STRESS LESS

Rev. Hillary Dawes, PhD, SC-C

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28, KJV).

With such beautiful words as the promise in Matthew 11:28, one would think that living the Christian life would be stress free, or at least less stressful.   The truth is that many, many, many Christians are under tons of stress, and sometimes even more stress than before their conversion.   It's a really strange phenomenon that the supposedly care-free Christian life is filled with so much stress!  I think one of the major reasons for this is that many of us do not know how to balance work and rest.  We are constantly on the go, doing this and doing that, and if that is not bad enough, our minds are constantly working, processing a million thoughts non-stop.   Add to that the cares of life and the consciousness of sinning, and you have a recipe for spiritual, emotional and physical breakdown, with negative impact on one's health and peace of mind.  

One of the reasons why it's so important to control our stress levels is that stress is a leading cause of major illnesses.   Cancers,  heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and depression are all associated with stress.   You can read how stress causes and contributes to disease, in this article here.  Many times our prayers for healing go unanswered, because we continue to subject our bodies to the high levels of stress, which continues to trigger the disease process.  Healing cannot take place as long as the the cause of your illness is left untreated, and so, if stress is the trigger to your illness, then no healing will come, as long as the stressor remains.

Stress usually affects us in three forms - physical, social and spiritual.   Physical stressors are those things which affect your health or threaten you with bodily harm.  Examples of physical stressors include illnesses, physical  abuse, physical violence, work stress, physical hazards, feats of physical endurance/challenge, sexual abuse, depression, mental illness, and so on.  Examples of social stress include marriage, divorce, major life events, bad relationships, peer pressure, bullying, emotional and verbal abuse, loneliness, dysfunctional family life, lack of love in one's life, financial abuse, job loss, unemployment, debt, financial troubles, dating anxiety, shyness, social awkwardness, and so on.   Examples of spiritual causes of stress include unforgiveness, lovelessness, ingratitude, complaining, criticizing, fault-finding, judging, worrying, anxiety, wrong-doing, guilt, shame, bad attitudes, negative thinking, hopelessness, spiritual/religious abuse, toxic religion, and so on.  As you can see, the causes of stress are many and varied, and the sooner you address the causes of your stress, the less stress you will have in your life, and the happier your life will be.   

As a spiritual counselor, I help you to pin-point those areas of your life that are causing you stress, and make recommendations for you to get help for those stressful areas of your life.  Very recently, a few months ago, I had a client by the name of Clara* who was under intense stress and severe depression due to being a single, divorced mother with no help to raise her son, and a bad relationship with her son.   The stress became so bad, that she lost her mind, and wanted to end it all.  Luckily for her, I was able to direct her to the appropriate resources and her life was saved.   Not only was her life saved, but she was afterwards able to finish with the spiritual counseling, and her relationship with her son was restored.  Another client by the name of Tammy* was helped by me to relieve stress associated with  a major medical depressive disorder and bipolar depression.   While I do not treat depression, I was able to help Tammy tap into activities and resources to relieve her stress associated with her depression.   

Many of my clients are able to reduce their stress levels by taking one or more of my spiritual coaching programs to address the issues surrounding their stress.   There are at least five spiritual coaching programs that I have, that I use to help clients relieve stress, depending upon the cause of stress.  

Spiritual Renewal Coaching Program - A three-week program that addresses generalized, overall stress.  Perhaps you just have 'bad energy' that is weighing you down, or you are giving out 'stressful vibes', or you are anxious for no particular reason, then this program is good for you.  In the Spiritual Renewal program, I coach you through techniques that will provide you with physical, social, and spiritual relief from stress.   

Spiritual Cleansing Program - A four-week program that addresses stress caused from spiritual attacks.  This program is especially geared for people who feel as if they are under spiritual oppression, and cannot break free from bad luck.    This program is similar to the spiritual renewal coaching program, in that you are coached in techniques to provide physical, social, and spiritual relief from stress, but it also includes spiritual protection to remove the negative spiritual influences out of your life. 

