ON LOVE; PART DCCCXCIV
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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 have been discussing the idea of strongholds and our view of the reality of them as the Apostle Paul shows us, we should understand that he IS speaking to men who ARE already among the aspirants and the disciples of the Lord, that these men ARE among those that ARE keeping the Master’s words or striving to DO so. This IS an important point as it IS the man who IS DOING or IS striving to DO who has the spiritual weapons; this IS the man who has the grace of God by measure, the man who has His Presence in his Life. That this view IS missed by most of the doctrinal church DOES NOT detract from the Truth as this Presence of God IS ever tied to the measure by which a man IS able to keep His words as IS clearly stated for us in the Master’s words from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. And while it IS our own conclusion that the Presence of God in one’s Life IS the deeper reality of the grace of God, the rather nebulous ideas of doctrines DO NOT and CAN NOT show a better conclusion than that this reality of grace IS ALL things that come from God. In the reality that ALL things which come from God ARE spiritual, that there IS naught that IS carnal, naught that IS corrupted, that can come from the Godhead, ALL things can be resolved into the Truth of His Presence.
It IS the Presence of God that IS “the weapons of our warfare“; it is the Presence of God that IS His grace; and it IS this and the fruit that this brings into the conscious Life of the man in this world that IS “mighty through God“. It IS this fruit that becomes the expression of the man in this world and it IS by this fruit that a man can DO the work of “the pulling down of strong holds“, that he can begin “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“. It IS this fruit that allows the man to bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ“….in essence it IS this fruit that IS “the weapons of our warfare“. We ARE here again at an intersection of reality and of Truth and it IS here that we should be able to see that this fruit that a man IS to express to the world, this fruit that IS to become the reality of his Life in this world both inwardly and outwardly, IS the very Presence of God; it IS this that we should read into the apostle’s words which we repeat again:
“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” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
It IS the Presence of God, the grace of God, the fruit in the Life of the man who has such grace, that comes to a man who will endeavor to keep His words, the man who will understand that this IS the KEY to salvation and Truth. In the Master’s own words we read the Truth of this KEY and while this IS most clearly stated in Jesus words to the Eleven, it IS the strongholds created by doctrines and men’s beliefs that ARE contrary to His Truths that prevent men from Truly seeing and from using this KEY to their own deliverance “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). It IS in keeping His words and it IS in striving to DO so as the result of one’s Repentance that brings the revelation and the realization of these Truths into the hearts of men and it IS by the same measure of such realization that one has the grace and the Presence of God; it IS in the reality of this realization that one comes to understand the True nature of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, which IS the essence of the grace and the Presence itself. We read this in the Master’s words saying:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless:a I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 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 14:15-24).
Here again we have the reality as we see it in Jesus’s words in conflict with the doctrines of the churches; here again we find the spiritual ideas that the doctrinal church DOES NOT see. There can be NO real dispute with the plainly stated words of the Master yet much of doctrine sees right past His words and into the more convenient interpretations of the words of Paul and it IS in this dynamic that we have the greater stronghold of doctrines; a stronghold where the Truth of Jesus’ words IS confounded by the creative ways of men whose lives are yet bound in the illusions and the glamour of Life in this world. It IS here that we should try to see the greater role of Satan and the deeper reality that this devil IS the reality of the illusion by which men ARE deceived. It IS here we must come to see and to understand that the ONLY way to break illusion’s hold on men, the ONLY way to repeal this stratagem of vanity which IS the greater reality of Satan, IS in Repentance…..that change of the focus of the Life of a man away from the self and the things of the self and onto the things of God which ARE his realization and the expression of the Truth.
We should try to see here how that it IS the illusions of Life, the vanity that Paul speaks of saying “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly” (Romans 8:20) that ARE the cause which results in the strongholds that men hold onto so dearly and to which they commit themselves. While this idea of strongholds prevails in most ALL arenas of human endeavor, the one that holds men back from the reality of the Presence of God IS ever their own beliefs and their own doctrines that in so many ways “exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“, which goes largely unseen by men because of that sense of glamour which such illusions bring.
It IS difficult for men to see their own wayward way through the illusions that they create for themselves, illusions that ARE based in the reality that ALL ARE “made subject to vanity“. And this illusion IS NOT the end of the tribulation through which ALL men must pass as this IS compounded by the glamour that causes them to create such strongholds against which Paul speaks. And it IS in this same illusion and glamour that men fail to see their own strongholds and how that their own beliefs can be “against the knowledge of God“. Can we see the problems here and can we see how that the Master’s teachings warn against such problems but in such a parabolic way that men believe that His reference IS to others and NOT to themselves. It IS in this light that we should try to see the Master’s words to and against the Pharisees and the scribes as well as His words on riches, on treasure, on mammon and on so many other things that men paint in carnal ways rather than spiritual and which doctrines dilute and change to suit the convenience of men.
The Truth however IS left for us to find, to discern as we strive to look away from the self and toward God. The Truth that IS Love and the Truth that our salvation IS tied to the measure by which we keep His words. This IS His message, His clear message on Love that we see again at the top of our essay and His message on keeping His words which we see in Jesus’ words above as the KEY to His Presence, the KEY to the Presence of the Spirit of God in our conscious lives. And Love IS at the heart of keeping His words. It IS by Love that we express the “fruit of the Spirit” and it IS by Love that we ARE keeping His words as His apostles so clearly show us. This IS then our spiritual reality…..that we keep His words and that it IS through this that we have His Presence, that we have the Kingdom of God and that we ARE His “disciples indeed” as we read in the Master’s words below.
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, 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. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:31-34).
It IS here, in the fullness of keeping His words, that we ARE free, that we are “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“….and it IS by measure that we have ALL these spiritual realities in our lives as we strive to DO so.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| 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.
Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled.
Live in joy, without possessions.
Like the shining ones.
The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers.
Let go of winning and losing and find joy.
There is no fire like passion, no crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.
Today’s Quote of the Day is from the Dhammapada (on JOY)5; a collection of the sayings of the Buddha. These words and ideas ARE much the same as those we discuss in our In the Words of Jesus essays. And what is this freedom but the release of our hearts and minds from loving this life in this world and attaining the Presence of God. This word Joy has many meanings as DOES the idea of Love, but in the context that it IS used here we should see the idea that Joy IS Love, Joy IS health, Joy IS peace and that Joy IS without the burdens placed on a man by the illusion and the glamour of the ways of the world. We should try to see that it IS the antithesis of these ideas in hate, in affliction and in troubles that ARE among the possessions of the carnal man, that ARE among the “evil treasure of his heart” (Luke 6:45) according to the Master.
And it IS in the second stanza above that we see the basic psychic ideas that can eliminate the harm caused by such “evil treasure” as a man looks past himself and at the welfare of others which IS the greater reality of Love as the Master teaches us. It IS in losing such possessions, losing such carnal thoughts and attitudes, that one can truly find the “joy of freedom“….this IS the Truth of deliverance.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 5 The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
