{"id":18576,"date":"2023-07-02T17:05:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-02T23:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/?p=18576"},"modified":"2023-07-02T17:05:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-02T23:05:54","slug":"in-the-words-of-jesus-part-1835","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/2023\/07\/02\/in-the-words-of-jesus-part-1835\/","title":{"rendered":"IN THE WORDS OF JESUS\u2013Part 1835"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ON LOVE; PART MCDLXXXIV<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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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

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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

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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

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We ended the last essay with the apostle John’s words saying that “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous<\/em>” (1 John 5:2-3). Our point was to show the idea that keeping His words<\/em>, IS NOT a grievous<\/em> thing and that DOING so IS a necessary ingredient if we ARE to Truly Love the Lord. While the wording of John’s statement can be a bit misleading to some, it should NOT be so; that “this is the love of God<\/em>” shows us our Love for the Lord along with the criteria that we DO “keep his commandments<\/em>“. This IS the same idea spoken by the Master in our trifecta <\/strong><\/em>where we read that “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me<\/em>“; this IS repeated as Jesus tells us “If a man love me, he will keep my words<\/em>” and both of these ARE an emphasis upon His previous words saying “If ye love me, keep my commandments<\/em>“. So important IS this concept that the Master repeats it for us in the negative saying “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings<\/em>” (John 14:21, 23, 15, 24). Despite these references to our Love for God, the idea has NOT yet resonated in the hearts <\/strong><\/em>of much of the Christian world as men DO see the whole idea of striving <\/em>to keep His words<\/em> as a grievous <\/em>undertaking which will disrupt the ‘normal’ lives of men in this world. It IS in this idea that we can find the reality of Jesus’ words saying “whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister<\/em>“. While the idea here of minister <\/em>generally invokes the idea of serving <\/em>in the church as the pastor, the priest, or some other office, the reality of the word should be seen as servant <\/em>and this across much more than church business. Vincent tells us of the Greek word diakonos<\/em> which IS rendered here as minister <\/em>that: Doulov, perhaps from dew, to bind, is the bondman, representing the permanent relation of servitude. Diakonov, probably from the same root as diwkw, to pursue, represents a servant, not in his relation, but in his activity. The term covers both slaves and hired servants<\/em>4<\/sup>. While many other translations DO render the word as servant<\/em>, it IS the idea of minister <\/em>that has been understood as the reference and this likely for the same reasons that men DO see keeping His words<\/em> as a grievous <\/em>undertaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ultimate idea here IS that we ARE intended to serve <\/em>but NOT necessarily as a servant <\/em>under the common understanding of that word. This IS made clear for us in such sayings from the Master as “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<\/em>” (Matthew 6:24). We should easily see that this idea of serving <\/em>IS NOT as a servant <\/em>under the common understanding of the word but the emphasis should rather be placed upon the idea of focus<\/em>, upon what it IS that we pay our attention to. As we focus <\/em>upon mammon <\/em>we serve <\/em>the same in our individual and corporate lives; mammon <\/em>becomes our motivation in Life. As we have often said however we should NOT see mammon <\/em>ONLY through the lens of finances which IS the way that the idea IS generally understood. We should see mammon <\/em>as ALL that we treasure <\/em>in this world and the range here IS rather infinite. We should remember that these words on mammon <\/em>follow upon the Master’s admonition that we choose as He offers us the choice of laying up<\/em> our treasure <\/em>in either the world or in heaven; this IS the primary point of our focus<\/em>, of our attending to the one or the other. Of course we must understand that virtually ALL men divide <\/strong>their focus <\/em>or, better, they believe that they DO as we find in the church. That Jesus tells us that we CAN NOT divide <\/strong>our focus <\/em>has NOT seeped into the doctrinal ideas that motivate men in the churches. Jesus of course IS NOT done with His instruction regarding our focus <\/em>as He then goes into the most misunderstood idea of the eye<\/em>. That the single eye<\/em> and the evil eye<\/em> ARE misunderstood by most IS again the result of some men’s desire <\/em>to be able to share their focus<\/em>, to share their attention to their carnal lives