By Matthew Piling

In my quest to understand and apply all of the laws consistently in my life, I’ve sometimes found what appear to be contradictions and disconnects between my new beliefs and some of my non-negotiable old beliefs. Coming from a background where I’ve watched too many people leave the path of truth in the pursuit of New-Age bliss, I find that I am overly cautious in how I embrace and apply new truths (which is actually quite ironic because I’ve received stronger confirmation in regards to some of what I’ve learned in Rare Faith than what I’ve received in regards to some of my long-held beliefs). 

One area where this is especially true for me is abundance. Having been raised to believe that being meek and humble means avoiding excess and not coveting after the material things of the world, I sometimes struggle with the idea of setting my mind on goals based on prosperity and involving God in that process. Now, to be clear, Leslie has never preached materialism, and the laws are applicable to any and all goals and desired outcomes, not just to those that involve the attainment of riches. But, I have learned through her teachings that 1) working to fulfill my mission and purpose by more fully applying the laws inevitably leads to the blessings that are predicated upon obedience to those laws, 2) it is okay to ask for blessings that may seem excessive compared to our current circumstances, and 3) God is anxious to bless us with all things that He has. Understanding these three points (we’ll delve into each below) should realign our relationship with material blessings and put us into a frequency where the receipt of those blessings becomes natural for us.

1. As we seek to discover and fulfill God’s purposes for us, there are two levels of obedience that occur. First, we are set on the path of evaluating and adjusting our obedience to existing laws and commandments. I refer to this as general obedience (obeying general or universal laws). As we grow in depth of understanding regarding how to apply and adhere to these laws more effectively, our increased adherence will lead to increased blessings. “IN AS MUCH as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper.” Second, as we open the channels of inspiration and become adept at following the genius ideas that come through those channels, we are obeying on a personal level. I call this individualized obedience (obeying personalized, situation specific promptings). In most cases, these promptings are steps to be taken that will lead us towards our bigger goals, and the blessing is that—that they do lead us towards our goals. In the words of Tiffany Peterson, “The harvest cannot be prevented!”
2. Sometimes we ask for a greater blessing because we are working to stretch ourselves. Sometimes we ask because the blessing helps us better serve others or show up in the world differently and shine our light more effectively. Sometimes we ask simply to be more comfortable. In all of these cases, God is okay with us asking. As long as we don’t ask to simply consume it upon our lusts and we continually keep our hearts set on Him and His work rather than on the treasures of the world, He has told us to ask and has promised that we will receive. 
3. If we are faithful, God has promised us all that He has. And, He has everything. Every resource, every comfort, everything. Those blessings aren’t only promised for some distant future day after final judgment. Obviously, He won’t bless us now with things that we aren’t ready for in this realm. But, as owner of everything, He is anxious to share with us as much as He can as quickly as we’ll allow. Granted, there are times where He may choose to withhold certain blessings and comforts as part of His plan to increase our faith in and dependence on Him. But, there are other times where He is ready to bless us now and we need to be ready to receive now. As we follow His directions, He will lead us through the most fertile parts of the wilderness and into our promised land. (See 1 Nephi 16:16)

There is no shame in abundance. As we learn to co-create with God (a process in which there is no shame), we become the natural heirs of all that He has (a process in which there is no shame). According to Wallace Wattles, we attract what we are. In our endeavors to become more like Him, we will inevitably attract greater and greater things into our lives. And that’s a good thing.

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