IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 919

ON LOVE; PART DVIII

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

GoodWill IS Love in Action

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

“The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).

As we move forward to a better understanding of the Master’s words on forsaking ALL, we should take note that this, as one’s Lifestyle as a man in the world, IS NOT for ALL men to embrace at this time. This IS NOT because the of any outside reason that picks one man and not another to journey this far along the Path of Life, but it IS rather a deeply personal thing as the man MUST be able to overcome the wiles of the flesh. This change IS likely against ALL worldly instincts and IS against the very nature of what one KNOWS and has KNOWN through his own nurturing, his own interpretations of Life and his own experiences in the world. The reality of this idea of forsaking IS NOT in the giving up of those things that one may have but rather it IS to see the reality of the world, of what it Truly means, and to willfully let go of ALL things that attach and attract one to it. This DOES NOT mean that a man should live a Life that IS destitute or that IS meaningless from a worldly perspective but that one should live a Life that follows the True meaning of the world, that it IS the arena for the expression of the Light of the Soul and that it IS to this end that the Master tells us:

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16).

In these words that are directed to His disciples as well as to the gathered multitudes we find the essence of discipleship and also of the role of the aspirant who works towards this display of Light and we should remember here that ALL things spiritual ARE by degree. And it IS by degree perhaps that we should look at this idea of forsaking; not so much of those things that one has but as the importance that IS placed upon those things. It IS in this shedding by degree that we can accomplish the reality of the Master’s words on forsaking, realize the greater Presence of the Kingdom Within as this grows in the man; and, with the greater the realization of the Christ Within, one will find the greater willingness to forsake those thoughts, attitudes and actions that bind a man to his Life in this vanity, in this illusion and this glamour. Now a man can progress spiritually only to that point where what he may need to forsake next IS too important to him but we should understand here that this DOES NOT invalidate what progress he has made and the benefits of this progress both to the world and to himself. He IS yet the aspirant as ARE ALL who truly strive toward that strait gate and he is yet on that journey that will eventually take him to the Promised Land; it may not be in this Lifetime but whatsoever progress one can make will accrue to his Soul and his future. While this may seem to be a futuristic approach, it IS NO more so that IS the idea of heaven after death and one’s working toward that.

The greater point to be made here IS in the nature of forsaking which the Master makes abundantly clear to those who have ears to hear and we should understand our own selves in this; that we would not even be entertaining these ideas of forsaking had we not heard these Truths from our own Inner man, our own Souls. And this IS ALL intimately tied to the Great Commandments which we ARE still carrying at the top of our essays and the True meaning of how it IS that one can “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength“. The reality of these words IS found in the reality of forsaking which word IS self explanatory and which, when viewed in the Light of the Great Commandment, MUST be accomplished; one CAN NOT Love as this commandment states while one is still attached to or attracted by the things of the world. Doctrine and commentary do not readily make this connection as they continue to see this Love as an emotional and a mental attraction or perhaps some sort of a devotional affirmation. The reality IS that this Love for God IS in the practical application of that Love, that there IS nothing that can come between the man and his God and this IS epitomized by the use of the simple word ALL. Of course we understand here that the God that we Love IS WITHIN and that the way to Love God IS as we KNOW from the Master’s words as He tells us two things:

• “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” (John 14:23).
• “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:34-40).

There IS much more in His words that tell us these Truths of how it IS that we DO Love God and the realty here is simply in keeping His words. The evidence of this Love IS found in our DOING, in our ability to “love thy neighbour as thyself” which IS clearly stated for us in the second point above and especially in that part that we show in bold. Can we see the degree of forsaking in our own lives that would be necessary to accomplish this DOING; this DOING of His word completely as well as our willing interaction with our fellowman in such a way that we see clearly that what IS ours IS his? This IS the journey that we ARE on as aspirants to discipleship and in our words here we should be able to see the reality of forsaking, that this IS an integral part of our journey which, like ALL else spiritual, we accomplish by degree. This IS not only wealth and possessions; this IS ALL things that ARE of the world, this world of illusion and of glamour.

We continue now with our look at the words of the Apostle Paul to the Romans where we will try to find and to show the reality of our Life in this world and how it IS ever intended to lead to this idea of forsaking and of discipleship, how this IS the very Plan of God. Repeating the apostles words:

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:13-23).

In yesterday’s essay we discussed the ideas of Life led by the “Spirit of God” and how this IS accomplished as a man can “mortify the deeds of the body” which deeds should be seen in the same way as we would view the apostles idea of the “works of the flesh”  and the reality that “they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:19, 24) which is the reality of one’s having overcome the worldly nature. Again we must remember that this overcoming, like ALL things spiritual, works by degree and we should be able to understand this as it relates to our previous ideas of Transforming leading to that state where one IS Transformed and one’s awakening leading to that state the man IS awakened; in these ideas we should that to be able to stand with the Master and say that “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) and this IS the end point to the process of overcoming. Here we should see that it matters not what words we use as they ALL mean essentially the same thing. The Apostle John tells us this same Truth as he relates it to the Master’s idea of being “born again” which we should understand as the completion of these ideas of Transforming, awakening and overcoming as we show them above; the apostle tells us that “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4). Here these ideas of being “born again” and being “born of God” have the same essential meaning and we KNOW that this is the essential criteria of attaining the Kingdom of God as the Master tells us saying: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). This IS NOT that doctrinal idea of affirmation and ritual but this IS the actual accomplishment of overcoming the world which is intimately related to ALL the Master’s sayings on attaining the Kingdom of God where the idea IS always on the completion of the work; here we should see that this being “born again” is the same as keeping His words which IS the same as DOING the Will of the Father on which we read “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). Here in the combination of these thoughts we should clearly see that these ideas of affirmation and ritual as prescribed by some are of NO True value in our quest for the Truth of the Kingdom of God.

