IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 557

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CXLVI

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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“This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.  And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died” (Genesis 5:1-5).

Our last post took our ideas on illusion and glamour to their relationship with Wisdom and from the perspective that it is by “the wisdom that is from above” that we can tell that our thoughts and motivations are of the Soul, the Christ Within, or from that they are from the personality in the world. We centered again on the writings of the Apostle James who gives us some of the most important and clear instruction regarding our behavior as aspirants in this world of men. Repeating James’ words:

“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace” (James 3:13-18).

In yesterday’s essay we took the perspective of what IS NOT Wisdom from above in place of the more normal ideas on what IS and in doing so we find that ALL thoughts and motivations that are of the self, that are self centered and that address the desires and the lusts of the ‘flesh’, ARE NOT Wisdom from above. There is much ado in some parts of the church today from preachers, pastors and participants who claim that God told them this or God told them that and it is here that this lesson would be well placed. It is here that the line of demarcation between hearing from one’s own Soul and hearing from the personality in the world is placed; the thoughts and the motivations of the Soul ARE Wisdom from above and they will meet the criteria that James lays out for us. Although some of the words that he uses for what IS Wisdom from above can be misinterpreted, we can find our reality in understanding as well what IS NOT….and that is anything that is for the carnal self. In this light we can see that the man who says ‘I prayed on this and the Lord told me too….’ is speaking from the personality if the ends for his prayer is to buy a certain car or to pick a certain something in the world. There is much confusion in this and ALL is subject to the illusion and the glamour that abound in our lives and in the world. We should see here as well how these type comments can feed into our discussion from two posts back regarding the ideas of deception as taught by the Master and particularly regarding how a man can be deceived by another who claims divine privilege.

We should note that the reality of the words of James will work for us in this relation as well, it need NOT ONLY apply to our own thoughts and motivations. As we have discussed in past essays these words from James can apply to what we hear from others claiming authority, knowledge or as we say above, special privilege. In this regard if the words and the actions of another person of influence tend to be directed with a sense of self involved, the same ideas would apply, that the actions or words of this person ARE NOT from above and this direction can be favor of the hearer or the teller. In the positive tone of the apostle’s words we can discern the Truth of what such person is saying and doing in ascertaining that his actions and words meet the criteria of being “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy“? If so, then it is near impossible that there would be a selfish motive in them. This is the whole of the point; no matter where ideas and thoughts, words or actions come from, from without or from within a man, they are subject to the realities of James words. If they “have bitter envying and strife” at their heart, if they are self oriented or self centered in any way, they ARE NOT from above. Conversely we can look at this also from the positive perceptive to be sure that they comply with the ideas that James gives us above. The essence of this is that we will see fruit of our own hearts, our own consciousness, or the fruit of the words and actions of others who would influence us and understand the Master’s words can refer to both, that “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).

We should understand that ALL these words from scripture work together and the same that we read of Wisdom from James we can see in the Master’s words on fruit from the gospels. When we can see the ideas of sin and evil as the ways of the world and not only the gross things that can be done by a man, we can see more clearly the words of the Master regarding fruit as He tells us that “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Matthew 7:16-18). Seeing the Master’s intent in the words corrupt and evil we should understand that these are reference to the things of the world so that His message becomes that if the fruit is carnal, if it is for the self in the world, then this is evil, worldly fruit. Of course, we understand the nature of the word good from the Master’s perspective as He tells us that “there is none good but one, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17) and from this we should see that good is of God, of the God Within and can be understood as from above as in James’ saying on Wisdom.

Two posts ago we were speaking on how we are cautioned by the Master and  by His apostles regarding deception. We highlighted four sayings and discussed two; the first is a comment by the master regarding how we can be deceived by those who ‘come in His name‘ and we can see this same dynamic at play in our discussion above as we address those persons of influence who claim divine privilege and ask that you believe what they say. This latter is more the issue than the understanding of doctrine which paints this as those who claim to be Christ; in our understanding it is they who claim to speak for Him and who say things that we should believe because of a teachers own presumed divinity. Here we must look back to what we say above regarding Wisdom from above and what IS NOT that Wisdom as well as the Master’s words on fruit and we should try to see how all of these ideas come together. It matters not where the thoughts and motivations that we realize come from, from within of from without, they can and should still be measured as fruit and as James gives us instruction regarding Wisdom. Regarding those thoughts and motivations that come from within, we should also try to see these in the Light of the second saying that we used in that same post which is also from James and speaks of self deception; the deception that comes from believing that it is what you ‘hear‘ or believe that matters. While seemingly different from our discussion above, we should be able to see the link. What we believe has a source and if we believe that we are saved or redeemed by by such and such and are believing this for the sake of such salvation, we should be able to see the sense of self, of worldly self, in the equation. This plus the Master’s words that “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21) should make this clear. This is then the deception according to James, that a man believes that he does not need to DO the Will of God or does not need to be a doer of the word of the Master but can get by on believing only.

