The Secret to Effective Manifestation
Giving you specific tools that you can utilize in the manifestation of your dreams and goals!
What is a Mental Equivalent?
So, for the last two weeks, we’ve been looking at Emmet Fox’s The Mental Equivalent. This week we’re going to put our attention on specific steps we can employ to build a mental equivalent.
Every physical expression has a mental blueprint that lies underneath it. Just as buildings have a blueprint that says what the building will look like before it’s built, your physical experiences have blueprints in your mind that say what they will look like before you experience them.
Many people think of life as a random experience. Perhaps they have never been taught that a mental equivalent lies underneath all experience. They could not imagine that the blueprint for some of the crazy and unfortunate things lies within their own minds. To suggest such a thing is to invite a fight. In their minds, there must be some outside force controlling their experience or at least influencing it very strongly.
Consciousness Always Demonstrates Itself
Nothing could be further from the truth. Fox says in his seminal essay, “You always demonstrate what you habitually have in your mind.” You prove the state of your mind with your experience.
I know it does not feel like that, but it’s true.
This is the meaning of the old saying, “As within, so without.” In the Bible, the word within always means thought, and the word without always means manifestation or experience.
That is why Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven (health, harmony, and freedom) is within. Harmonious thought means harmonious experience. Fear thought or anger thought means suffering or frustration.
I’m Out of the Convincing Business
I realize that trying to convince someone that they are the architect of their experience is a losing proposition. So, I am officially out of the convincing business.
Instead, I will simply teach you how to work with the seed of God inside of you. Now, this seed goes by various names — Christ, divine spark, spiritual blueprint, etc. In this post, I want to show you practically how to build the mental equivalent for anything you want.
Here’s the truth: If you want to change your life, if you want to be healthier, happier, younger, more prosperous — above all, if you want to get nearer to God — and I know that you do — you must change your thought and keep it changed.
This is the secret of controlling your life. There is no other way.
Even Jesus could not have done it in any other way because this is a cosmic law. Change your thought and keep it changed.
All of Us Have Changed Our Minds
The real issue isn’t changing our minds. You change your mind every time you move into a positively charged atmosphere. Every time you watch a motivational video or attend a relaxing retreat or participate in a life-affirming conversation, you change your mind. A good word or amazing music…powerful fellowship…you are changed.
It’s when you go back home that stuff gets kinky!
In reality, all that anyone else can do for you is help you change your thought. This is what we do for you in the Bible Hangout and any other positive things you consume.
But, you must keep your mind changed. No one else can think for you.
What is the Secret to All Accomplishment?
The way to change your thought and keep it changed is to build a new mental equivalent. It is the secret to all accomplishment.
Actually, you already have a mental equivalent for everything in your life today — your money, your health, your relationships, etc.
You must destroy the patterns for the things you do not want, and then they will disappear. And, you must build a new pattern or mental equivalent for the things you want, and then they will come into your life.
You Have Greatness Within You
If you have followed me for any length of time, you know I like to geek out on God. And, I have found that when you study God and His creation, you discover some interesting things:
1: He does everything the same way: It’s always lavishly abundant.
Just consider the grains of sand, the numbers of different species of animals and plants and insects. Did you know that there are 400,000 DIFFERENT types of beetles? Whenever you’re dealing with God, you’re always dealing with a LOT of everything…no matter what it is.
So, God likes abundance and God likes to do things in a big way.
2: Everything has a purpose.
At the turn of the 20th century, Australia found itself dealing with a cow poop problem. Cattle had recently been introduced to the country but, for some reason, the cow poop wasn’t decomposing at a fast enough rate (Source: The Insect Apocalypse is Here, NY Times Magazine).
This problem was becoming a very expensive one for the country because the cows didn’t want to graze where the poop hadn’t decomposed. So, cattle ranchers kept needing more and more land. Not to mention the health challenge that un-decomposed cow poop creates with flies and other insects.