with some measure of attention to the things of the Lord. That the single eye<\/em> IS one that IS focused <\/em>upon the things of God IS the intent of the Master’s words, we can interpret this further into a singular<\/em> focus<\/em> upon the things of the self. This latter idea IS of course destroyed by the following words that refer to the evil eye<\/em> which should be understood as one’s focus<\/em> upon the carnal and mundane. The ideas of treasure <\/em>and the focus <\/em>of one’s Life through the eye <\/em>ARE intimately related and offer us first the choice and then the reasoning for making the proper choice for our spiritual Life. Our focus <\/em>upon the things of the world, on mammon <\/em>if you will, leaves us in a spiritual darkness <\/em>and the more ardent such focus <\/em>the darker <\/em>our lives become from a spiritual perspective. We should remember here that our spiritual lives ARE the very purpose of most ALL of the Master’s words as well as the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles. Jesus then goes on to speak of the choice again as he tells us that we must choose the one, focus <\/em>on the self, or the other, focus <\/em>on the things of God in our the choice of serving <\/em>God or mammon<\/em>. Repeating the Master’s word for clarity we read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“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<\/em>“.<\/p>\nMatthew 6:19-24)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

While we have covered these words from the Master several times over the course of our blogposts, we continue to find new lessons in His words. Understanding that the Greek word thesauros <\/em>which IS rendered as treasure <\/em>IS much more than wealth <\/em>and possessions IS a necessary aspect of our journey to Truth. This word IS defined for us by the lexicon as: the place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up; a casket, coffer, or other receptacle, in which valuables are kept; a treasury; storehouse, repository, magazine; the things laid up in a treasury, collected treasures<\/em>2<\/sup>. This IS a very restrictive definition that leaves out most ALL of men’s psychic attachments to the world and, to be sure, our psychic lives ARE the more important from a spiritual perspective. Most of these defining ideas come from Thayer’s9<\/sup> while Strong’s9a<\/sup> offers us much the same as DOES Vine’s9b<\/sup>. From our library the ONLY differing commentary IS from Vincent who offers us the legend of St. Thomas and Gondoforus4<\/sup> which we have posted in previous essays; this can be found through the search bar on our home page. This story however DOES NOT dispute the idea that such treasures <\/em>ARE wealth <\/em>and possessions; it ONLY expands the idea into a Truer concept of “treasures in heaven<\/em>“. What we should see in this word IS ALL things that pertain to Life in this world; ALL things that take our attention and focus <\/em>away from our spiritual pursuits. These include the myriad of human thoughts, attitudes and behaviors that afflict each of us; from finances to career to education to family to possessions of ALL types we ARE bombarded with thoughts that keep our focus <\/em>upon the self and the things of the self. We should understand as well that even after we achieve our carnal Life’s goals we then still embrace ALL that we have seemingly accomplished. Our list here IS purposefully concise; each of these carnal ideas can be greatly expanded upon and the list added to. It IS the point of the definition of the Greek word that IS our objective here; we must understand the breadth of this idea as we continue to read the Master’s words as He ends this brief segment saying “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also<\/em>“. These words should suffice to show us that the idea IS NOT limited to wealth <\/em>and possessions; our hearts <\/strong><\/em>will be wheresoever our thoughts and attitudes take us and in this idea of heart<\/strong><\/em> IS our consciousness as men in this world. It IS our consciousness that IS divided <\/strong>between “treasures upon earth<\/em>” in ALL their fullness and “treasures in heaven<\/em>” based in our moment to moment focus <\/em>and it IS this division<\/strong>, this dividing care<\/em>4<\/sup> as Vincent later frames this in the next section of Jesus’ words. The Master’s focus <\/em>in His next words on the single eye<\/em> and the evil eye<\/em> IS another lesson in focus <\/em>that should help us to understand the whole idea of treasure<\/em>. These words however have been grossly misunderstood. By example John Gill in his Exposition of the Bible tells us Jesus that saying that “if therefore thine eye be single:<\/em>” should be seen as if thy mind be liberal, generous, and bountiful<\/em>8<\/sup> as he attaches these words to Jesus’ words on “treasures in heaven<\/em>” which he interprets into ideas of liberality <\/em>with one’s wealth <\/em>and possessions. This idea of liberality <\/em>from Mr. Gill deflates Jesus’ words as he sees “treasures upon earth<\/em>” as wealth <\/em>and “treasures in heaven<\/em>” as our liberal <\/em>sharing of these: earthly treasures in heaven; that is, put them into the hands