Emotional Baggage Removal Coaching Program - A five-week, extremely specific program, tailored to your personal issues, that addresses past issues causing current stress.  Many people  carry around lots of toxic emotions from past relationships, broken marriages and dysfunctional family dynamics.   The Emotional Baggage Removal Program (EBRP) helps you to remove those toxic emotions out of your life, so that you can live free from the stress of those toxic burdens.   EBRP helps you to remove bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, resentment, negative attachment, MENTAL BLOCKS TO LOVE, and a host of other negative spiritual emotions out of your life.  

Cult deprogramming - A five-week program that addresses the stress caused from being in a toxic religious environment.   It does not have to be a cult for a religious organization to be toxic.  Any mainstream religious organizations can become toxic TO YOU.   As long as the environment is toxic to you, it is going to cause you guilt, shame, fear, worry, anxiety, and rob you of peace of mind.   Cult deprogramming addresses the spiritual mindset that led up to you being in spiritual bondage to an organization, and helps you to become free.  

Spiritual Counseling to Remove Dating Anxiety - A four-week program that addresses the anxiety and the needy/clingy behaviors people tend to display while dating.   The anxiety and clingy/needy behaviors result from having a love-void on the inside.  This program helps you to fill the love-void by "filling up on love" while dating.   

I also offer a Love Coaching Program which teaches you what love is and how to identify love separate from lust and emotional attachment, and Abundance and Prosperity Counseling to relieve financial stress.   My book Surviving a Global Economic Crisis: A Biblical Perspective teaches you how to find inner peace in the midst of global (or personal) economic crisis.  

If you are suffering from stress, and are seeking relief, then perhaps spiritual counseling is what you need, so that you can start enjoying life again, and truly find rest in your soul.   For more information about the programs I offer, please visit my website. 

www. hillarydawes.com

*Name changed for privacy

TEN SIGNS THAT YOU ARE LIVING A SPIRITUAL LIFE

Rev. Hillary Dawes, PhD, SC-C

"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:6, KJV)

The godly life or the spiritual life is your personal journey in the Spirit to wholeness and inner peace.  Along this journey, there are many bumps in the road, and sometimes it can seem discouraging.  Sometimes it seems like no matter what you do, and how well you follow every thing by the book, things backfire, and you are met with frustration along the way.   Sometimes the setbacks can be so overwhelming that you feel like giving up;  hence the need to know whether you are on the right track or not, so you are not expending needless energy or putting energy into things that do not serve your highest spiritual good.  In this blog, I have developed this list of ten things, as a way to give you guidance along your path, so that you are encouraged in your journey. 

