Practical-minded people sometimes laugh at an idea of trusting in God. For them, it justifies passivity and irresponsibility of a believer. From their experience they’ve learned that success comes from consistent efforts – and they think that asking God for help is equal to trying getting something for nothing.

I can see their point. However, we need to have in mind that there are different kinds of trust. There is the one which suits a person who wants to achieve success and happiness. It makes such person a co-worker with God. Briefly it can be described in this way: Do not trust that God will do something for you. Trust that God will work with you and through you.

This attitude makes us fully responsible for discovering and using of God’s gifts within us and outside of us. It shifts our focus from the realm of manifestations to the inner realm of creative activity. It makes us seek for the wisdom and inspiration within.

There is nothing mystical about working with God. In a sense, every person works with God шт some degree, because we cannot be outside of God. It have been said that “in God we live, and move, and have our being”. But there are different stages of our partnership with the Creative Power of the Universe – and there are different levels of consequent happiness and fulfillment.

One of the major problems of practical-minded people is their focus of outward things which often makes them unbalanced. For instance, when things go wrong, they tend to become pessimistic. When everything is well, they tend to become overly excited and boastful. When they cannot control certain events or do not have enough information, they tend to become anxious.

Why should we be centered in the inner realm? Our point is not to ignore outward events, but not to be dominated by them. We should not allow them to distort our perception and to limit our creative self-expression. Our inner calmness and ability to stay focused within will lead us to clear vision. We won’t be overwhelmed by difficult situations. When they will arise, we will see both difficulties and ways of their resolution. Even more, we will accept challenges not as personal offences, but as stepping stones to greater personal development and success.

Our actions won’t be motivated by fear, guilt, resistance, or self-importance. They will express our true values and highest understanding. At the same time, we won’t feel inadequate to deal with our circumstances. We will be aware of hidden resources of wisdom and strength within ourselves.

How do we know that we’ve made a contact with divine wellspring of inspiration? By renewed desires to create and to achieve, to bring the spirit of freshness and newness into all areas of our life.

These desires will compel us to move forward, no matter what difficulties we may encounter. And as we move forward, we will be moved upward. We will be lifted up to even greater awareness and wisdom.

While we are working with God, God is working on us.

We express our awareness through our actions. This is why Jesus said, “You are the light of the world… Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father”. But which works are “good ones”?

Many of religious people think that good works are acts of charity and selfless service – something that we do without any thought of reward. According to them, such works are different from our everyday life activities. These ideas sound lofty and noble, but in fact they put unnecessary burden upon those who subscribe to them. They open the way to continuous self-doubts: “Do I sacrifice enough? Am I selfless enough?”

Some of these doubts are justified. The fact is, many of attempts to do acts of “selfless service” lead to the opposite results – they reinforce ego of those who are doing them, making them secretly proud of themselves and their spiritual achievements.

Perhaps, the best solution of this dilemma is not to divide our life into “good works” and “all other works” but to perceive it in its wholeness. All works could be good if they are done in the right attitude. “Just by existing, I make a positive difference to the world. Every thought that I have adds to the existence of every being. Every moment of courage encourages all beings”, writes Brad Jensen.

Good works are the ones which proceed from the realization of our goodness and goodness of the entire world.

Why this is important?

If I believe that I am a worthless sinner, I doubt in my abilities to make a positive difference. I doubt in my creative impulses and intuitive guidance. At the same time, I am trying to earn God’s approval through my works, even if I do not admit it. Most often, these “good works” are attempts to imitate “godly” behaviour of others, or to follow instructions outlined in religious books.

On the other hand, if I believe that I am good (that I am the light of the world), I am doing that which is natural to me. I can allow myself the luxury of being spontaneous and creative. There is no need for me to compare myself with others or to obey strict rules. I can love without even questioning whether am I “loving enough”.

What if I believe that the world is bad and full of evil? Such mindset creates a superiority complex within me. I consider myself to be a little saviour and redeemer. I become self-important – and ignorant. Listen to what some religious people say: “We bring good news to the hurting world”. While they are looking to save the world from supposed “hurt”, they remain blind to the fact that there is still enough hurt among those who accept their “good news”, and there is enough joy and happiness among those who don’t care about their dogmas.

The world is good, but you won’t see it until you are offended at the world, or until you are trying to “save it from sin”. If you want the world to disclose its goodness to you, dare to accept that the world is good. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. And it is not difficult to think that the world is good once you agree that the world proceeds from God, the Source of all good.

The world does not need preaching. But it would be benefited by powerful examples of actualized and creative individuals who allowed their inner light to shine. Let us quit all attempts to make others happy, and allow them to learn their own lessons. Instead, let us get busy with doing good works – the ones which proceed from the realization of our goodness and goodness of the entire world.

Temptations come to people only because of their ignorance. The light of Truth discloses all the secrets of desires, so those desires which might have painful consequences don’t look enticing to us anymore.

