\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “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<\/em>” (Mark 12:29-31). <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n WHAT THEN IS LOVE? 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. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape<\/em> which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them<\/em>” (Matthew 7:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We ended the last essay with yet another excursion into a seemingly unrelated topic. While we were discussing the Master’s words that ARE His Sermon on the Mount, we delved into the Way of the disciple and other topics that led us to the Apostle Paul’s words to the Corinthians regarding the comportment of the disciple who IS focused <\/em>upon the things of God. We should ever remember that much of what the Master and His apostles tell us IS directed at the disciple and NOT the ordinary man who has NO basis for understanding the depth of their own spiritual being; this should be understood from Paul’s words as he writes to those of Corinth that had followed his teaching and the teachings of Jesus. He begins his Second Epistle to the Corinthians by addressing his words to “the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia<\/em>” (2 Corinthians 1:1) and here we should NOT take the ideas of “the church of God<\/em>” and “all the saints<\/em>” as lightly as these ideas ARE viewed today. Paul understands the meaning of “the church of God<\/em>” as those that ARE following his teaching and that of the Master as well as the meaning of the idea of saints <\/em>as disciples and aspirants to discipleship, men who ARE earnestly striving <\/em>toward their spiritual goal. Paul offers them much instruction, both spiritual and of a seemingly more carnal nature, but it IS his words from the latter part of his epistle that we ARE addressing. Paul tells us “though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled<\/em>” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). While we got into these words through the apostle’s words on obedience <\/em>and their relationship to Jesus’s words regarding the mote <\/em>and the beam<\/em>, we should try to understand the nature of his teaching and KNOW that as these words ARE intended for disciples, that the whole idea should be understood as such by the average doctrinal Christian. This of course IS NOT the case in most ALL of the church that sees the ‘saved<\/em>‘ Christian, ‘saved<\/em>‘ according to their various doctrinal pronouncements, as his audience; most will never grasp the fullness of his words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We should try to see that as ALL men DO “walk in the flesh<\/em>” they also DO “war after the flesh<\/em>” which idea, in Paul’s negative framing, should NOT be understood in terms of violence <\/em>but in terms of spiritual striving<\/em>. The apostle’s point IS that men should strive spiritually rather than “war after the flesh<\/em>“. Jesus addresses this idea of violence saying that “from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force<\/em>” (Matthew 11:12). This sense of violence <\/em>IS the ardent striving <\/em>of men to “Enter ye in at the strait gate<\/em>“. That many, many Christians believe <\/em>that they ARE so striving<\/em> IS unfortunate; there IS little insofar as their striving <\/em>according to the Master’s admonition which tells us that to gain the Kingdom one must “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 7:13, 21). While many see the ideas offered by Paul in terms of warfare<\/em>, the idea has been misconstrued by the doctrinal church as men’s constant fight with the devil for influence over their lives. This fight would necessarily be a carnal one but the apostle’s intent IS more that we strive <\/em>to bring forth the counter of our spiritual focus<\/em>; it IS in such focus <\/em>that we can Truly experience “the pulling down of strong holds<\/em>“. It IS these strongholds <\/em>that ARE based in our vanity<\/em> and in our nurturing and in our indoctrination that stand against our spiritual focus <\/em>as such focus <\/em>seemingly diminishes our appearance as men in this world. Such strongholds <\/em>ARE our thoughts, our attitudes and even our opinions regarding Life in this world and one of these IS our tendency as men to behold “the mote that is in thy brother’s eye<\/em>” without recognizing or admitting “the beam that is in thine own eye<\/em>“. It IS then our thoughts, our attitudes and even our opinions regarding Life in this world that ARE our strongholds <\/em>that must be pulled down<\/em> and here we should try to see that such must be replaced with those higher values which ARE the Truth and the Love that flows freely from our Souls. It IS in our striving <\/em>to bring forth this Truth and Love that we gain our focus<\/em> upon these high ideals and here perhaps we should try to fully understand just what this sense of striving <\/em>entails. The Greek word agonizomai <\/em>which IS rendered as strive <\/em>IS a complex word that IS defined in the lexicon as: to enter a contest: contend in the gymnastic games; to contend with adversaries, fight; metaph. to