1. 'WORLDLY' PEOPLE FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE IN YOUR PRESENCE (John 15:18-20).   They can't tell you why they dislike you, even though you are nice and not pushy, and you really do care about people.  Your 'goodness' is a turn off for them, as it makes them feel bad about themselves.  You are too much of a 'goody-two-shoes' as that makes them uncomfortable.  They invariably try to find ways to show you up as a fake or someone disingenuous.  They try to dig up dirt on you so as to bring you to their level. Don't let this kind of persecution and pressure get to you.   If you continue to be consistent in your demeanor, and be your true self, after a while they will leave you alone.  
2.  YOU ARE MORE INTERESTED IN PEOPLE THAN THINGS (Luke 12:15).  You don't see socializing and having fun with your friends and family as a waste of time.  Jesus was accused of being a party-person, and too sociable (Luke 7:34).   Your goal in life is not to amass tons of wealth but to build good memories with the people in your life, by building strong, solid friendships, relationships, and family (Matthew 16:26). You provide for your family, but you are able to balance work with social time.  
3. YOUR LOVE IS NOT INSTITUTIONALIZED.  It means you truly love what you are doing, and you are not loving others just because you saw a commandment in the Bible to love others.  It is not a love where you are doing XYZ because Jesus said you are to do those things to show love.   Sharing the gospel, giving Bible studies, preaching to the homeless, and evangelizing are typical institutionalized way to show love to others.  Please bear in the mind that doing those things do NOT require you to love at all, if you are doing them out of obligation to fulfill a command.  As a matter of fact, those things are really duties, and not necessarily acts of love.  If your love for another person is based upon them following your teachings, then is it truly love?  Do you only care for them if they follow your teachings or do you care for them regardless?  Do you call down hell and destruction on them if they do not abide by your doctrines?  A truly spiritual and godly person practices tolerance and love regardless, and does not seek for the destruction of another soul (Luke 9:51-56).  
4. YOU HAVE ALL THAT YOU NEED FOR THE PRESENT (Philippians 4:19).   The spiritual person does not give into the mindset of lack.   The spiritual person recognizes that all his/her needs are being provided for, and are being met.   The spiritual person has an abundance mentality and not a scarcity mentality. The temporary appearance of lack in the present does not mean a loss of spiritual status for the spiritually-minded person.   The spiritually-minded person is at total peace with God's providence.   
5. YOU GIVE WITHOUT AN AGENDA TO SATISFY THE EGO (Matthew 6:1-6).   I am not referring to public relations and marketing that companies do to advertise their business or what churches or ministries do to let the public know what services they have to offer, and how they are serving the community.  This is about using your acts of charity to another person to make yourself look good in front of others.  Where the focus is not on the person you are helping but on you, where you use your good deed to make a show of your righteousness before others.  An attitude like that will drive away people from your confidence as the cost of being publicly humiliated is not worth the help you are offering.  I have been in positions where teachers wanted to use me as an exhibit for their class when I obviously did not feel comfortable going up in front.   They were more interested in proving their point for 'educational purposes' without regards for my feeling.  It's difficult to trust people who put you up for show.  If you are the kind of person who is critical, judgmental and condemning, and love to point out the sins of others, do not be surprised that you get 'persecuted' by others.   When you judge or condemn others, it causes you to be condemned back by them in defense.  This is the law of reciprocity in action.   This was why Jesus said, "Judge not that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7:1).   It will all come back to you. Your reward in life is the satisfaction that you get when you help others, and the joy of knowing that another life has been helped.   Having inner joy over the happiness of others  is a sign of spiritual maturity (Romans 15:12).
6. THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU (Luke 17:21).  A lot of folks identify heavily with the churches they attend.   While that is good for the church you attend, it does not say anything about your relationship with God - only your relationship with your church.  Church membership does not equal having the kingdom of God within you.  The kingdom of God is not a building or even a visible place with borders (John 18:36).  The kingdom of God is the life of the Spirit residing in you (Luke 11:20).   It's you being 100% authentic regardless of whether its Sunday morning in church or Monday morning on the job.  Some folks are only 'good people' in church or in front of others, but behind closed doors, they are no different than anyone else.   The Spirit within you is 24-7, and is not something that comes upon you in church that causes you to yell and shout.  The Spirit within you is that Life within you that causes re-birth (Romans 8:5).   In the Spirit-filled life your tendencies change.  You tend to be attracted more to peaceful, loving, and compassionate ways to live.  The fruits of the Spirit manifest more and more in your life (Galatians 5:22-23).  
7. YOU ARE MORE INTERESTED IN HELPING OTHERS THAN PUSHING DOCTRINES (Matthew 23:25; James 2:14-18).   It always amazes me to see people giving Bible tracts to the homeless and hungry on the streets - preaching to them and yet never offering them any food, clothing or shelter.   While you may have no problem spending money on lots of tracks to share the gospel to people who may  never attend your church, and you might find it difficult to spend the same amount of money to provide a meal to the hungry.   Yes, sometimes they use the money to buy alcohol, cigarettes, etc but you can also help by giving to a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen.  Where I live, we have at least two homeless shelters.  They do an EXCELLENT job of keeping lots of homeless people off the streets, as well as provide spiritual counseling and educational opportunities.  This is the one I support regularly.  And I don't work for them.  I just love what they do for our community.  
8. YOU DON'T GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO SEEK SPECIAL HONORS FOR YOURSELF (Luke 22:24-27; Matthew 23:1-12).  Nothing is worse than church folks fighting for church office, and using church office as a means to exert power over the lives of people.   A spiritual person is not interested in power grabs, but concerns him/herself with serving others.   You are on the wrong track if your focus is on jockeying for elitist positions in the church to satisfy your pride.  If you are the type of person who does not respect the spiritual gifts of others, but try to outdo others in their gifting or even belittle their gift, you are going the wrong way spiritually.  The body won't thrive if only one  voice or one opinion matters.   Don't be surprised that your church is not seen as a place of community but just a place of hostility.  
9. YOU DO NOT PRACTICE BLIND FAITH (Matthew 23:24).   Blind faith is following some religious teaching that fails to deliver, yet hoping it will all pan out if one has enough faith.   Insanity is described as doing something over and over again, expecting different results.  If your faith in something is proven false, why do you cling to false hope?  I never understood that concept.  I am tired of hearing Evangelists chastising people for not having enough faith for healing from an illness or for their state of poverty.  The truth is that they are misleading people as to the true state of their affairs. Don't get sidetracked with slick attempts to pull the wool over the eyes of the sheep- buy this anointing oil here or this scarf here to be healed or bring blessings in your life.  Yes, we have all heard this, and many do buy those things, and are no better off than when they started.  Some have even become worse off, as their problems remain unaddressed.   It's so much better to seek counseling whether from your pastor, a spiritual counselor like myself, or a qualified secular counselor for your life problems and for proper guidance, than to buy into hocus pocus.  
10. YOU ARE WILLING TO LISTEN TO THE POINT OF VIEWS OF OTHERS WITHOUT BECOMING DEFENSIVE OF OWN BELIEFS (Psalm 119:165).   Too many of us are more interested in defending our beliefs than finding out truth.   Your truth and my truth are not always the same, so there is no point in you trying to prove your truth to me, as your truth does not resonate with my truth.  Really,  the root of all these debates is the fear of being wrong, and the fear of being found believing in a lie, so we cling, argue, and provoke each other to anger with ad homien attacks, in order to defend what we believe to be truth.  I love the saying, "Truth needs no defense."  Do you know why?  If something is true, it is going to be evident, and the proof of it being truth lies in its own veracity.  No amount of questioning, analysis, or examining can destroy that which is true, because the more you dig into truth, the more credible it becomes.  On the other hand, truths based upon unproven beliefs or unsupported feelings may not pan out when put to the test.   The enemy to falsehood is truth - not more falsehood.  Truth cannot be destroyed by lies.   The truth will always come out.  You need to get to the place where people can express themselves with you, without you taking it personally, and getting all mad and irate with them.   A truly spiritual person is not bothered or disturbed by differences in opinions (1 Corinthians 11:19).   