of God in heaven; and this is done, by liberally communicating to the poor<\/em>8<\/sup>. Regarding the idea of “\u00a0if thine eye be evil<\/em>” Mr. Gill tells tells us that this IS: if thou art of a sordid disposition, of an avaricious temper, if the sin of covetousness prevails over thee<\/em>8<\/sup>; which we assume IS our lot if we ARE NOT liberally communicating to the poor<\/em>8<\/sup>. We should remember here that the Master IS intentionally speaking in parabolic terms and that His words telling His disciples that “it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given<\/em>” (Matthew 13:11) cover ALL such parabolic language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping in mind that the Master’s words ARE spiritual and NOT carnal we should easily see that the subject of treasure <\/em>IS NOT wealth <\/em>and possessions but rather ALL that places us either into a carnal mindset or into a spiritual mindset. Perhaps we can sum this up through Paul’s words saying “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<\/em>” (Philippians 4:8). Such IS our focus <\/em>upon “treasures in heaven<\/em>“. Jesus’ words on treasures <\/em>offers us a choice the idea that the ONLY True choice IS “treasures in heaven<\/em>“. When our hearts <\/strong><\/em>ARE in these treasures<\/em>, we ARE on the Path to Truth and Love. The Master’s words on the eye <\/em>however ARE NOT so simply discerned as the Master likely uses the ideas of single <\/em>and evil <\/em>to obnubilate the Truth of what it IS that He IS Truly saying. It IS in the words that follow this that we get His Truth cemented into our hearts <\/strong><\/em>but this IS ONLY True when we understand the full gist of His words. As we have often said the single eye<\/em> IS the focused eye <\/em>and while we can focus <\/em>upon the carnal or the spiritual, the idea of the evil eye <\/em>allows us to better see the Truth. The idea here IS singlemindedness <\/em>as a singular focus <\/em>upon “treasures in heaven<\/em>“, a singular focus <\/em>upon the things of God. It IS with this singular focus <\/em>that we ARE “full of light<\/em>” as there IS naught to dispel the Light of Truth and Love from entering into the heart<\/strong><\/em>. While we can have a singleminded focus <\/em>upon ourselves and the things of the self, this IS spiritually challenged by the following idea of evil <\/em>and this despite the church’s misapplication of this word idea. In the evil eye<\/em> we should see the opposite of the single eye<\/em> and understand the idea in that way: if the single eye<\/em> IS focused <\/em>on the things of God then the evil eye<\/em> IS focused <\/em>upon the things of the self. This focus <\/em>IS perhaps the most efficient way to understand the whole concept of evil <\/em>away from the doctrinal and social ideas where evil <\/em>IS restricted to the gross behaviors of men. The focus <\/em>of a man upon the self with NO ill will toward any and with NO grievous offenses IS evil <\/em>in the same way as ARE carrying ill will and committing grievous offenses. While this IS contrary to the view of most ALL of the church, it IS supported by the words of His apostles and here we go to the Apostle James for his rather clear and blunt teaching. Regarding being singleminded<\/em>, James tells us that “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways<\/em>“. These words ARE a part of the apostle’s showing us that we must “ask in faith, nothing wavering<\/em>” (James 1:8, 6) and when we understand that this faith<\/em>, this pistis<\/em>, IS KNOWING we can then understand that when we DO KNOW, we will NOT waver<\/em>, we will NOT bounce back and forth between God and the self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding evil <\/em>we again go to James’ words saying that “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all<\/em>“. Here the picture IS painted for us based in a man’s failure to Love ALL with NO “respect to persons<\/em>“; this IS the apostle’s reference to our offending “in one point<\/em>“. This IS equivalent to any other sin making men who DO offend in this one seemingly insignificant point “guilty of all<\/em>“. Can we see the point here? Can we see how that the apostle follows this with a more concrete example between murder <\/em>and adultery<\/em>? In adultery <\/em>we have a socially acceptable idea that IS ‘allowed’ by the church as an indiscretion while in killing<\/em>, in murder<\/em>, we have a Truly grievous offense. James tells us “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law<\/em>” (James 2:8-11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returning to the Master’s words, we come upon the idea of the impossibility of being doubleminded <\/em>from a spiritual perspective. This IS to say that to be so, to be focused <\/em>upon the self and then occasionally on the things of God IS but an oxymoron of sorts. While it may seem that we ARE sharing our focus <\/em>between the Lord and the world, the reality IS that we ARE focused <\/em>upon the self ONLY with NO True commitment to the Truth. It IS True as well that as we strive <\/em>toward Truth and Love we ARE ALL guilty <\/em>of this doublemindedness<\/em> and here we should understand