contend, struggle, with difficulties and dangers; to endeavour with strenuous zeal, strive: to obtain somethin<\/em>g2<\/sup>. In its usage here by the Master according to Luke, it IS the last idea that IS at play as with the understanding that the third defining idea IS also required in our striving<\/em>, that we endeavor <\/em>to DO so “with strenuous zeal<\/em>“. Strong’s tells us that the idea behind agonizomai <\/em>IS: to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize), figuratively (to contend with an adversary), or genitive case (to endeavor to accomplish something):\u2014fight, labor fervently, strive<\/em>9a<\/sup>; here we see the sense of a struggle as a primary meaning and if we confine this idea to our ability to labor fervently<\/em> as they end the definition, we will have taken the more important point. Thayer’s offers us the same ideas as the lexicon; Thayer’s IS most often the source of lexiconic meanings that ARE tied to New Testament usage9<\/sup>. Vine’s offers much the same ideas as these above and, in regard to this particular usage, they say that agonizomai <\/em>IS: to put forth every effort, involving toil<\/em>9b<\/sup>. The biblical idea here should be clear then; for us to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate<\/em>” (Luke 13:24) requires work<\/em>, toil <\/em>if you will, and to DO this work <\/em>we should “labor fervently<\/em>” and “put forth every effort<\/em>“. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There IS a personal commitment in striving <\/em>that requires our focus <\/em>upon the things of God; it IS ONLY with such focus <\/em>that we can “labor fervently<\/em>” and “put forth every effort<\/em>“. Can we see the point here? Vincent gives us an interesting review of the idea of agonizomai <\/em>saying that it IS: used only by Luke and Paul, except John 18:36. Originally to contend for a prize in the public games; and thus conveying a sense of struggle. The kindred noun, ajgwnia, agony, is used of Christ’s struggle in Gethsemane<\/em>4<\/sup>. The idea of this verse where Luke tells us of Jesus’ struggle IS clear; Luke tells us that “being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground<\/em>” (Luke 22:44). It IS here that the man Jesus must strive <\/em>to overcome whatever thoughts and emotions ARE entering into His mind so that the reality of the idea of His prayer can become Truth. The idea of the prayer IS common in church but the reality remains a mystery; Luke frames this as Jesus saying “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done<\/em>” (Luke 22:42). What we should likely see in this prayer and in Luke’s comments IS the struggle between the man Jesus as a personality in this world and the Soul, the Christ Within; Jesus’ struggle IS real and in the end His striving <\/em>to express <\/strong><\/em>the Power of the Christ fully overcomes <\/em>the worldly personality which we see in His words saying “not my will, but thine, be done<\/em>“. The Master likely foresaw His end and the brutality that would be unleashed upon Him and while it made Him question the necessity of His end, He fully KNEW the importance and went willingly. He fullfilled the prophecy of scripture that was always inteded to be His end; this we read again in Luke’s telling us of the encounter between the apostle Philip and the eunuch. We read that “Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth<\/em>” (Acts 8:30-33). We should try to see that the idea of agonizomai<\/em>, of striving<\/em>, IS perhaps the most important facet of our Repentance <\/strong><\/em>as we likely CAN NOT keep His words<\/em> as men in this world without our own effort to exert oneself vigorously; try hard<\/em>* as the dictionary defines striving<\/em>. The full idea behind the word strive <\/em>IS presented with this ‘trying vigorously<\/em>‘ as the main idea yet the common understanding remains in terms of contention <\/em>with opposition on a carnal level. This idea of contention <\/em>IS also a part of our struggle as we, as Souls, ARE contending <\/em>with the forces of vanity <\/em>and the power of the nurturing and indoctrination that we have endured. Today’s dictionary defines strive <\/em>as: to exert oneself vigorously; try hard; to make strenuous efforts toward any goal; to contend in opposition, battle, or any conflict, compete; to struggle vigorously, as in opposition or resistance; to rival; vie<\/em>*. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary offers us this as the first defining idea for striving<\/em>: To make efforts; to use exertions; to endeavor with earnestness; to labor hard; applicable to exertions of body or mind<\/em>1<\/sup>. Can we understand the point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such striving <\/em>which is our ability to endeavor with earnestness<\/em> through strenuous efforts<\/em> IS what IS necessary if we ARE to understand Paul’s words saying “though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh<\/em>“. Here, if we can tie this to the Master’s words saying “take no thought for your life<\/em>” (Matthew 6:25), we can perhaps overcome <\/em>one of the biggest obstacles to our full Repentance <\/em><\/strong>and Transformation<\/strong><\/em>. The underlying idea IS that we should overcome our vanity <\/em>and while Peter shows us the Way to this as our escape <\/em>from “the corruption that is in the world through lust<\/em>“, the Way to accomplish this remains hidden to the doctrinal church. To escape <\/em>our lusts <\/em>and desires <\/em>we need to turn our attention to the Godhead and the things of God and begin in earnest to “take no thought for your life<\/em>“. While this IS NOT a hard concept to understand, it IS exceedingly difficult to DO especially in the absence of church teachings that agree with the Master’s words, words that have been deemphasized in favor of the various doctrinal approaches to God. We should try to see that ALL of the Master’s words in this vein ARE intended to result in our ability to “take no thought for your life<\/em>“. Jesus tells us that we must choose “treasures in heaven<\/em>” over our natural inclination toward “treasures upon earth<\/em>” and here we should ever realize the deep Truth that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also<\/em>“. The Master goes on to tell us about the evil eye<\/em> versus the single eye<\/em> which IS ALSO a most misunderstood concept that IS ONLY understood when we can see that ALL that IS carnal IS poneros <\/em>which IS rendered as evil<\/em>. There need NOT be any illicit or salacious thoughts or actions involved; the spiritual idea IS ALL that IS NOT focused <\/em>upon the things of the Lord IS poneros<\/em>. Too many translations render the whole idea in terms of the eye <\/em>itself rather that the eye’s <\/em>representation as the focus <\/em>of a man. The reality here IS that the eye <\/em>shows us the direction in which a man IS going in Life; his focus <\/em>IS either on things carnal as the evil eye<\/em> or on things spiritual through the single eye<\/em> focused <\/em>upon the things of God. In these words from the Master IS the crux of His next words that tell us that we must choose between a focus <\/em>upon the Lord or a focus <\/em>upon mammon<\/em>, another idea that IS largely misunderstood. With the ideas of choice regarding treasure <\/em>and the eye <\/em>we have a most basic reality that culminates in His telling us that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon<\/em>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While much of the church sees mammon <\/em>as the key idea in this statement, we see the idea of serving <\/em>as the greater key to Jesus intent. At the same time, the common understanding of mammon <\/em>IS in regard to riches and wealth and this seriously restricts our understanding of the Master’s words and the choice we must make. In the idea of treasure <\/em>the reality IS that this IS ALL that takes our attention, things of the world or things of God. The idea of mammon <\/em>should be seen in a similar fashion with the understanding that it refers to the things of the world as opposed to the things of God. Riches and wealth ARE certainly a part of mammon<\/em> but to define the entirety of the idea as such IS a serious restriction to our understanding of the Truth. We should remember that mammon <\/em>IS a transliteration of the Chaldean word mammonas<\/em>; there IS NO True English word that corresponds to the Chaldean meaning. Strong’s tells us that mammonas <\/em>IS: of Chaldee origin (confidence, i.e. wealth, personified); mammonas, i.e. avarice (deified):\u2014mammon<\/em>9a<\/sup>. This tells us little of the Chaldean intent but DOES give us an understanding of the common understanding that mammon IS: riches (where it is personified and opposed to God)<\/em>2<\/sup>. What ARE personified riches<\/em> and what IS avarice deified<\/em> but ideas that obnubilate the Master’s intention. If we take the modern definition of avarice<\/em>: insatiable greed for riches; inordinate, miserly desire to gain and hoard wealth<\/em>*, we severely limit the scope of Jesus’ admonition. However, if we expand the idea of avarice <\/em>to be insatiable greed<\/em> for worldly things, for ALL men’s desires <\/em>and lusts<\/em>, we have a better foundation for understanding the choice that we must make. The Master’s choice in regard to treasure <\/em>IS things of the world or things of God with the understanding that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also<\/em>” and the same choice should be seen in regard to mammon <\/em>and men’s seemingly insatiable desire<\/em> to have, to DO and to be in this world. In regard to mammon <\/em>Jesus IS telling us that we can ONLY serve <\/em>one or the other and NOT both God and mammon <\/em>and while many try through their doctrines to DO so, the reality IS that it IS NOT possible; these ARE the words of the Lord. This brings us back to the idea of serving<\/em>. The Greek word douleuo<\/em> which IS rendered as serve <\/em>IS also rendered in the King James Bible as to be in bondage<\/em> which idea puts a bit more meaning behind the idea. Thayer’s defines the idea of douleuo <\/em>as: properly,\u00a0to be a slave, serve, do service<\/em> adding that it IS metaphorically, to obey, submit to<\/em>9<\/sup> while Strong’s tells us that douleuo <\/em>IS to be a slave