In conclusion, the spiritual life leads you to the abundant life of peace, happiness, and joy!  For more information on how to live the abundant life and to get spiritual counseling on the abundant life, please visit my website.  

www.hillarydawes.com

LOVE AND RELIGION

One of the things I have noticed, among dating Christians seeking a spouse, is that many are seeking godly mates who love God, to marry, which of course is right.  Many assume however that a person who is "in love" with God would make a loving spouse.   Is it really true that love for God means love for people?  In this blog, I will explore this concept of whether religion plays any role in finding love.

Religion is our vertical experience of man to God, while marriage is a horizontal experience of human to human.   Just because you are loyal and dedicated in your church, are blessed and highly favored with spiritual gifts, and love God, does not mean that you are ready for marriage, or even have what it takes to enter into a loving relationship with another human being.   God's love for us is unconditional (John 3:16), so it's quite possible for a person to have a good relationship with God, and not be a particularly loving person.  Our relationship with God depends largely on God's unconditional love for us - not the love we have for God.   Our love for God is NOTHING compared to the love God has for us, and as such, we can easily deceive ourselves that we have a strong, loving relationship with God, when the fact is that God loves us in spite of our deepest faults.   So you could be the worst hater, spouse-beater, verbally abusive person there is, and yet be within the bounds of God's love, as His love is greater than all our sins, "...but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20).  So in reality, you don't have to be a good person, who is all lovey dovey, to have a relationship with God.   You just need to abide in His love.