The problem didn’t get solved until a visiting entomologist properly diagnosed the issue in 1951. It turns out that the insects couldn’t digest the cow poop. They needed a specific beetle — the dung beetle — which wasn’t native to the country.
When you consider the fact that there are over 400,000 DIFFERENT types of beetles on the planet, but only ONE could fulfill the job of decomposing the cow poop. You don’t think they had beetles in Australia before they introduced the dung beetle in 1951?
I have found that God is hyper-intentional. Everything in our universe has a SPECIFIC job and no thing does the job of the other thing even though they may be of the same species!
That’s deep!
Of the billions of people on the planet, even though we may be of the same species, NONE of us has the same purpose as the other.
3: You come equipped to fulfill your purpose.
The dung beetle came equipped to digest and breakdown the waste from cattle. The bee came equipped to pollinate flowers. The bird came equipped to fly.
Said differently, God put the “fly” in the bid. Birds do not go to flight school to learn how to fly. Fish came equipped to swim. God put the “swim” in fish. Can you imagine a fish going to swim school?
Whatever God gave you to do, He put it in you and you do not have to learn how to do it. You may learn how to cultivate it or develop it so that it expresses in more and more refined ways. But that is not the same thing is learning how to do it.
So, God does everything the same way. It’s always lavishly abundant. It always has a purpose. And, the tools for fulfilling that purpose are always packed inside the thing itself.
What About Expressions that Fail the God Test?
When I realized this about God, I started wondering what was happening with me that I wasn’t living in alignment with the way He created everything. Yeah, He was lavishly abundant but my bank account didn’t reflect that.
He gave me the ideas in my mind to fulfill but I couldn’t seem to get them out of me into expression. My life seemed to be a whole bunch of false starts that left me discouraged.
I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like this, but I had gotten to the point where it felt foolish to dream. I remember telling a friend one evening that I didn’t know if I was practicing my faith or just being delusional. In that moment, I really couldn’t tell the difference. I was reaching for a reality that felt so far away from me.
I can remember holidays where I just didn’t want to get out of bed. Christmas would come and I would say in bed, depressed that I didn’t have the life I wanted. I couldn’t bring myself to put up a Christmas tree because it reminded me that I was the only one I was putting the Christmas tree up for.
Why I Didn’t Give Up
To be honest, it felt real challenging because I’d have to show up on Sunday and teach a lesson I was struggling to demonstrate. I would get all these amazing revelations about how the Universe works and how God does things. But I could not seem to duplicate what I was realizing in my experience.
It felt like being in a really fine shopping center but all I can do is look in the window.
I think the only reason I didn’t quit is because each week, I’d get a new revelation of how God works and the promise I felt in my heart…that if I could just learn one more thing about how God does thing, then I would be alignment. And, my life would begin to look like the God I serve.
So, I kept pressing.
All Who Ask, Receive
The Scripture promises, “Ask and you shall receive. Anyone who asks, receives.” Well, I learned that that Scripture is the truest thing you ever will read in the Bible.
I kept asking God to show me how to have what He had for me. And, to give it to me in a way that I could pass it on to someone else.
He did that and more.
How You Think Matters
It is how you think about the seed of God within you that determines how it expresses in your life. You haven’t been enjoying the lavish abundance God has for you because you have been thinking about the seed He packed you up with the wrong way.
The moment you change the way you think about it, your life will change and change drastically.
Most people think the seed of God inside of them is nothing. And, since they treat it like it’s nothing, it never becomes anything for them.
2 Kings 4: You’ve probably read this story of Elisha with the widow before. There’s a widow. She’s almost destitute by the time she gets to Elisha. Her husband, who had been in the company of prophets Elisha managed, passed away.
She’d fallen on hard times financially and was about to lose her two sons to the debtors who were coming soon to collect.
What’s In Your House?
The first question Elisha asks her is “What do you have in your house?” Now this widow responds like we all do when we’re in dire straits and cannot see a way out. “Nothing…except a jar of oil.”
