Living in God by Rev Teresa Stuefloten, M.Div. 8/31/2025

Good morning!

Today I am speaking on Living in God. Acts 17:28 says, “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being: as even some of your own poets have said, For we are his kindred.” That is from the Lamsa translation from the Aramaic. We live and move and have our being in God. In God. Not apart from God: In God.

And, God has no gender, so the use of “he, him and his” are just for the human mind that thinks in terms of male and female. We call God “Divine Mother” and “Holy Father” because those are gender roles we are familiar with. But God might even be thought of as non-binary or androgynous! God is All.

Understanding that we live in God may mean letting go of some old beliefs about God. Most of us were given an image of God as a powerful divine person. This was a remote God up in heaven, who is watching our every move and judging everything we do. Kind of like Santa Claus, “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake!” If you’re good you will be rewarded and if you’re bad you will be punished. This is making God in our human image. It is, in a sense, idolatry. We are the ones who are judging others, not God. We are the ones who are critical, not God. We are the ones who suffer from our own thoughts, our own mindset, not God. Rev Mark liked to refer to God as, “God the Good.” God is on our side. God is Divine Love, and we are Divinely loved in every moment. No matter how we choose to express in our humanity, or what we do in this physical lifetime, we are loved by God.

The Divine Science Reflection from the August Divine Science Ministers Association Newsletter says:

“The Presence that fills all is never absent; it is the very Life in which you live, move, and have your being (Acts 17:28). In every moment, you are upheld by the Infinite — not because you strive or plead, but because your very existence is an expression of that Presence. Knowing this, we naturally live in gratitude and service, letting Divine Love flow through our thoughts, words, and actions. As Jesus taught, “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8), for in serving others, we reflect the boundless support and compassion of the One that is always with us.”

Paramahansa Yogananda said, “Think of God as your environment. Be one with God and nothing can harm you.”

This world is God’s creation. God is omnipresent, present everywhere. Seeing God in creation is one way of bringing awareness to living in God. See God’s presence in nature:

In the vastness of the deep blue ocean with the waves ceaselessly rolling in to the sandy shore, God, there you are.

In the majesty of the mountains, rising up to the sky, God, there you are.

In the infinity of the night sky with trillions of stars twinkling above, God, there you are.

In the delightful sweetness of the fragrance of a beautiful rose, God, there you are.

In the buzzing of a bee, immersed in the ecstasy of the pollen laden center of a fragrant flower, God, there you are.

In the eyes of a loved one, a person or a beloved pet, God, there you are.

What is God? God is not a super human person, like Superman. So what is God? I like to think off God as intelligent vibration, Intelligent Divine Energy. God has always existed and always will. This is hard for our human mind to grasp. We think in terms of beginnings and endings in the physical realm. We are born into this physical existence, into a physical body, and at some point the physical body dies and our soul leaves this physical realm. In the physical realm there is a beginning and an ending. But what happens to our physical body when we die? It decays and becomes a part of the earth. It still exists, just in a different form. So, like God, we are eternal. Our body, formed of the earth, continues to exist, as does our soul, which has moved on to a different vibration. We continue to live in God, whether in or out of the physical body. As our friend Albert likes to say, “God is all there is.” There is only God manifest and God un-manifest, pure spirit vibration.

God is Light. Psalm 36:9 says,

“For with You is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”

Daisy, Baum, an early Divine Science teacher, practitioner, and friend of founder Nona Brooks, wrote the book Studies in Divine Science, which contains this

“Meditation for an Increased Realization of Truth”

I am that Spirit which is Immortal.

I am that Peace which is Freedom.

I am that Health which is Changeless.

I am that Wisdom which is Perfect.

I am that Nature which is Harmony.

I am that Life which is Eternal.

I am that Law which is Order.

I am that Activity which is equal to every demand.

I am that Success which is Prosperity.

I am that Supply which is Abundance.

I am that Love which is Conscious Unity.

This is the Truth of my Divinity.

In Exodus 3:14, God says to Moses, “I Am that I Am.” Since we are one with God, made in the image and likeness of God, we, also, are the I Am.

Close your eyes and say that to yourself several times, “I Am that I Am. I Am that I Am. I Am that I Am. ” Say it to yourself silently within. “I Am that I Am.” You exist. You are I Am.

Now, keeping your eyes closed, let’s coordinate that with the breath. Inwardly say “I” on the in-breath, and “Am” on the out-breath. Breathing in, ‘I,” breathing out, “Am.” Breathing in, ‘I,” breathing out, “Am.” Breathing in, ‘I,” breathing out, “Am.” In the silence, let’s repeat that for one minute… (one minute of silence) Now pay attention to the vibration, the energy in your body… Has anything shifted?

