ON LOVE; PART DCCCII
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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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” (Mark 12:29-31).
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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 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
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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” (Matthew 7:12)
As we add the idea of overcoming to our list of equivalent ideas that come from the teachings of the Master and His apostles, we can come to see the greater reality of the accomplishments that Truly free men from the wiles of the flesh and the ways of the world. That many DO NOT see that this IS the reality of spiritual Life IS of NO moment to the man who can see the reality of the Master’s words that show us His Presence in one’s Life as His grace, as the revelations and the realizations of Truth, that come to the man whose focus IS upon the things of God. It IS important to remember that this grace comes to a man by measure as his Life IS Transformed from his conformance to the ways of men and of the world to the ways of God as we read in the Apostle Paul’s words to the aspirants and disciples at Rome saying: “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). It IS in this Transformation of the Life of the man in the world, this renewing of the mind which comes in one’s realization of Truth, that the man can come to the fullness of His grace and it IS this man who can “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God“. It IS in this fullness that a man becomes a full and True disciple who can continue in His words, it IS in this fullness that the man IS accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God; it IS in this fullness that a man Truly “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“…..it IS in this fullness that the man in the world IS Truly righteous. While the idea of His Presence IS painted in rather black and white terms in the Master’s words below, we should remember that He IS speaking to His Eleven and that He IS speaking about the fullness of keeping His words; it IS in this idea that we should see ALL of His words including those obscure ideas that the Apostle Peter had not accomplished as we read about him in the gospels. We read His words on His Presence in the Life of the man in the world again:
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, 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. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
Perhaps it IS in the idea of overcoming that we find the deeper reality of ALL that the Master and His apostles ARE seeking to show us. It IS in this idea of overcoming that we ARE Truly “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21) and it IS this “ glorious liberty” which IS the reality of the disciple and of the Kingdom of God. In the Apostle John’s words we find the combined idea of being “born again“, which IS finding the Truth of the Kingdom of God, and the idea of overcoming and we see again how that it IS by keeping His words that we achieve this end. This idea of the intersection of ALL of these terms that ARE the Truth of the spiritual reality of men, was the context of the last essay, a context which IS clearly seen by the man who will seek out the deeper meanings and discern the Truths. It IS only as one begins to change the focus of his Life that these Truths ARE glimpsed. There IS a great reality in the idea that it IS the Truth that will free us from this “bondage of corruption” which IS Life in this world and this Truth, our realization of it as it IS revealed by our own Souls, IS also tied in the same way to the reality of keeping His words; we read this in Jesus words saying “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). This Truth, like the reality of His Presence in one’s Life, comes to the man who will keep His words and it IS in this Presence and this Truth that we ARE free. And, it IS in the fullness of our revelations of Truth and in the fullness of the Presence of God that we ARE “born again” and can say with the Master that “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
We must remember that these words ARE picked up again by John in his First Epistle as He shows us that it IS in being “born of God“, being “born again“, that we can ourselves overcome; John tells us that “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4). While the ideas of being “born of God“, and being “born again” ARE not the same in the literal sense, the idea behind these both ARE “transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God“. Here we should try to see that it IS the man who IS Truly “born again” that will “see the kingdom of God” and it IS in the convergence of the Truth of overcoming with the reality of attaining the Kingdom that ALL of these spiritual ideas work. That doctrine DOES NOT yet see these realities IS a function of seeing the world as man’s place and seeing this idea of overcoming in much more minimal way than we read in the Master’s words; a function of seeing the success of a man in carnal terms and NOT in the spiritual reality that IS painted for us in Jesus sayings and the hard Truths about this separation of the world from a man’s spiritual reality by His apostles. It IS in the dichotomy shown us by the Master and His Life with us that shows us that His New Dispensation IS NOT found in the teachings, the traditions and the doctrines of the Jews for whom the most immediate reward was in the promises of Jehovah. In His humble birth and His humble Life among us we should begin to see that the world’s goods ARE NOT important and His teachings on the treasures of one’s heart, those things that ARE important to a man, should set the tone of His words that tell us that we must set our hearts on the things of God.
We have often shown this dichotomy in the words of the Master and His apostles over the course of this blog and while the world DOES NOT see the reality that they present in the True light, the man who would strive toward the Kingdom of God must. And this IS a difficult enterprise; it IS hard for the man in this world to look past the things of this world and the thoughts, attitudes and actions that they evoke. This IS the Truth that the Master paints for us however as He shows us the cost of discipleship, the cost of the fullness of His Presence and the cost of the Kingdom of God. ALL of these ARE intimately tied together and to have one of these IS to have them ALL; it IS in His words that we see the reality of the True disciple as He tells us “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed“; it IS in His words that we see the reality of His Presence as He tells us “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“; and it IS in His words that we see the reality of the Kingdom of God as He tells us that it IS the man “that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” who “shall enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21). This IS the reality of the spiritual accomplishment of the man in this world, an accomplishment that begins with Repentance and continues in Transformation as the man decides to change his focus and then continues in his pursuit as he strives ardently to keep His words.
It IS in the process of Transformation that men strive as the Master tells us to and, while most seem to believe that this IS impossible, there IS a reality to it ALL that goes unseen in His words; a reality that the Master sees in the way of men in this world. It IS perhaps with this in mind that He came among us; perhaps in the realization of the difficulty of men to find the Truth through the illusion and the glamour of Life in form by Our God who seeks to guide the race of men to their liberation, the Master came to show us the Way, the Way of Love and the Way of looking past ALL that deludes us as we seek the Truth of the Kingdom.
In the newness of this New Year we should try to see the deeper meanings in His words and understand that in the purpose for which we ARE here in this world IS the reality of His words, the reality of keeping His words as the way to KNOW the Truth which shall set us free.
We did not get back to our selection from the fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel and we will try again to do this in the next post; we leave the Master’s words again:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:1-12).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
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.
Repeating a Quote of the Day from the past that has some significance in relation to what we are discussing here, that the Kingdom of God and therefore God is within us ALL and that it IS His Presence which a man realizes by measure as he begins his journey to the Kingdom of God. Here Lord Tennyson poetically tells us just how close God Truly IS and how it is that we touch Him
Speak to Him, thou, for He hears,
and Spirit with Spirit can meet
Closer is He than breathing,
and nearer than hands and feet.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892)
From the poem The Higher Pantheism which puts forth the authors spiritual belief. Whether we agree with him or not, the quote if spiritually perfect for all of Christianity as well as any other world religion.
The thought behind the idea above IS NOT unlike that which we have been carrying as our Quote of the Day for many essays; It IS in the closeness that Lord Tennyson shows us that we should see the idea that “God dwells in the inner part of every man” which we read in the previous Quote of the Day. For us this saying and the previous one show us the closeness of the spiritual self to the Father and then too the closeness of the spiritual self with the personality of man. Men may like to think of God as something outside and above but the reality, as we have seen in so many of the sayings of the Master, is that God is with us and in us and we need only to let ourselves be drawn and to focus upon Him. And, if we can use these words from the Gospel of Thomas here we can perhaps see much: “When you come to know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize that you are the children of the living Father“