Like us, the widow had the very thing that would save her but because of the mental equivalent she carried in her mind about it, she could not see it.
Principle: God always puts the thing that will save you in your life. Always. It’s a cosmic law. So, whatever has left or whatever you thought you lost, that will never be the thing that will save you.
Metaphysically, the jar of oil represents the seed of God in the widow. It is the thing that when she learns how to work with it, it delivers her from her creditors. It always provides for her and her sons for the rest of their lives.
We Each Have a Jar of Oil
We’re no different than the widow. God has given each of us a jar of oil that which we learn how to work with it, it will save us. It will save us from whatever situation seems to be bearing down on us right now. It will provide for us and for our families for the rest of our lives.
The seed of God within you — when you work with it the right way — will turn you into your own economy.
Chaz Dean, creator of Wen Hair and Body Care, did this. The seed of God within him was the desire to care for his client’s hair without damaging it through color. That seed — when worked with properly — turned a passion for protecting hair into a global brand that feeds not only him but also all the companies that do business with him.
The seed of God within you — when you work with it the right way — will turn you into your own economy.
Change is Required
Growing up, I was taught that you change yourself so that you can be a good person and win blessings from God. When I came into New Thought, one of the first lessons I learned was that I am whole, perfect and complete — there is nothing wrong with me.
I was taught to affirm: I am perfect as I am.
This next point is nuanced and I hope it lands. Yes, you are perfect. Just as you are right now…you are absolutely perfect.
But that does not mean you do not have work to do to express the seed of God within you. The widow is perfect, w hole, complete. But she wanted a better experience. And, that mean learning to work with the seed of God within her differently.
The truth is that you are perfect as you are…for what you’re manifesting right now. You are exactly who you need to be in order to have and effortlessly maintain the life you have right now. Now, if life feels true for you right now…if your money feels true…if your love life feels true…then no further action needed.
Congratulations! You’ve in heaven!
What Does True Feel Like?
Let me pause right here to explain what I mean by true. In the early 2000s, I had a holiday vacation w here I traveled to my home town, Houston, to spend Thanksgiving with my family. The Secret had just been released.
Excited, I had everyone do vision boards that holiday. It was a multi-generational activity. My grandmother, my mom, my sister and her children and me — all sitting around my mom’s dining table creating vision boards.
Seeing them identify and express their dreams satisfied me deeply. Just the experience of having everyone talk about their dreams and goals felt so good. Putting what we wanted to accomplish on boards…seeing everyone creatively lay out the vision for their lives…I felt such immense peace.
In that moment, I didn’t want for anything. I didn’t need more money. I didn’t desire greater health. Nothing needed to be added for me to feel a sense of total and complete supply. It was a practical experience of Psalm 23:1 — The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
That’s what it feels like when you’re in your true place. You’re giving in the way that feels right and good. People around you prosper from your gift. You know that you have given in the best way you know how. Nothing was left undone, unsaid, or un-given. I believe those experiences don’t have to be fleeting moments. They can be your lifestyle.
You Change In Order to Express
In New Thought, when we speak about change, we do not suggest you change because there’s something wrong with you. You change because you know there’s a seed of God within you. It needs a transformed mind in order to express.
You know that you are not yet in your true place because your life is filled with unfulfilled wants. You must become the person who can inhabit your true place.
I know what it feels like to feel completely at peace. That peace does not depend on outer circumstances. I know what it feels like to be in my true place. Now, I’m working with God to have that be my living reality…not simply a fleeting moment that I recall when I teach classes.
If you desire more than has given you so far, then you must show up differently than you have so far. If order to receive better than you’re getting, you must show up and give better than you’re giving.
Are You the Open Mind for God’s Idea?
A few years ago, I had this idea for a course called Prosper. It was going to be an online class that I would charge for. I was going to dump all the stuff I’d learned about prosperity into this course.
I had digital flyers made up. And, then you know, life got busy. Lots of things were pulling on my attention. And, one thing led to another and I put the course on the shelf.