Marriage involves the ability to relate to another human being in a loving fashion. It requires people skills - not religious skills.  We know that is true because even non believers have good marriages!  As a matter of fact, in the USA, atheists, agnostics, and other faith groups have much lower divorce rates than Christians.   You can read about it here.  This goes to show that being religious has very little to do with having a happy marriage, and that being a Christian does not inoculate you from bad marriages.  Many of the people I give post-divorce spiritual counseling to are Christians.   What many don't understand is that the marriage relationship requires that one develops one's ability to love another human being, where you are not demanding love, but living in love.  To go around saying you want a spouse that loves you just as Christ loves the church is a great goal, but if you yourself are not emotionally in a place to give and receive that kind of love right NOW in your current dating experience, then your expectation is nothing more than a demanding,  pie-in-the-sky fantasy,  which will cause you future marriage problems, if you do ever get married.

If you are serious about finding love, and settling down in a good marriage relationship with another human being, I highly recommend that you take my Four Loves Coaching program, so that you not only attract love into your life, but become a more loving person.   I know for myself, if I had not found love, I don't know where I would be today.  After coming out of a very bad marriage, and years of bad relationships with men, I was finally able to break free from that vicious cycle, and find love in a relationship, that I am currently in.  I will teach you the same relationship/people skills and principles that I learned, which finally caused me to  break free from the cycle of unhappy relationships, and find love.

To sign up for any of one my spiritual counseling programs,  and for more information, please visit my website, and God bless you.  Much love to you.

www.hillarydawes.com

THE ABUNDANT LIFE

Rev. Hillary Dawes, PhD, SC-C

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" ~John 10:10

Universally, most people struggle with lack in their lives, especially lack in finances and love.  Poverty and lack are real problems worldwide, with the naked, the starving, and the homeless.  Even in first world countries like the USA, we struggle with homelessness, high cost of living, debt, and unaffordable health care.  Many people are just one pay check away or one illness away from financial bankruptcy.  The same can be said for lack of love.  Singer Dionne Warwick made this song popular back in the 60's - 70's What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love.   It seems that there is a shortage of love in the world overall, with the wars, battles, strife, unrest, and political fights that are constantly being waged globally.   Crime is at an all time high, with killings and murders in 'peaceful' countries.  The seemingly upswing in school killings, with children killing children in our schools, has put us on all on edge, and intense high alert, as to the increasing lovelessness that is being manifested in every sector of society.  

Lack of love and lack of finances in our lives all stem from the same source - a mindset of lack or scarcity.  Yes, when we have a scarcity mentality, that there is not enough, it causes us to become selfish and self centered in our attempts to grab more for ourselves, because we feel we do not have enough.  So the person who feels that they are lonely and lacking love, will be out there seeking for love, and the person who has lack in  finances, will be out there seeking after that which you do not have; but are these true lack, or just PERCEPTIONS of lack?  Are we operating off what is real, or are we operating off what we perceive to be real?  The truth of the matter is that 1) we live in an abundant Universe where all our needs can be met, and 2) there is actually no limit to love.  Love is limitless, and thus is not lacking.

We live in an abundant Universe where all our needs can be met.  "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).  This means that all you need is here already, and there is NO LACK. Your perceived lack is temporary, and your need will be met, as all the resources will be Divinely provided.  Yes, we live on a planet with limited resources.  There is just so much square miles of land, so many trees, so many plants, animals, and people.  Yes, all that is true but that does not take away from the fact that there is more than enough provided for us all, because God is able to provide for us "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).   Did not Jesus say that it was the Father's "good pleasure" to give us the kingdom? (Luke 12:32). Just because we do not possess the thing right now that we are desiring does not mean that we won't get it.  As long as it is a need, you will eventually get it.  The reason why you are not getting your heart's desire is because you believe in lack.  You see yourself as poor, unfortunate, underprivileged, and deprived, and thus you train your mind to think of yourself that way.   If you continue thinking of yourself that way, your life will manifest poverty, misfortune, underprivilege, and depravity.  You are what you think you are, thus when you think lack, that is what your life will manifest.  "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). You therefore need to correct your thinking, and bring it in line with the truth,and the truth is this: We live in an abundant Universe, and God will provide all my needs.  

