Man does not live on bread alone

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4: 4)
The retreat director asked the retreatants to share some of the blessings in their lives in 2010. The retreat was held at The Holy Name Retreat Center in January 2010. I raised my hand and said: “2010 was probably the most difficult year in my business. I made about 40% less that I normally make. Yet, the Lord chose this year to wipe out my debts and gave me a new car and a new computer. He did this to show me that “Man does not live on bread alone. There is live for him in every word that comes from the mouth of God.” I was surprised to hear myself add Matthew 4:4 to my testimony of God’s blessings in 2010.
Ever since that retreat day, my mind has come back to Matthew 4:4 wondering what exactly this scripture means for me. I got the answer today:
Only God knows the deepest needs of the human heart. Only God knows best how to fulfill those needs. In 2010, God knows my deepest needs. He is always able to and willing to meet our needs. He met mine at His own time and in His own Way. The experience boosted my faith enormously.

Spirit and desire

“For I shall pour out water on thirsty soil and streams on the ground. I shall pour out my spirit on your descendants, my blessing on your offspring and they will spring up among the grass, like willows on the banks of a stream.” (Isaiah 44: 3-4)

Condition for receiving the Holy Spirit: thirsty soil
Fruit of receiving the Holy Spirit: “Spring up among the grass, like willows on the banks of a stream.”
How much do you desire the Holy Spirit?
“Being filled with the Holy Spirit” : If you have great desire for the Holy Spirit, frequent the source as the fisherman stays close to the bank of a river. The source for the Holy Spirit is the word of God and prayer mixed with great desire. When you are in the source, like the fisherman, fish and keep fishing until you get all you want. This analogy is inspired from the book of Napoleon Hill, “Think and Grow Rich.”
Great things in life start from great desire. St. Ignatius Loyola says that desire transforms a man. Therefore great desire for the Holy Spirit will translate to the condition of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
A daily consecration to the Holy Spirit:
• You are my light and my guide, my strength and the sole desire of my heart.
• I desire to be ever docile to your inspirations.
On 012398, I jotted the following in my journal from the book of Deepak Chopra, “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.” –
• You are what your deep driving desire is.
• As your desire is, so is your will.
• As your will is, so is your deed.
• As your deed is, so is your destiny.
Desire transforms a man. The Holy Spirit uses desires to transform us. The transformation is brought about by the two qualities inherent in consciousness: Attention and Intention.
• Attention energies
• Intention transforms
Whatever you put your attention on will grow stronger in your life. (Principle of critical mass) Whatever you take your attention away from will wither, disintegrate and disappear. Intention, on the other hand, triggers the transformation of energy and information. Intention organizes its own fulfillment.
The quality of intention on the object of attention is critical to the speed and depth of transformation.
• Intention = desire
• Attention = focus
What is remarkable about the mind of man is that it can command this infinite organizing power through conscious desire.
Great desire lays the ground work for the effortless, spontaneous, frictionless flow of pure potentiality seeking expression from the unmanifest to the manifest.
Intention is the real power behind desire. Intent alone is very powerful, because intent is desire without attachment to the outcome. Desire alone is weak, because desire in most people is attention with attachment. Intent is desire with strict adherence to all the other laws of success but particularly the law of detachment.
Intention combined with detachment leads to life-centered, present-moment awareness. And when action is performed in present moment awareness, it most effective.
Your intent is for the future, but your attention is in the present. As long as your attention is in the present, then your intent for the future will manifest, because the future is created in the present. You must accept the present and intend the future. The future is something you can create through detached intention, but you should never struggle against the present.
Intention, grounded in this detached freedom of the present, serves as the catalyst for the right mix of matter, energy, and space-time events to create whatever it is that you desire.

The Holy Spirit and fruitfulness

“…Until the Spirit is poured out on us from above, and the desert becomes a productive ground, so productive you might take it for a forest.” (Isaiah 32: 15)

Before our intimate encounter with the Holy Spirit of God, we labor under the energy of the flesh. Even our so-called productivity may be tainted in advancing the fruitless works of darkness. The Holy Spirit enables us to see the world and things of God in a new light. The difference is between light and darkness. Any business that does not control to the growth of God’s kingdom is futile, like a wasteland. Isaiah 32: 15 shows us the before and after effects of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The difference is similar to that between a wasteland and an orchard. The Holy Spirit of God makes us very productive in our assignments.

Plans and Alliances

“Woe to the rebellious children – declares Yahweh – who make plans which do not come from me and make alliances not inspired from me, and so add sin to sin.” (Isaiah 30: 1)
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, He Himself will inspire our plans and alliances.
“Commit your ways to the Lord, trust in him and he will act.” (Psalm 37: 5)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In everything you do, acknowledge him and he will direct your path.” (Proverbs 3: 5)
“Make known to me your ways, Lord; teach me your paths.” (Psalm 25: 4)
“Good and upright is the Lord, who shows sinners the way, guides the humble rightly, and teaches the humble the way.” (Psalm 25: 8-9)