that despite our own wavering<\/em>, we ARE technically on the Path so long as our worldly focus <\/em>IS waning as our spiritual focus <\/em>waxes. Again we must say here that there ARE NONE that KNOW what IS the spiritual status of another; only we ourselves can look into our own hearts<\/strong><\/em>. Jesus goes on to tell us that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon<\/em>“, that this IS NOT possible; here we should try to see ourselves according to the idea of serving<\/em>. In serving <\/em>we again have the reality of our focus<\/em>, of the attention that we pay to either pole, to God or to mammon. Serving<\/em> God IS simply DONE through keeping His words<\/em>. While much of the church sees evangelism as the KEY to such service <\/em>with a side bar of contributing time to the church that one affiliates himself with, the reality IS as Paul states it in his words to the Corinthians. In brief, Paul’s Way IS simply stated as: “though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity<\/s> agape, I am nothing<\/em>” (1 Corinthians 13:2). In these words we should see that without agape<\/em>, our expression <\/strong><\/em>of it to be sure, we ARE NOT keeping His words<\/em> and we ARE as Paul IS in saying; “I am nothing<\/em>“. In this selection from the apostle’s words we have the idea that DOING ALL such things in the church ARE meaningless unless it IS DONE with Love in one’s heart <\/strong><\/em>and, again, we must be careful to NOT confuse this Love with the common understanding of the word. We should be able to see here that our serving <\/em>God IS NOT as it IS understood in the world today; our serving <\/em>God IS keeping His words<\/em> and foremost in these words ARE His words on agape<\/em>. We should be able to see and to understand as well that to serve mammon <\/em>IS simply to focus <\/em>our attention upon the self and the things of the self which IS the motivation of most everyman and, as we say above, our occasional focus <\/em>on the the things of God IS NOT accomplishing our service <\/em>to the Lord. such occasional focus<\/em> IS ONLY another sign of the duplicity of men and their doublemindedness<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While duplicity may seem a harsh word, it DOES comport with the apostle’s teaching on keeping His words<\/em>; James tells us “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves<\/em>” (James 1:22). Can we see in James’ words the very definition of duplicity applied to oneself? Can we see that we ARE engaged in deceitfulness in speech or conduct, as by speaking or acting in two different ways to different people concerning the same matter<\/em>* as the dictionary defines duplicity. Such IS a difficult thing to admit as IS James charge of self-deceit regarding our own self opinion and our own attitude regarding our spiritual progress. There IS a line that IS drawn for us regarding our spiritual progress and that IS the line of Repentance<\/strong><\/em>. In Repentance<\/em><\/strong> we have the ‘firm’ decision to forego our carnal lives in favor of allowing the promptings of the Lord to govern our thoughts, our attitudes and our actions. We should remember here that Repentance <\/strong><\/em>IS but a step that puts us upon the Path, a Path that IS defined for us by Paul as being “delivered<\/s> made free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God<\/em>” (Romans 8:21). While the language here becomes choppy because of our change from delivered <\/em>to made free<\/em>, it IS important to understand that it IS in our Repentance <\/strong><\/em>and our ensuing Transformation<\/em><\/strong> we DO free ourselves from our bondage <\/em>to the carnal world. We should also note that the Greek word eleutheroo <\/em>which the King James Translators render as delivered <\/em>IS rendered as “make you free<\/em>” in Jesus words regarding the Truth where He says that “the truth shall make you free<\/em>” (John 8:32). It IS the Truth that frees <\/em>us and it IS the Truth that IS the product of our Repentance <\/strong><\/em>and our Transformation <\/em><\/strong>as we readily accept the promptings of the Lord through our own Souls. We should note here that we DO receive such promptings before our Repentance <\/strong><\/em>but these ARE either not registered in the carnally oriented mind or they ARE ignored because the contradict our carnal leanings, our way of Life in this world. Here again IS the reality of our choice between God and mammon <\/em>through the idea that to choose God over mammon <\/em>we must Truly Repent<\/strong><\/em>. We should also understand here the reality of Repentance <\/em><\/strong>which IS grossly misunderstood; Repentance <\/em><\/strong>IS generally understood as defined by today’s dictionary which tells us that to Repent <\/strong><\/em>IS: to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc<\/em>*. While such conviction may embrace ideas contrary to that for which one may Repent <\/strong><\/em>and may be based in a real-time prompting from one’s own Soul, it DOES NOT provide the strength of conviction that will change one’s Life. It IS such a change that we should read into the Master’s admonition that we “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand<\/em>” (Matthew 4:17) or as Mark frames this “repent ye, and believe the gospel<\/em>” (Mark 1:15). To properly understand the idea of Repentance <\/strong><\/em>we again go to Vincent who tells us that matanoeo <\/em>should be seen as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A word compounded of the preposition meta, after, with; and the verb noew, to perceive, and to think, as the result of perceiving or observing. In this compound the preposition combines the two meanings of time and change, which may be denoted by after and different; so that the whole compound means to think differently after. Metanoia (repentance) is therefore, primarily, an after – thought, different from the former thought; then, a change of mind which issues in regret and in change of conduct. These latter ideas, however, have been imported into the word by scriptural usage, and do not lie in it etymologically nor by primary usage. Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice.” Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repentance <\/strong><\/em>IS as the Master shows us and save for the the Master’s words on forgiveness <\/em>in Luke’s Gospel, there IS NO other way to see the idea apart from our virtuous change in the life and practice<\/em>. In Luke we read that the Master says “Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him<\/em>” Luke 17:3-4). Here the idea of Repentance <\/strong><\/em>can be diluted into Vincent’s view of scriptural usage<\/em> as a change of mind which issues in regret and in change of conduct<\/em> and to understand this in the Master’s terms one must ONLY realize that saying that one Repents <\/strong><\/em>IS rather meaningless. Repentance <\/strong><\/em>IS an action, a positive action that takes us away from our focus <\/em>on the self and places that focus <\/em>on the things of God. Returning to our ideas on serving<\/em> we should understand that serving <\/em>need NOT be an action; it can be a state of mind and a function of the heart<\/strong><\/em>. To serve mammon <\/em>we need ONLY to focus <\/em>our attention upon the things of the world and our own relationship to them; we need ONLY to focus <\/em>upon our desires <\/em>and our motivations. Similarly to serve <\/em>God there DOES NOT need to be any action save for our conscious focus <\/em>upon the Lord and the things of God: His precepts and His Way of Life as prescribed in His words. To consciously go about keeping His words<\/em> and limiting the focus <\/em>of our Life in this world to ONLY the most basic ideas that ARE necessary for the care of that Life IS in service to the Lord. This perforce will result in our actions; this perforce will result in our expression <\/strong><\/em>of agape <\/em>in ALL that we DO and say and curb the desires <\/em>that heretofore governed our lives in this world. While it IS True that as we progress upon the Path we ARE essentially doubleminded<\/em>, this IS but an integral part of our progression which must be accepted as a part of our striving <\/em>toward the Truth and our full expression <\/strong><\/em>of agape<\/em>. At the same time we must understand that in the absence of this striving <\/em>toward the Truth, our doublemindedness <\/em>keeps us from the revelations <\/em><\/strong>and realizations <\/strong><\/em>that can help to move us forward. In this we should see the deception<\/strong><\/em>, the self-deception<\/em><\/strong>, that James shows us IS the result of a part-time engagement with the Lord; and it IS this that we should see in Jesus words saying “No man can serve two masters<\/em>” and that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon<\/em>“. Despite the straightforwardness of the Master’s words here, there ARE millions upon millions that believe that they ARE serving <\/em>God through this self-deception <\/strong><\/em>which IS founded in the illusory ideas of the doctrines of men. Much of the doctrinal approach to the Lord teaches success in this world through desire; <\/em>this works along side of their teachings regarding men’s relationship to God. Perhaps it IS for this reason that most ALL interpret mammon <\/em>as they DO; as wealth <\/em>and possessions as they qualify the idea of riches saying that mammon <\/em>IS riches (where it is personified and opposed to God)<\/em>2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have frequently said that the word mammon<\/em>, as an untranslated word, should be understood in the fullest way and NOT merely as riches especially according to the undefined idea that such ARE personified and opposed to God<\/em>. We should try to see and to understand that ALL that IS in the world IS opposed to God and it IS our desire <\/em>for such things, for such ideas if you will, that IS also opposed to God. The Apostle John shows us the reality of mammon <\/em>and men’s desire <\/em>for the things of the world saying “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever<\/em>” (1 John 2:15-17). Here we must try to see the relationship between our serving mammon<\/em> and “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life<\/em>” and see this idea of lust <\/em>as ALL desire <\/em>small and large that become the