to (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntary):\u2014be in bondage<\/em>9a<\/sup>. When we look at this idea of douleuo <\/em>in terms of bondage<\/em>, the “bondage of corruption<\/em>” (Romans 8:21) if you will, the whole of Jesus’ idea here comes to us with much more force. To what ARE we to be bound? To the things of God or to the things of the world and here it will serve us to repeat Peter’s words saying that to become “partakers of the divine nature<\/em>” we must have “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust<\/em>” (2 Peter 1:4). Before we delve into the Master’s words telling us to “take no thought for your life<\/em>” we should refresh ourselves regarding the fullness of Jesus’ words here. The Master says: <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life<\/em>“<\/p>\nMatthew 6:19:25<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n While we seemingly covered these words in some depth as we recently discussed the entire Sermon on the Mount, there IS always more that can be said and new perspectives that can be unveiled. When we see such ideas as that men should “Take no thought for your life<\/em>” we should be reminded of the Master’s words that ARE the Great Commandment which we should understand as a total focus <\/em>upon the things of God. Jesus’ tells us “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<\/em>” but unfortunately few see the totality of these words where there would be NO space for men to take “thought for your life<\/em>“. This sense of Love, of agape<\/em>, concerns our focus <\/em>upon the Godhead and the things of God and should we Truly understand the second of the Great Commandments, that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>” we would see the Way to express <\/strong><\/em>such agape <\/em>to the Lord. This IS perhaps the first time in our more than 1800 essays that we have equated agape <\/em>with focus <\/em>and here we will try to show how that these ideas ARE intertwined with our ‘thought<\/em>‘ processes as men in this world. We think about whatsoever IS our treasure<\/em>; and should those thoughts, that focus<\/em>, be upon God rather than mammon<\/em>, we should be able to see our own progress on the Path. This progress however IS fleeting as most ALL men ARE essentially doubleminded<\/em> with their attention being shared with a multiplicity of things. However, when it comes to spiritual matters we should understand that such duplicity IS NOT possible; this the Master shows us in saying that “ye cannot serve God and mammon<\/em>“. It IS this that we should see in the Apostle James’ words that clearly tell us that “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways<\/em>” (James 1:8). And this IS the purpose of striving <\/em>and the reality of our Repentance <\/strong><\/em>and Transformation<\/em><\/strong>: that once we ARE awakened <\/em>to the Truth and choose to follow the Lord in Repentance<\/strong><\/em>, in changing the nature of our comportment, we continue to strive <\/em>to Transform <\/strong><\/em>our mortal lives to be expressions <\/strong><\/em>of the Christ Within. We strive <\/em>to become “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves<\/em>” (James 1:22) with the fullness of understanding the sense of agape <\/em>needed to “love thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>“. ALL of this IS founded in the simple words that we should “Take no thought for your life<\/em>“. And perhaps this IS the hidden lesson to be found in the Book of Daniel where he, as a True disciple, IS confined to “the den of lions<\/em>” (Daniel 6:7). Why IS Daniel NOT consumed by the predators in the den? Perhaps it IS simply because of his ardent focus <\/em>upon the things of God and his ability to eschew his own Life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daniel’s eschewal of his own Life DOES satisfy the Master’s call that we “Take no thought for your life<\/em>” and, while this may be a strange concept, it IS in accord with Jesus’ words on discipleship where we read again that “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<\/strong>, he cannot be my disciple<\/em>” (Luke 14:26). Can we see the point here and can we see how these ideas play more boldly into the idea of martyrdom? While we have developed the idea of martyrdom according to doctrinal precepts, we have DONE so without much analysis of the motivation behind such acts by those we consider as saints and disciples. If we could see that the whole of the idea of “Take no thought for your life<\/em>” plays an outsized role in such motivation, we can perhaps better understand the Master’s words both here and in regard to discipleship. We should also try to see how that this idea conflates with Jesus’ words that ARE the first Great Commandment. If we Truly “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength<\/em>“, how can we have any ‘attention’ left for our own worldly affairs? Looking back through the stories of the Old Testament we could likely find many ideas where martyrdom, even without the actual death of the martyr, ARE based in the idea that such had taken NO or perhaps little thought for their lives. For us the idea of “\n