Maybe a year later, this big internet marketer that I follow came out with an online course called Prosper. When I saw it, I nearly fell out of my chair! I had been working on a course by the very same name but because I saw it as “nothing,” I got to watch someone else enjoy the blessings that could have been mine.
Michael Jackson’s long time collaborator tells this funny story about Michael and his tendency to call at all hours of the night and early morning with creative ideas. He would insist they be written down. One time the collaborator protested, “But Michael, it’s 4 in the morning.” And, Michael responded, “I know but I don’t write it down, God might give it to Prince!”
Act Like Your Jar of Oil Means Something
The biggest pattern your need to destroy is the belief that your jar of oil is nothing. The widow had to stop treating her jar of oil as if it didn’t hold any real value for her.
What in your life do you need to stop thinking of as nothing? The widow had to look differently at something that she probably walked past every day. What are you walking past or walking with every day but overlooking?
A mental equivalent is always demonstrated. The secret to having harmony and success is to concentrate your thought on harmony and success. Attention is the key to life.
What you attend to or concentrate upon, you bring into your life because you build a mental equivalent for it. The widow kept thinking of the jar of oil as nothing. So, she built the mental equivalent for the jar of oil — the seed of God within her — as being nothing.
And, because nothing in your life can be more than the way you see it, the jar of oil — the very thing that would end up saving her — remained nothing until she learned to see it differently.
I AM Will Teach You How to See the Seed
I AM will teach you how to look at the seed of God in you so that you can turn it into what you need.
Metaphysically, Elisha symbolizes a type of Christ. In this story, we can think of him as the embodiment of I AM. This interaction shows us what it looks like when we go to I AM with our needs.
I AM always directs our attention to something we already possess — it may be tangible or intangible. And, then I AM shows us what to do with the thing He directed our attention to.
None of us is born knowing how to look at the seed of God within us. It is through DAILY interaction with I AM that we learn to see what God packed us up with.
When the widow went to Elisha, who symbolizes I AM, he told her to go borrow vessels and not just a few. Then go in your house and close the door — cut off all outside distractions — and pour the oil. She poured until she ran out of vessels.
When she went back to Elisha, he told her, “Now go sell the oil, pay your debts and live on the rest.” If you go to God DAILY about the jar of oil, He will tell you EXACTLY what to do with the oil.
Your job is to be faithful in the daily practice. You can’t go when you feel like it. Make a commitment to go every day. Do not go only when you remember. Daily visits with God build up a momentum within you.
Establish a Daily Practice
This is your SOUL WORK this week and really for the rest of your life. First, write down your goals. Get specific. What do you want? What would feel amazing to manifest?
List out the specific things you want to accomplish with God this year. What would need to happen this year so that when December 31 rolls around, you can say with certainty, “2019 don’t owe me anything!”
Write it out in complete, affirmative sentences. “I will make $100,000 this year from various income streams.” “I will release 30 lbs back to the universe to utilize for god.” “I expect to meet and fall in love with my soul mate.”
Be clear and specific about what you want to experience. This is not the time to be shy and retiring. This is the time to be bold and audacious. The scripture says we come boldly to the throne of grace.
And, look, if God likes to do things lavishly and abundantly, then who am I to ask in a small way? This is the same God who thought it was good idea to create 400,000 DIFFERENT types of beetles — each with slightly different jobs.
There are 20,000 DIFFERENT types of bees…2,000 DIFFERENT types of roses…500 DIFFERENT types of sharks. If God don’t play small, then neither do I.
So, write down exactly what you want. Dare to ream big because you serve a God that does things in a big way.
Review Your Goals & Dreams Daily
Then…now this is the magic ingredient…if you do what I am about to tell you, I guarantee you, your life will change. I am not talking hyperbole. I am talking cold, hard, spiritual facts.
This next one is where everyone falls off the wagon. They’re good for a few days and then life gets in the way. I am trusting Spirit for at least 10 people who will read this post and actually follow thorugh.