focus<\/em> of a man. John tells us that ALL of this “is of the world<\/em>” and, understood from the human perspective, “the world passeth away, and the lust thereof<\/em>“. Can we see here how that this mammon<\/em>, this service <\/em>to the self and the things of the self, this focus <\/em>upon the carnal and the mundane, IS as mammon <\/em>IS defined in the lexicon which tells us that it IS mammon <\/em>that IS personified and opposed to God<\/em>? On this same theme of the opposition between God and the world James tells us “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God<\/em>” (James 4:4). We should understand here that the ideas of adulterer <\/em>IS NOT a reference to any sexual action but rather men’s adulterous <\/em>relationship with the Lord as they constantly look elsewhere for satisfaction; most ALL look outward to the world rather than inward to the seat of the Lord in everyman….his own Soul. The greater point here however IS the lack of relationship between those that have befriended the world and the Lord; that these ARE in staunch opposition. Here the idea IS that when we serve mammon<\/em>, which again IS a rather constant human behavior, we ARE “the enemy of God<\/em>“. This IS a point that IS unheard of in most ALL of the church that teaches men to participate and succeed in this world and to desire <\/em>the best things for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Apostle Paul also contributes to this idea of opposition saying that “they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal[c] mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be<\/em>” (Romans 8:5-7). Still, with ALL these words from the Master and His apostles, most ALL of the church fails to see the idea presented as most ALL continue to favor their lives in this world over their search for Truth and Love. The ideas here from the apostles ARE more bluntly framed than ARE the Master’s but we should note that a seemingly hidden aspect of Jesus’ words DOES tell us that we should NOT be so attentive to the things of the world. Perhaps the most clear and yet the most confusing IS the next segment of Jesus’ words that follow upon the ideas that tell us first that we must choose between having our “treasures upon earth<\/em>” or moving our focus <\/em>to our “treasures in heaven<\/em>“. His showing us this choice IS followed by His words on the eye <\/em>and the way that we should have a singular focus <\/em>upon our “treasures in heaven<\/em>” as we forego our attachments and attractions to the things of the world which ARE of course our “treasures upon earth<\/em>“. We should note here that in the idea of attachments and attractions we have the reality of the common understanding of Love as men’s mental and emotional attachment and attraction to others as well as to our thoughts, attitudes and things of the world. As men we DO Love all sorts of things according to this definition which IS NOT the reality of agape <\/em>but which has been substituted for agape <\/em>for centuries. Jesus IS telling us that to have the evil eye<\/em>, the eye focused <\/em>upon the carnal and the mundane, IS to focus <\/em>upon our “treasures upon earth<\/em>“, on our lives in this world. To have the single eye<\/em> IS to focus <\/em>upon the things of God, on our “treasures in heaven<\/em>” if you will, and while the idea here may seem ambiguous as we can have a singular focus <\/em>upon our lives in this world, the idea IS clarified by His words on the evil eye<\/em>. The Master then reinforces His words regarding our choice and what it should be by telling us that we CAN NOT choose both that we CAN NOT “serve God and mammon<\/em>“. It IS from here that we arrive at the next segment and one that IS grossly misunderstood through the minds of men who ARE inherently attracted to “treasures upon earth<\/em>“. This attraction IS so strong that men ARE blinded to the reality of these next words that tell us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof<\/em>“<\/p>\nMatthew 6:25-34<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It IS from here that we will begin our next essay but here we should try to understand that while the Master uses many words to show us the futility of our focus <\/em>upon the things of the self, the basic idea IS found in the first sentence which tells us clearly that we should “Take no thought for your life<\/em>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aspect <\/del>of  God<\/strong><\/td>Potency<\/strong><\/td>Aspect of Man<\/strong><\/td>In Relation to the Great Invocation<\/strong><\/td>In relation to the Christ<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
GOD, The Father<\/strong><\/td>Will or Power<\/strong><\/td>Spirit or Life<\/strong><\/td>Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN<\/strong><\/td>Life<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Son, The Christ<\/strong><\/td>Love and Wisdom<\/strong><\/td>Soul or Christ Within<\/strong><\/td>Heart of God<\/strong><\/td>Truth<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Holy Spirit<\/strong><\/td>Light or Activity<\/strong><\/td>Life Within<\/strong><\/td>Mind of God<\/strong><\/td>Way<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n