We are not to battle with temptations through willpower. It is a mistake of many sincere spiritual seekers: they are trying to suppress their “negative” desires, not realizing that their conditions only become worse. According to the law of mind action, when we resist someone or something, we make it stronger in our life. We become attached to those things we fight against. This is why Charles Fillmore and other New Thought teachers insisted that the process of denial (mental cleansing) does not require any strain. “Make denials as though you were gently sweeping away cobwebs”.

The key to overcoming temptation is awareness; the key to greater awareness is directed attention. We are to focus our attention at the light within. This light is our divine nature.

Unlike those believers that label people as weak and sinful, Jesus saw them as divine beings. “There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world”, says Jesus in the gospel of Thomas. But we should not presume that it is a “strange teaching” from a forgotten Apocrypha. The same message is found in all the canonical gospels!

“Has it not written in your law, “I said, You are gods?”

“You are the light of the world. So let your light shine before men”.

According to Jesus, our primary problem is ignorance of who we are – and it is the root of all other problems which we call temptations, sins, and sufferings. And the only available remedy is self-knowledge.

One of the greatest temptations is to forget our divine identity and to exchange truth or our being for illusions.
One of the greatest temptations is to be of a low opinion of ourselves, and to buy into such destructive feelings as fear and guilt.
One of the greatest temptations is unwillingness to grow and to rise up again every time we fail.

Once in a while we become attracted by temptations and act in unwise and unproductive ways. But our failures cannot indicate our intrinsic badness. Those mistakes just disclose certain areas in our life where growth and greater awareness are needed.

I agree with Brad Jensen that every challenge is a miracle waiting to happen.

“Think of yourself in a large way, and the little things of life will lose interest for you”, wrote Charles Fillmore. This is the best method of dealing with thoughts and desires which we don’t want in our life. Let us not fight against them, but substitute them with lofty thoughts and desires.

Let us be aware of our divinity and our living connection with the Source of all blessings. As we stay centered at these exalted ideas, our consciousness will be cleansed from poverty mentality with its fears and selfish desires to grab as much as possible.

Let us be aware of our divine destiny to be expressions of God in our world. Let us be aware of gifts which God placed within us to fulfill this purpose. This will free us from self-centeredness and consumerism, and make us generous givers and divinely inspired creators.

Not so long ago one person asked me what I think about temptations. This is a worthwhile subject to talk about, because in our search for happiness we are always tempted by promises of false happiness.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines “to tempt” as “to entice to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain”. It means that temptation is not directly related with a desire to break a religious commandment. But this definition might be too narrow – often we are tempted to do something which doesn’t contribute to our happiness and fulfilment, but not necessarily “wrong” according to certain standards.

My definition of a temptation that it is a desire linked with ignorance.

Let us consider an example from everyday life. We see an appealing commercial of a product, and a desire to buy this product comes to us. But most of us learned not to act upon such a desire too quickly. We begin to think and to evaluate. A commercial promises that this thing will make us happier. Could it be true? Or rather, experience teaches us that it will give us only a temporary satisfaction, not worth the money we will pay? Are there another ways to fulfil our legitimate needs? Finally, it is possible that buying of this product will put unnecessary burden upon our budget. So, we might easily let go of this desire and focus our mind at something else.

What happened? We just successfully overcame a temptation, although such a word never crossed our mind. Let us note that an advertised product might be good, but not suitable for us at this point of time. In order to let go of our desire, we did not have to convince ourselves that it is evil. We just did not want to pay the price.

Ignorant, shallow, and superficial desires bring to our attention only pleasure and satisfaction we could get. But they often keep us ignorant about the price we will have to pay, and possible negative consequences. If we are aware of these hidden factors, we won’t desire the things which will burden us or make us suffer in some way. We will treat them as children’s toys, not deserving our attention. Desires to get these things might come, but they won’t stay in our consciousness for too long. They won’t take root in our souls and won’t be translated to actions.

There is a price tag attached to every desire. Most of people most of the time know that it is true – otherwise, life would be too complicated for them. But we need to realize that the law of compensation is truly universal and knows no exceptions. This realization frees us from a vain hope that sometimes this principle won’t work, and it would be possible for us to escape the payment. We won’t look for ways to get something for nothing.

“A wise man will know that it is the part of prudence to face every claimant and pay every just demand on your time, your talents, or your heart. Always pay; for first or last you must pay your entire debt. Persons and events may stand for a time between you and justice, but it is only a postponement. You must pay at last your own debt”, writes Ralph Waldo Emerson.

It has been said that people learn by trial-and error. It is a painful and unpleasant method of education. Others learn at mistakes of others. This method is better, but still not the best available. The truth is, we all are linked to the channel of direct knowledge within. God in us makes us aware of the consequences of our desires.

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. This includes freedom from temptations. We can live above temptations not because we are strong, but because we are aware.

The only way to overcome temptations is to know deep secrets of life. When we judge by appearances, follow the crowd, and look at what the majority of people do, we might easily become ignorant and reap the bitter fruit of sufferings. Let us search for the truth, not being satisfied with preconceived ideas and sets of rules. What is right? That which is right for us, considering who we are and where we are in our life journey. Let us listen to the guiding voice of our heart. As we do that, many of the things which looked appealing at first, will lose their attraction.