And this IS the reality of Paul’s words as well as he tells us that it IS in actually being “led by the Spirit of God” that a men can come to that True realization that they ARE “sons of God“; a realization that IS complete at the end point of the Transformation, the awakening and the overcoming as shown in the ability to “mortify the deeds of the body” and the ability to express the Love and the Power of the Soul through Life in this world. Again, this works out in Life by degree and we speak here about the completion, that point where we ARE keeping His words fully, that point that we reach by striving toward that goal of the strait gate. And we should note here also that in this idea that is essentially the same as this mortification of the ways to the self, for the self in the world, this idea of having “crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts“, is an accomplishment that can be seen on rather equal footing with this idea of adoption as to BE Christ’s IS to be ONE with Him and to express His nature to the world. We should note also that in this phrase there is yet greater explanation of this idea as it relates to our theme of forsaking the attachments and the attractions which ARE seen in the apostles ideas of “affections and lusts“. We ended the last essay with the idea that this next verse IS a statement from the apostle, a statement of fact that we are not given a “spirit of bondage” to the world and the works of the flesh but rather a “Spirit of adoption“, a Spirit that IS ONE with God and this IS ever the Truth of Spirit. While the ideas is generally rendered as received in this verse, the meaning of this Greek word lambano can as easily be rendered as to take or to have and IS rendered as given by some translations. Here, we should try to see how the idea of have would create a better understanding from the view that this IS the reality of Life, that our Spirit IS in ONENESS with God but, regardless of the English word used, the meaning IS quite the same, this IS a statement of fact.

We should see here that this IS NOT a gift of grace, nor should this be viewed in the doctrinal sense of the Holy Spirit, we should plainly see that we ARE children of God as the Master tells us in His teaching on the Fatherhood of God and, as children, we ARE ONE with Him in essence and, when we do accomplish these things that cause us to be “led by the Spirit of God” as men in this world, we will not only realize this ONENESS but we will express it as well. Here we should not allow the apostles use of the word Abba to alter our thinking on this and while we believe that there IS a meaning here that is beyond the doctrinal ideas from the last essay, we DO NOT KNOW what it is and in our view it should not matter; it IS likely that in our conformance to the Ways of God this meaning will be revealed. For now we can look upon this as our True understanding of the Fatherhood of God; that He is not to be seen as the Father of the form but as the Father of the Inner man, the Father of the Christ Within and perhaps the cry here is in the realization of this Truth.

The next phrase can be seen as a confirmation of this Truth or our relationship with God as the apostle speaks about the microcosm and the macrocosm as he divides this undividable sense of Spirit. Paul’s words “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit” shows forth this division which IS ONLY a division of perspective and which shows us that this relationship IS spiritual and not carnal as it IS our Spirit being attested to by His Spirit; in this we should try to see the ideas from our chart below and understand this in the reality that we ARE part and parcel of God. And what IS this attestation? It IS simply “that we are the children of God” and here the idea of natural or adopted create that same effect, that we ARE ONE with the Father, ONE with the Christ and ONE with each other in the unifying idea of children of the ONE Father. We can understand the Truth of these ideas by the revelations that we receive as we are continually “led by the Spirit of God” as this results in the Master’s point saying that “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20). And it IS in this realization of divinity by the consciousness of the man in the world that one can see the reality of the Master’s prayer and the ultimate Truth of the ONENESS of ALL: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 17:20-23).

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.

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.  God is love;  and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness  in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.  He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:  for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen,  how can he love God whom he hath not seen?  And this commandment have we from him,  That he who loveth God love his brother also 1 John 4:16-21

Today’s Quote of the Day from the First Epistle of John is his reflection on God and on Love. John tells us that God is Love and, as we have discussed, Love is certainly as aspect and an attribute of the Godhead and one which is supremely represented by the Christ. John tells us further that without Love there is no relationship with God and likens the Truth of dwelling in Love to being in His Kingdom and in His Presence. He draws for us the idea of Love for ones fellowman being the prime prerequisite for Love of God for although one may say that he Loves God, it cannot be True unless he first Loves his fellowman. In John’s words the equation is certain: “he who loveth God love his brother also“. And, lest we forget that the idea of Love that the Master teaches in not the emotional attraction that we live with daily, we repeat again: LOVE is….

In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men’. To this we add the ever important High Ideal as taught by the Christ: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!