Make yourself a cup of coffee or a cup of tea–or a smoothie. The type of liquid does not matter. Just make sure there’s enough of it — at least 12oz — and that you can’t chug it down quickly.
Now, sit down with your written goals and dreams. Read them slowly. And, this is key…I want you to run your finger across the words as you read them. As you run your fingers across the words, I want you to feel them lift off the page. I want you to feel what it’ll be like when those words become your living reality.
Give it as much sensory detail as you can. Feel it. Taste it. Touch it. Smell it. See it. When you finish with one goal, go to the next. Sip your coffee or tea as you go. As you receive intuitive nudges from Spirit, write them down.
When you finish your coffee or tea, get up. Say “Thank you.” And, go about your day. Make this your daily practice.
How This Exercise Worked for Me
I do this exercise when I get to work because I am often moving quickly in the morning and have to get out the door. So, when I get to work, I fire up the microwave and make my instant coffee.
Then I sit down at my desk with my coffee and my goals and I do what I just described to you. When I finish, I put away my coffee cup and go on with my day.
Let me give you one piece of back story. I told you about the course Prospect which I’d developed in 2015 and then put on the shelf, like the widow with the jar of oil before she learned what to do with it.
Seeing that big internet marketer release a course using the name I’d come up with was a real gut punch. I pretty much haven’t developed any private courses since that time.
But this year, as I learned to work with the jar of oil in me, I came up with a new course that I am releasing later this month.
Anyway, I sit down with Spirit every morning and visualize this course being successfully released and generating the kind of income that will allow me to leave my part time job. After doing this exercise for about a week — 5 days, to be exact — I happen to be hanging out with a frien who’s a business person.
We’re talking as friends do and I share that I am working on my next course. He asks what it takes to do something like this. I tell him. Mind you, I’m just sharing information.
He asks me how much it will cost me to put this course out to the market. I share that it’s going to cost me $2,000 to put this course out. I’m about to move on to the next point when he says, “How about I loan you the $2,000 to launch the course and you pay me back when the course finishes?!”
So, t he next day when I sit down to work with God on my goals, I’m a little giddy. I’m feeling good. Later that day, my friend wires $2,000 into my bank account. I’m doing the happy dance.
The Blessings Keep Coming
One of the things I’d been struggling with is how to get the word out for my course. I don’t want what happened with Prosper to happen with this course. So, I’m a little concerned.
Anywho, I continue with my daily practice of sitting with God and working on my goals. The next day, I’m driving to work and my friend Gaylon McDowell who has a podcast on unity.fm calls me. “Sherri, I need a favor. Can you be a call-in guest for my show?”
“Sure. How do you need me?” “As long as you can give me.”
“Well, I’m on my way to work but I can give you the whole hour. What do you want to talk about?” “We can talk about wahtever you want to talk about.”
What?!!! So, guess what we talked about for that hour — my new course that’s coming out!!! And, when we finished, he says, “This was so good. Will you come back next week?”
When I get to work, I’m doing the running man in front of the microwave. I CAN’T WAIT to sit down with Spirit and work on my goals.
More happened..which I’ll share in tonight’s Bible Hangout. But that’s just a taste of what can happen with you allow I AM to teach you how to see the seed of God in you differently.
Sit with I AM Every Day to Review Your Goals and Vision
This exercise is more than your soul work for this week. It’s you’re life work. You need a window in your life where you sit down with God every day and talk to him about the dreams and goals he gave you.
Make it non-negotiable. I recommend the morning but you can do this at night. The point is to just do it. You can do it on your lunch break. But don’t let a day pass when you don’t do it.
Building a mental equivalent is simply. You simply talk to God everyday and listen for the nudges He gives you about the dreams and goals He put in you. If you need help identifying your jar of oil, He will tell you. Need help understanding how to develop your jar of oil? He will tell you.
Your job: Show up every day. Never miss your appointment.