In this abundant Universe, there is no limit or lack of love.  Yes, although we see an abundance of unloving behaviors all around us, the truth is that there is an even more abundance of love all around us (Ephesians 3:17-19; Song of Solomon 8:7).  It is just that we are so focused on what is evil, that it blinds our eyes to what is good.  When you live your life seeking for what you already have, you will never find it, because you don't recognize what you have.  When you live your life focusing on what you don't have, then all you will get is what you don't have.  Again, this comes back to the teaching of Proverbs 23:7 of whatever you think about, that is what your life will manifest.  So if you focus on all the bad things in life, then your life will also manifest those bad things you are concentrating on and giving your energy to.  "You get what you pay for" is the common expression used to show us that whatever we invest in mentally or financially, is what we reap.   Correct your focus to this truth, that love is all around us, and abundantly so, and you will find love.   

If you are having trouble with lack in your finances or love, as a spiritual counselor, I can help you to change your mindset, so that your life can manifest more abundance. Read my personal testimony here about how I managed to change my life around, by applying some much needed spiritual principles from the Bible.   You can do the same as well, when you sign up for my abundance and prosperity coaching program or my love coaching program, on my website.  For more information, please go to:

www.hillarydawes.com

And God bless you! 

LOVE WITHOUT ATTACHMENT

Rev. Hillary Dawes, PhD, SC-C

Many of you who are familiar with psychology have probably heard about the four attachment styles of relationships.   The four attachment styles are secure attachment, dismissive (avoidant) attachment, pre-occupied attachment, and fearful avoidant attachment.  This is NOT what this blog is all about.  Those are psychological models used to describe different ways people develop emotionally from childhood into adulthood.  Spiritually speaking, an attachment is emotional dependence upon another person outside of yourself for your own happiness.  It is where your ability to experience joy, feel love, fear, pain, and so on, all depends upon how those close to you treat you.  It's what psychologists call co-dependency.  

Emotional attachment is a spiritual problem, because it is often used as a substitute for love.  Emotional attachment makes a person feel that they have bonded with their partner, but the truth is that no bonding has actually taken place.  It is a one-sided relationship where one or both parties are clinging to a relationship where both sides are not seeing eye to eye, and are not connecting spiritually or emotionally.  Both partners are out of harmony with each other, and are operating on different wave lengths and out of frequency with each other.  You can't bond if there is disharmony and discord.  Disharmony causes conflict - not bonding.  So in order to correct the disharmony, some couples attach - meaning they commit themselves to stay the course of the relationship because they feel emotionally BOUND or attracted to each other.   They feed off each other's wounds, and the conflict continues, because what is holding them together is some subconscious attraction for each other.  Spiritually speaking, this is nothing more than spiritual bondage.  It is where you are bound, and tied up in a relationship that is not working for you, but you can't escape, due to being spiritually attracted to the negative relationship patterns.   You feel that staying is better than being in no relationship at all.  You feel that being free is not worth the agony of not having someone in your life.  You feel that all your chances of happiness in this life are wrapped up in this one relationship,and if it ends, you will never find happiness.   The attachment can get so bad that even when you leave the person, their memory remains lodged in your subconscious mind, and you keep re-living the relationship over and over again in your head.  I have known of people who were so attached, that after they left the bad situation, they immediately sought ways to get back their abusive ex-partner, resorting to even stalking behavior.  All of this is misinterpreted as love, yet this is NOT love, but emotional attachment.  

To love without attachment means that you can love without clinging or feeling needy, or feeling fearful of losing out on love.   It means that you are not afraid of letting go of relationships that are loveless.  Loving without attachment saves you from being in emotional bondage to relationships that do not serve your highest good, and that do not contribute to your emotional well-being.  To bond with another person is good, but to attach is bad.  Bonding is when you are both able to integrate and harmonize your lives, without violation of personal dignity and self respect.  The two partners complement each other, and thus are stronger as a couple.  There is no loss of your self-identity as in attachment, where mismatched partners try to force their personalities on each other.   In emotional attaching, one or both parties succumb to the pressure, at the cost of great unhappiness to both.  The most important thing to remember is that love is NOT attachment.  Attachment actually keeps you bound in bad relationships so that you cannot experience love.  If you want to truly experience love, then my recommendation is that you break the strong hold of attachments.  As a spiritual counselor, I can help you with removing attachments with my Emotional Baggage coaching program.    The program is as follows:-

