IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 581

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CLXX

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:1-15).

We finally got back to our discussion on the Fifteen Points of Emmet Fox in our last post. As we began presenting Mr. Fox’s work we began at the same time expressing our reality that we cannot believe a thing because it is written or because someone of renown has written it; we should only believe what meets the criteria set forth by the Master and His apostles as both tell us of the Truth that streams forth from above, either as Wisdom from above or as fruit. This is the fruit that the Master tells us is our measuring gauge of others and their works and in His words “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20) we should understand that He means both. As we have seen, the Apostle Paul picks up on the Master’s words and expands them to define exactly what this fruit IS calling it the fruit of the Spirit by which name we KNOW the source. We looked also at other words of caution that the Master offers and we added some insight from our Tibetan brother plus some words of our own that are intended to lump our own writing and our own words into the same understanding of not believing except we can prove to be of our own Souls. Here we may have some difficulty in understanding our point and our perspective and we reiterate it this way today: Whatsoever we hear and whatsoever we read is but a source of information, information that must be processed by the mind in conjunction with the emotions as this IS the way of the man in form. If our minds and emotions are under the control of the lower self, the carnal self in the world, then the man will believe whatsoever brings comfort to that self; the lower carnal self however cannot process divine or heavenly information, the carnal self has NO interest in these things and so, faced with seemingly divine or heavenly information, the lower carnal self will process it as if it were worldly and interpret it so as to afford comfort to the personality in the world. On the other hand, when the man is focused upon the divine, he is focused upon the Soul, the Christ Within, and this then is the controlling factor for the mind and the emotions and with this focus comes revelation, perceived in the mind and the emotions as such. In this focus comes the Wisdom from above and the fruit of the Spirit and these conform to the ideals and the virtues of the sayings put forth by the apostles.

There is but one personality for each man which consists  of the mind and the emotional response and which is our outward expression in the world. As we see above and in our previous words on this matter, the expression that this personality displays is dependent upon the focus of the man and as we should understand, this can be a very fluid matter with the focus shifting from the one, the personality in the world, to the other where the personality is held in the Light of the Soul. This personality should also be understood to be expressing the consciousness that IS the True man in form relegating the personality to the role of one’s vehicle of expression in the subtle realms of thought and feeling much like the physical body is the vehicle of expression on the Earth. We have tended to draw a line between the personality and the divine self in our previous discussions on this but this line is imaginary and suitable only to show the difference between divine and Earthy. The greater reality is that the personality serves to express the consciousness which is held ‘in place’ by its current focus; be it above or below. It is in this reality that we try to understand the idea of consciousness being lent to the Life in form as we have stated this before and we have also said that the consciousness can be hijacked by the Life in form which is a misnomer but which is offered so as to attempt to clarify this existence of man in form. The idea of lent is intended to show the reality that the consciousness IS of the Soul; it is a part of the Soul’s very existence as the manifestation of the yet Truer Man, the Spirit. Without the consciousness the Life in form is much like that of the other animal species which acts upon instincts and physical appetites and, while some higher animals may exhibit some semblance of consciousness, this is not the consciousness of the Soul of man. Now we should add here that the use of this consciousness in the Life in form is largely dependent upon the ability of the Soul to build a suitable form as well as any particular Soul’s progression in doing so as based upon the relative successes of many incarnations. In incarnation, the Soul gives Life to the form and gives, or lends, consciousness as well and we can better understand the use of lent from the perspective of the objective of Life in form being to express the True Life which is the Soul.

As we discussed in our look at the Genesis of man, it is through the combination of the Soul and the human animal form that personality is produced and this personality is a part of the Soul’s Earth Life and NOT the continuing eternal part which is his Life and consciousness. Incarnation after incarnation, each produces its own personality based upon the sex, the sub-race and other factors and while the personality can participate in the afterlife for some time, it IS NOT the Soul and the afterlife IS NOT heaven. In the reality of the end game of Life in form, the attainment of the Kingdom and discipleship, the consciousness is focused upon the Soul and not the Life in form; a consciousness that IS NOT so focused is then focused upon the world and the thoughts and feelings of the form’s personality. This IS NOT a contradiction but rather a difficult thing to put into words; the personality IS the expression of the consciousness with its current focus and at the same time the personality is what keeps a man focused in the world which is seen in our other word hijacked. Perhaps we can see this better in saying that the personality is of the form Life and the consciousness is of the Soul Life and during incarnation they meet; the personality is the champion of Life in form and ever pulls the consciousness in this direction of living Life fully in the world of things. Conversely the consciousness is the champion of Soul Life and ever pulls the personality to express that divine Life. The success of either one is based upon focus and, since the line of least resistance is living the Earthly Life among the billions of other incarnating Souls, it is extremely difficult for the focus to change to that which the Master teaches us is necessary to be accounted worthy of the Kingdom and, of course, the Master does tell us of this difficulty. This does not detract from nor change the dilemma of those like us who are yet held in the pendulum like movement where our focus moves from the one pole to the other, from focus upon the things of God to focus on the things of the world; so long as our sights are set on the things of God, we make progress.

