IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 488

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART LXXX

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live , ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:13-26).

We leave our verses from John above although it is unlikely that we will get to them today. In yesterday’s post we tried to emphasize the reality of discipleship, that it is a difficult task and that there are few who can Truly achieve it in this world. It requires that a man forsake ALL and this IS NO easy task but, if we look at the lives and the examples of the apostles that we are presented with in the gospels and the epistles, we should be able to understand the High Importance of the High Calling. We use the word calling here cautiously as the common approach to it is a watered down reflection of the reality as is discipleship in general and so many other things that are spiritually oriented. The Calling to which we refer here is the Call of one’s own Soul, his own Master, his Christ Within, to a form Life and a personality that are ready to respond IN FULL. This readiness is the result of the striving that the Master points out to us in telling us of the hardship and the difficulty; He says: “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in , and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).

We published in yesterday’s post some words from the Tibetan that parallel our comments from the words of the Master in many ways and this is true because there IS but ONE Truth; there is not a Christian Truth and then non-Christian understanding. ONE Truth stems from the reality of ONE God and while the presentation of this Truth may vary as it is given to an evolving race of men and as it is given to different cultures over time, ALL True teachings resolve themselves into this ONE Truth. There is little difference between saying that a whole generation of enquirers may only produce one adept** as we read in the esoteric writings and the Master’s statement above from Luke’s Gospel; they both reflect upon the difficulty of attaining this state of discipleship as the Master frames it or of adeptship which is a kindred term from a different culture and time. Our point here is that the reality of discipleship as we understand it from the Master’s teachings is a difficult accomplishment for the man living in the world and yet, at the same time, this is the only forum in which it can be accomplished. Much of the Master’s teachings tell us this and give us instruction on how to be in the world yet not be a part of it, essentially, how to serve God and not mammon. This how is not in specific treatment as to how one should act or think but rather it is in the form of instruction on those things that create for a man the ability to focus upon God. Simply put, this is to “take no thought” for the things of the world which leads eventually to that state of forsaking that is covered in the Master’s stated requirements for discipleship:

• “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple“.
• “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple”.
• “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple“.

(Luke 14:26-27, 33)

We have discussed these verses many times over the course of these posts and the reason for this is to point out the reality of discipleship as a way of Life and not as a believing in this or that. The Master adds for us the simple admonition of “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (John 8:31) and here we must be able to see that this means ALL His words and not just those that are convenient. There is no purpose served in pretense and no one is deluded but the one who is thinking that he is a disciple of the Lord and who is at the same time alive in the world and attending to the things of the flesh or, as the Master puts it for us, one who is serving mammon.

This is a difficult endeavor but not an impossible one and while we do not KNOW our place in the scheme of things as regards our own personal advancement as a Soul, it is within our several abilities to make progress toward our objective and our goal of discipleship and the Kingdom of God. We should understand that as Souls we do KNOW our state of advancement but this is not communicable to the conscious personality until that personality is expressing the Love and the Power of the Soul, the Christ Within and in this saying we should see that a man is grounded in the personality insofar as his thoughts and feelings as a man in form. It is through focus upon the Soul, the Christ Within and the words of the Master that this change is wrought and in this is the Truth of the Apostle Paul’s saying that we should “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). The more that a man is able to concentrate his thoughts and his efforts on the things of God, the more that this transformation progresses and while we may not make the grade of disciple in this Lifetime, we will make progress if we do as the Master instructs which is to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate“.

We end here for today as the constraints of time and responsibilities to the things that must be done as a man in form must now take my attention and this is by example the very thing that we are speaking about today and for the last several days. How to find a way of Life that is free from these interruptions of working and dealing with Life in form is a difficult task and at times these interruptions are intrusive. And they are for me over the next several days as I must travel across the country for my employer. It is in this vein that we spoke many posts back regarding the way to follow the Master’s words on forsaking and following while living in the world of things in this current age and perhaps it is here that we can start what we promised; to discuss how this can be done to the satisfaction of the requirements of the Master.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.:

Today we post a World Prayer that is also included in the Prayers and Meditation section with some explanation of its source and its use. We are entering a time of the year which we can consider more sacred by way of the newness of Spring which should reflect in our newness of Life. This is the Festival of Easter and a time of rejoicing; not only for the Resurrection of the Lord from the Christian perspective but also for the teaching that is incorporated in the Master’s sacrifice 2000 years ago and in His continued sacrifice. We should remember His parting words: “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20)

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

•  ** A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC OR THE WAY OF THE DISCIPLE BY ALICE A. BAILEY COPYRIGHT © 1951 BY LUCIS TRUST