Week One:  Making Peace with Your Past
Week Two:  Increasing Love and Appreciation of Self
Week Three:  Increasing Positive Programming
Week Four: Making Peace with God
Week Five:  Managing Stress

At the end of the five-week program, you will be able to sever your emotional attachments and find the freedom to find love.   For more information about all my coaching programs, please visit my website.  

www.hillarydawes.com

THE BLOOD MOON TETRAD

Rev. Hillary Dawes, PhD, SC-C

Those of us living in the Western Hemisphere were treated to a spectacular lunar eclipse on April 15, the very first night of Passover, the Jewish festival.  I was one of those who tried to stay up late to watch, but ended up falling asleep before the actual event.  I woke up at about 5:00 am, and rushed outside with iPhone in hand to see if I could catch even a glimpse, but it was all over, except for the receding shadow of the Earth darkening just a tiny piece of the brilliantly lit moon. Awww....I had wanted so much to see this......

If you were like me, and missed this wonder in the sky,  you will have three more chances coming up soon.   The next lunar eclipses will be on Sukkot 10/08/14, Passover 4/4/15, and Sukkot 9/28/15.   I definitely plan on NOT missing these.  

A lot of people are wondering if there is any significance to these blood moons, seeing that they all fall on Jewish feast days.   Firstly, let me say that lunar eclipses are nothing strange.  They are natural celestial events that occur from time to time.  Secondly, the feast days of Passover and Sukkot always fall on a full moon (Passover) or near a full moon (Sukkot).  Thirdly, lunar eclipses always occur during a full moon, so nothing strange there either.   Fourthly, the color of the moon during lunar eclipses is of a reddish hue, so nothing strange there either.   What is strange is the occurrence of these four lunar eclipses on Jewish feast days.   Watch the video below from NASA website that explains how lunar eclipses occur.

Much prophetic fervor surrounds the appearance of the blood moons of 2014-2015.  Pastor John Hagee, TV Evangelist, is one of the most ardent promoters of the four blood moons, attaching Biblical and prophetic significance to them.   As a spiritual teacher, I always try to see what, if any spiritual significance is attached to unusual occurrences in nature.  I believe that God does work through His creation to send messages to us in symbolic form.  While we may not listen to God speaking to us in our hearts, or even ignore His still small voice, the messages which come to us through nature are very difficult to ignore - they get our attention! What I have noticed is that everyone has seemed to have gotten a different message from this one event.  To the Evangelicals, this is a warning of impending doom and the return of Christ.   To the dooms-dayers, this is a sign of the end of the world.  To astronomers, this is an opportunity to learn more about our universe.    To astrologers, it's a sign of how the Earth is being 'ruled' by the activities of the moon.   The point I am trying to make is that we have all received different messages, that fits in with where we are in our spiritual journey here on Earth; so my message might not resonate with yours, and your message might not resonate with mine, because your message is for you, and my message is for me.  

So What Do the Blood Moons Mean to Me?

RED - fiery passion of the Love of God

PASSOVER - freedom from spiritual bondage in 'Egypt'

SUKKOT (FEAST OF TABERNACLE) - God 'tabernacling' within us, in our own 'tent' (body).  

IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE!  

CHRIST IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH

Rev. Hillary Dawes, PhD, SC-C

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

~Matthew 12:40

This is NOT a reference to Christ being in the grave for three days and three nights. We know from Biblical evidence that he did NOT spend three days and three nights in the grave (Luke 13:32; Luke 18:33). Not only that, but His body would have started to decay if he had spent three days and three nights in the grave. According to the testimony of Peter, which was recorded by Luke, Jesus' body was not left in the grave long enough for it to start the decay process (Acts 2:27). The oils used to embalm Jesus' dead body were not embalming oils to preserve a body. They were sweet smelling oils which were traditionally used to mask the scent as bodies decayed.  Usually those oils are applied to a dead body - not a living body, but Mary thought it best to use that oil on the Living Christ, while He could appreciate it, instead of on a dead Christ. This was why Jesus made the strange statement, "For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial" (Matthew 26:12). 

By anointing Jesus for His burial two days before His death, Mary had essentially, and symbolically buried Jesus "in the heart of the earth" (Mark 14:1-3).