Let’s go deeper: Keeping your eyes closed, bring your attention to the base chakra, the energy center at the base of the spine. Affirm inwardly to yourself at the base chakra, “I Am that I Am.” “I Am” on the in-breath, “That I Am” on the out-breath, “I Am, that I Am… I Am that I Am… I Am that I Am…”

Moving your attention up to the sacral chakra, the energy center in the lower abdomen below the navel, affirm inwardly to yourself, “I Am that I Am… I Am that I Am… I Am that I Am…”

Moving your attention up to the solar plexus chakra, the energy center in the abdomen above the navel, affirm inwardly to yourself, “I Am that I Am… I Am that I Am… I Am that I Am…”

Moving your attention up to the heart chakra, the energy center in the heart area of the chest, affirm inwardly to yourself, “I Am that I Am… I am that I Am… I Am that I Am…”

Moving your attention up to the throat chakra, the energy center located in the throat, affirm inwardly to yourself “I Am that I Am… I Am that I Am… I am that I Am…”

Moving your attention up to the center of the forehead above the eyebrows, the energy center known as the 3rd eye chakra, affirm inwardly to yourself, “I Am that I Am… I Am that I Am… I Am that I Am…”

Moving your attention up to the crown chakra, the energy center located above the crown of the head, affirm inwardly to yourself, “I am that I Am… I Am that I Am… I Am that I Am…”

What has shifted in your energy now? You are one with the I Am. You are perfect, whole and complete in God. You always have been and you always will be. Perfect, whole and complete in God. You live and move and have your being in God. You are a Divine Expression.

If we know that we live in God, then what is there for us to worry about? We know that we will be provided with all that we need in every moment. We have no worry over losing our life because we know that we always have life, in the physical body or out of the physical body.

The following is:

An Expanded Translation of the Lord’s Prayer

By Dr. Rocco A. Errico ~ Smyrna GA

Biblical scholar and author, founder of Noohra Foundation

(taken from the website of Noohra Foundation)

“Our Father who is everywhere

Your name is sacred.

Your kingdom is come.

Your will is throughout the earth

even as it is throughout the universe.

You give us our needful bread from day to day,

And you forgive us our offenses

even as we forgive our offenders.

and you let us not enter into materialism.

But you separate us from error.

Because yours are the kingdom, the power and the song and praise.

From all ages, throughout all ages.

(Sealed) in faith, trust and truth.”

Dr. Rocco Errico says:

“This simple and direct prayer composed by Jesus contains the essence of his teaching. It is a capsule summary of the message he taught during his ministry.

The Lord’s Prayer was meant to be a pattern for prayer; that is, suggestions so that when one prays it should be short and contain the same ideas that Jesus presented to his disciples.” (End of quote)

In this pattern for prayer, we realize that prayer is not begging God for something. Prayer is a realization that we live and move and have our being in God. Everything we truly need is already supplied. We need only believe this and accept that which is already ours. I would like to read this prayer one more time, so that you can hear that it is an affirmation of our life in God.

“Our Father who is everywhere

Your name is sacred.

Your kingdom is come.

Your will is throughout the earth

even as it is throughout the universe.

You give us our needful bread from day to day,

And you forgive us our offenses

even as we forgive our offenders.

and you let us not enter into materialism.

But you separate us from error.

Because yours are the kingdom, the power and the song and praise.

From all ages, throughout all ages.

(Sealed) in faith, trust and truth.”

You may say, if God’s will is through the earth, why is there hatred, war, poverty and suffering? These things are not God’s will for us. We as human beings have free will. It is through humanity’s free will that error thoughts of hatred have brought about war. It is through humanity’s greed and error in thinking there is not enough for everyone that poverty and starvation have been created. These are human creations, and we can change them by changing our thoughts and our actions. God is always inviting us to come back to the realization of the Truth of who we truly are as Spirit, temporarily expressing in a human body.

We create our life through our thoughts. What we focus on is what we manifest. If you want love, be loving. If you want abundance, be generous. If you want peace, be kind to others and peaceful in your thoughts. If you want a blessed life, be a blessing to others. Take responsibility for your life. We have the power to change our life by changing our thoughts.

Joel S. Goldsmith, in The Art of Spiritual Healing, said,

“Through prayer, you can be reunited with your Source. Your prayer will not be an asking or a seeking for any thing; it will be an asking and a seeking and a knocking for more light, greater spiritual wisdom, greater discernment.” (End of quote)

Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

And this comes through meditation, meditating in God. You live and move and have your being in God, so when you meditate, you are meditating in God. When I go into meditation, I like to ask, “God, what do you want to tell me today? What do you want to reveal to me today?” And then I move into the silence. God speaks to us in the silence, so it’s a matter of quieting the mind for a little while and listening within.

Becoming aware of God’s presence in, as and all around us, we can know that we live and move and have our being in God. And so it is!