the consequences of each choice?  Think about how you would like to feel after you have made the next choice—then choose the next best step!

What comes next? Whatever it is, be grateful for it! It’s a good thing because now you can choose again!

Is your karma placing you in the middle of conflict?

Alberta Fredricksen can help you understand just how natural conflict is and how it can be a creative force for change, empowerment and transcendence.  If you are looking for a greater sense of HeartPeace, visit her website at www.HeartPeaceNow.com for more FREE resources and articles.

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