So - what fiery furnace are you experiencing in your life? What "outward appearance" is challenging your belief system? The good news is each of us has within us the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego qualities that, when developed, give us the power to stand firm in Truth in the midst of the fiery furnace, and not merely survive, but thrive!

Of course, the question is, how do I do that? We'd like to share a quick formula, with a very specific "How-To" added as a bonus.

1. Know your Truth! Know that you know that you know the Spiritual Truth of who and what you are. We call this the Abednego quality of spiritual understanding. It is one thing to repeat Truth statements; it is a totally different thing to KNOW and understand it. One of our Truth statements is "There is only one presence and one power in the universe and in my life and affairs: God the good, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent." We say it - but do we really understand the meaning of it? Whenever we give power to outer appearances of poverty, or competition, or anger, or fear, or health challenges, we are creating a rift between ourselves and the Truth of what we know.

I am reminded of children reciting the Lord's Prayer. These are things that I have really heard! One child believed God's name was Harold, because he always said, "Our Father who art in Heaven, Harold be thy name!"

Another contemporized the prayer by saying, "Leave us not in temptation, but deliver us some email!"

In our perception of the Truth principles, we encourage you to move beyond just saying Truth, and grow in your understanding so Truth becomes a part of your consciousness and manifests in your reality.

2. Recognize the LINT (Listless Impoverished Negative Thinking) and stop it as soon as possible! How important is that? Think about a beautiful black wool suit, with one little teeny piece of lint. Where do your eyes go right away?? To the lint! The same is true in our consciousness.

We'd like to share the Parable of the LINT (not from the Bible) - from the Holton household we were facilitating a Prosperity class at another church, and were staying in church member's home. We shared a nice breakfast in the sun room before leaving for the church. When we arrived at the church parking lot, we realized that Bil's suit was covered with long white cat hairs! We had not even seen it before!

Now let's stretch the metaphor - we are often in the midst of LINT (Listless Impoverished Negative Thinking). When we fail to recognize the source of it, it connects to us and becomes part of our consciousness and experience.

You become aware of the LINT by the way you are feeling (upset, irritable, frustrated, stressed); by what you are saying (negative focus, self critical); and/or by what is showing up in your life. Once you spot it, perform the GAP assessment (Here's that specific "How-To" we advertised at the beginning of this article):

* Guilt-free, go from where you are. * Acknowledge the separation * Pray and meditate to close the gap and reconnect with Spirit.

3. Transform the LINT: Emerge from your prayer and meditation, ready to practice Truth principles in your life. Be proactive in living the Truth as you face the world of appearances, and look for ways to see things from a fresh perspective.

A person who exemplifies this point is Cesar Lopez, a musician and composer from Bogota, Columbia. In USA Today, 04/19/06, you can read about how he created the escopetarra: an electric guitar he designs from shotguns collected by the police from crime scenes. Lopez says, "the weapon is still present, but when you strike the first chord, everything that is violent about it disappears. That's the kind of transformation we would like to see in our country."

So-as you identify the LINT in your life - Listless Impoverished Negative Thinking -that separates you from the Truth of who you are, apply the GAP assessment. Then you can use your power to transform the LINT into a life of joy, prosperity, and unbelievable spiritual wisdom.