This rather lengthy attempt to explain these things is intended to clarify the main theme that we have been working on which is that when one’s focus is essentially on the things of the world and his consciousness and his personality are so engaged, that he will interpret what he hears and sees into believing those things that are conducive to his focus; his Truths become those of the doctrines that agree with his worldly focus. From a religious perspective this interpretation of believing extends to believing that one’s chosen doctrine is right and that what he feels and thinks is from God, from above, and this without ever measuring against the words of the Master and His apostles and without ever understanding the role of the lower self and selfishness. This is ALL of course the result of the glamour and the illusion that the consciousness is living in by his focus upon the things of the world. At the same time, those who are focused upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True as it exists in the realm of the Soul, the Christ Within, do measure and do understand that it is only when we measure what we see and hear and only when there is no self involved can we, with confidence, KNOW that these things are from above. We should see also that for one whose focus is upon the things of God that revelation will come and this even when that focus is not steady. This revelation IS Wisdom from above and it meets ALL the criteria that we have discussed, there is no question nor doubt and in this we should see that the criteria exists for us to KNOW what IS NOT from above ,what can be misinterpreted whenever our focus drifts back to Life in the world. In this we should see that these words from James and from Paul are for us to understand as we continue in our pursuits but at the same time drift back. Of course, like most ALL scripture there is a revelation here for those who are not so focused upon the Soul, the Christ Within, but who believe that they are while maintaining their focus upon the things of the world; this message is for them the same in essence but is interpreted by the personality grounded in the world according to what we say above regarding the comfort of the personality in the world.

The reality of ALL we say in this blog can be found in the single word focus; it is by our focus that we are found living in the world or in the Kingdom of God. The word focus is not used in the bible and is defined by Webster’s only as: A central point; point of concentration ¹, all other definitions are scientific. The more modern dictionaries include the idea of attention and it is in these ideas that we use the word. To focus is for us to pay attention to, to attend to, to put one’s mind upon as in concentration; for us to focus on Life in the world is to attend to it, pay attention to it; to make it the concentration of one’s Life and, the same can be seen in focus upon the things of God. Attending to the things of God, of the Soul, to pay attention to those things and to concentrate upon them IS our use of this word focus. We close today without addressing additional points from Mr. Fox as listed below as the Quote of the Day but our understanding of these things that lead a man to believe and to see what IS NOT with the same clarity as another may see what IS is important as this is a phenomenon that effects us ALL. We close with these words from Paul which tell us where our focus should be: 

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

These are the essence of RIGHT FOCUS. 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:

Emmet Fox, a New Thought Christian teacher, gives us his Fifteen Points teaching one of which we used to exemplify the Master’s intent in His teaching to us about the Golden Rule. All of these points are however forward looking from the perspective of the man who desires to advance spiritually and they are based upon the reality of the Master’s teachings on Love.

I Am Really In Truth: ‡

1. If – I always look for the best in each person, situation and thing.
2. If – I resolutely turn my back on the past, good or bad and live only in the present & future
3. If – I forgive everybody without exception, no matter what he may have done; and if I then forgive MYSELF whole-heartedly.

4. If – I regard my job as sacred and do my day’s work to the best of my ability (whether I like it or not).

5. If – I take every means to demonstrate a healthy body and harmonious surroundings for myself.

6. If – I endeavor to make my life of as much service to others as possible, without interfering or fussing.

7. If – I take every opportunity wisely to spread the knowledge of Truth to others.
8. If – I rigidly refrain from personal criticism, and neither speak nor listen to gossip.
9. If – I devote at least a quarter of an hour a day to prayer and meditation.
10. If – I read at least seven verses of the Bible everyday.
11. If – I specifically claim spiritual understanding of myself every day.
12. If – I train myself to give the first thought on waking to God.
13. If – I speak the Word for the whole world every day, say at noon.

14. If – I PRACTICE, the Golden Rule of Jesus instead of merely admiring it. He said, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” The important point about the Golden Rule is that I am to practice it whether the other fellow does so or not.

15. If – above all, I understand that whatever I see is but a picture which can be changed for the better by Scientific Prayer.

Repeating our text on this and Mr. Fox from a previous essay: Now we should understand that the above ideas are the doctrine that Mr. Fox taught and that like any doctrine it is based in what the man believes which is for most of us a revealer of the illusions that we are under. Much of these Fifteen Points are rather directly for the teachings of the Master. On the whole these are most all good and virtuous ideas but of the most importance insofar as the Master’s teachings are concerned are those points that give us some understanding of how a man should act in regard to others and the most profound is the simple wording of number fourteen. This teaching is given out for the use of the general Christian audience as Mr. Fox addresses people much like every other preacher or pastor albeit with his own doctrine and with a bit more emphasis on the Love that the Master taught. We should add here that many of the other Christian denominations do not agree with the teachings of the New Thought Movement nor Mr. Fox with some even referring to this teaching as cultish. We bring this out here not because we agree with their teachings but to show that there is some movement towards the teaching of Love by some newer parts of the church and the tell-all of this movement is in point fifteen which is outside of the teachings of the Master except one interpret His words in this way. This is doctrine and this is illusion from the perspective that these precepts are not in alignment with the words of the Master insofar as His ideas on discipleship and the hard line that is drawn for the actuality of being accounted worthy of His Kingdom. From our perspective these points are good and are most all worthwhile and they will lead people who can subscribe to them closer to the Master. This idea is true of most all denominations as they do attract people who can think and believe along certain lines and, as we have said before, it is better to believe in the doctrine of a denomination and to follow it as best one can than it is to flounder through Life with little or no direction at all.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ‡  From The Fifteen Points by Emmet Fox; © 1932 HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913