In our thoughts above regarding Wisdom as well as our thoughts above and from the recent post regarding deception by others who present themselves as divinely privileged or as being able to offer us favor on behalf of God or Christ, we should see that the reality of both is found in James criteria and in the Master’s teaching on fruits. With these we can measure our response to any thoughts or motivations that come our way as well as our response to the words and actions of those who would influence us. At the same time, we should recognize that it is in our own keeping of His words that the Truth of the Kingdom is found and the intercession of any one outside of our selves can not alleviate our responsibilities from Within. Now in saying ALL of this we should still understand that for many people these thoughts from within and words from without are their only link to a spiritual Life even though they may tend to the self, that is one’s own self and of another who wishes to influence others spiritually. For many this is the only available way today as they are not in position to understand or accept these things that we are saying and which are directed to any who can understand and accept. And again, we must remember that it is the Plan of God that puts a man into this position of Life enmeshed in the illusion and the glamour of the world and while we KNOW that it is his destiny to break the hold of this vanity, we KNOW also that there is no timetable and that each man will come to the Good, the Beautiful and the True in his own time and when he is ready.

When we understand the reality of illusion and glamour as they beset us ALL we can understand as well our own reluctance and hesitation in coming fully to the things that the Master teaches that we MUST do and this is for many reasons. For some there is not real confidence in what they believe, no confirmation of their place and no confirmation that what they may KNOW they must do is right; they do not recognize the Wisdom from above that prods them and leads them and in this sort of ‘catch 22’ they are reluctant to go ALL OUT according to His words. For others there is the reluctance found in their KNOWING that they must leave ALL behind to follow the Master and this is a most difficult task especially in today’s world; this Life is ALL that they KNOW and they have ever KNOWN in this particular incarnation and while they may believe the Truth of the Master’s words, they cannot ‘see’ themselves in this Truth. Yet others believe that they can put off their coming fully to the Lord, that they have time and this is the theme for some of the Master’s parables that tell us to ‘be ready‘ and while we may think that the meaning here is the end of time and the Second Coming of the Christ, the closer reality is one’s own demise which can strike at any time and result in a rather wasted incarnation. There are other reasons as well and combinations of ALL of them and most ALL are caused by or play off of the illusion and the glamour that tells us we have more time, that says we are doing enough for one man or that leads us to believe that the ALL OUT effort is not necessary. No matter our place, until we can say that “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) we remain trapped as are ALL men who must endure the same vanity as Souls in form waiting for the form Life and the personality to respond to the Wisdom.

Continuing with our points regarding deception we have this from the Master which a first blush does not appear to be a pertinent saying in this discussion.

• “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matthew 13:15). This is another of those sayings that the church going man may believe is addressed to others but the reality is that is it addressed to ALL who are not disciples. In this saying by the Master we see him repeating the word of Esaias the Prophet in conjunction with His telling the disciples that this is the reason that He speaks in Parables to the multitudes. This is the Master’s and the prophets reference to the clouds of illusion and the mist of glamour that prevent a man from seeing and hearing the Truth; they see only their Life in the world as being of any real importance and are convinced of the facts of heaven and hell or simply don’t care about either. They are here and alive in the moment and most practice the minimum of doctrinal admonishments if anything at all. For the most part they have taken to living Life in form and there is little difference between the secular and the religious in this other than that the ‘religious’ may be performing some of the dictates of doctrine. The problem here is that the man in the world who may be religious does not see himself in the Light of this saying when the reality is that there are very few who are not. As we say above these words are addressed to ALL who are not disciples and in this we must again refer to the Master’s criteria for discipleship and for being accounted worthy of His Kingdom. We discuss these ideas in more depth in In the Words of Jesus part 427 and a few others that lead up to it.

We have one more saying to deal with in this discussion on being deceived which is this one below which requires more time that we can devote to it today. In this idea of riches and possessions we will find much of what is wrong in the world today and some of the greater misunderstandings of the reality of the Kingdom as well as a large part of the reasons for the reluctance that we address above. We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

• “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in , choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mark 4:19).

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:

Since we are centered on the ideas of Wisdom today we offer the following from Proverbs as our Quote of the Day. Solomon, who is KNOWN for his Wisdom, which we read in the story of his Life was His gift from God, a gift that he receives because he does not want for the things of the world. But Solomon gains as well the things of the world in plenty and as his Life story proceeds we can see clearly that it is his Life in the world that is to his detriment. The wisdom however produces for us the writings of the Book of Proverbs and it is this that he is remembered for. His Life is interesting reading and is well documented in the Books of Kings and Chronicles.

….incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee (Proverbs 2:2-11).

We include this other text on Wisdom today for your reading pleasure and for a greater understanding of the role of Wisdom in Solomon’s time for the man in the Earth, a role that is supplanted by the combination of Love and Wisdom by the Master as they are joined together as the Second Aspect of the Trinity that IS God:

“I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule , and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways” (Proverbs 8:12-32).

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁷ Dictionary.com Unabridged based on Random House Dictionary – 2011
• ¹⁰ Dictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers