ON LOVE; PART MCCI
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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).
In the last essay we continued with our discussion of the ideas and words that Paul uses to convey to us the importance of Love, of agape, and his defining ideas as to how agape IS to be expressed in this world where most ALL are yet afflicted by the illusion and the glamour put upon them by way of their birth. As Souls, the True man, the unction and the Christ Within, we ARE born into this vanity which IS then complicated by our nurturing and indoctrination and here we should understand that this IS under the reality of the Plan of God as the Apostle Paul tells us saying “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same” (Romans 8:20).
We should try to see here that it IS the Soul that IS so subjected and that it IS the Soul whose consciousness IS in that: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. This IS NOT because the Soul has lost its own innate reality of being part and parcel of God, this IS because his consciousness IS lost in the illusion, focused upon the self and the things of the self in this world, through a form that he CAN NOT yet control. It IS this sense of vanity and illusion that must be overcome and it IS this illusion from which the Soul in form must be freed which IS the reality of the apostles continuing words saying that “the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
As we discussed in previous posts, the idea here of being delivered IS rendered from the same Greek word, eleutheroo, that IS rendered in our trifecta as “make you free“. We should note that to be delivered implies the action of an outside force….of God if you will, while to be made free according to the Master’s words saying “the truth shall make you free” shows us that it IS by one’s own action to gain such Truth that one will find that “glorious liberty of the children of God“. The point here, both Paul’s and ours, IS that men ARE here in this Earth as Souls living in form, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4 because this IS simply the way of Life as men in this world.
And while we may NOT understand the Divine Purpose behind this, we should be able to see that ALL scripture IS intended to show us the way to our freedom, the way to escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:2-4). We ARE Souls and as such we DO KNOW the Truth, as this unction we DO “know all things” (1 John 2:20); we DO NOT however KNOW them in our carnally focused minds. And we should make NO mistake, ALL men ARE at least somewhat carnally focused as they tend to their little lives here in this Earth. We should try to understand that it IS ONLY in agape that the carnal hold IS broken, it IS ONLY in agape that men can see past their little lives and their indoctrination; it IS ONLY in the fullness of one’s expression of agape that True salvation IS found.
We should try to see here that we come to this place of full expression by measure; it IS by measure that we can go from being nothing spiritually to being a disciple of the Lord. It IS agape that provides our escape from “the corruption that is in the world through lust” and here we should be able to see that in the fullness of agape one has NO lusts nor desires for any worldly thing. And it IS in the fullness of agape that we ARE found keeping His words as Paul shows us in his words that make these ideas equal; to Truly Love as the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule show us and as the Master’s teaching instructs us IS ever to look past the self and the interests of the self and to place one’s focus squarely upon the things of God. Repeating Paul’s words we read:
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:8-11).
From the perspective of the Apostle James we should be able to see that there IS much work to be done, done in the spirit of the husbandman. James tells us that “the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it” (James 5:7). This IS the deeper idea of the Greek word makrothumeo, the verb form of the idea we have been studying, applied to the actions of a man who DOES have the necessary measure of understanding. Here the idea IS rendered as “long patience” but we should be able to see that this IS NOT merely waiting according to our common view of patience. Again, the husbandman IS working diligently for “the precious fruit of the earth” KNOWING that there IS much work to be done.
Here again we can interpret the idea of makrothumia in terms of understanding as a spiritual concept, understanding that “the precious fruit of the earth“, the Redemption of Souls if you will, requires such makrothumia and this for the oneself as well as for others. This idea of makrothumia should be seen here, and in the entirety of the apostles words here, as that aspect of Love, that quality and nature of agape, at work. These ideas on makrothumia ARE among James closing thoughts which begin with that other idea which IS rendered as patience, hupomone, and should be understood as that steadfastness that IS the product of the understanding of makrothumia; it IS in such understanding that we can see ourselves in a Truer Light and understand the work that lies before us.
James tells us that “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” and here we should understand that there ARE but few who have been able to overcome this product of our own vanity, our own fixation on the illusion and the glamour that plague us as Souls. And this IS the work that must be DONE first, that we should steadily grow as as essential part of that “precious fruit of the earth” before we can Truly help others to see the greater Truth. We should see here that it IS the man who can “ask in faith, nothing wavering” that will increase. James tells us that “he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed” (James 1:6) and in makrothumia that we can see this in ourselves and throughout humanity.
And this IS NOT unlike the Master’s words that tell us how it IS that we can move the mountain or be able to “say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:6). To DO such things one must be single-minded which Jesus shows us as “have faith, and doubt not” (Matthew 21:21) as Matthew tells us and as “whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23) as Mark records this same thought. These ideas on KNOWING without doubt ARE the True meaning of “faith as a grain of mustard seed” (Luke 17:6).
These ideas of makrothumia and hupomone ARE KEY components of our ability to KNOW, to have such “faith as a grain of mustard seed“, and both of these ARE qualities of agape which IS the foundational reality of ALL. This IS NOT said lightly; we must ever remember that agape IS the defining quality of God and, as such, it must be the defining quality of ALL men who seek to “be partakers of the divine nature“. We should try understand here that despite the doctrinal assertions on faith and its ability to bring men carnal rewards according to the words from Mark above, there IS NO thing carnal in the reality of grace, NO thing carnal that will come from God; there IS NO reaping of carnal reward here in this Earth.
The reality of those “exceeding great and precious promises“, the reality of one having “whatsoever he saith“, IS the reality of becoming “partakers of the divine nature“. It IS one’s realization of some measure of that “divine nature” that IS everyman’s reward as the grace of God in his Life; this IS for us “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” and there IS nothing carnal in this. We read the Apostle Peter’s words again in context saying: “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:2-4).
While today one may NOT have that “faith as a grain of mustardseed” (Matthew 17:20), it IS this that makrothumia and hupomone will engender in the Life of the man who will keep His words….the man whose expression IS increasingly agape. But we must understand that this ability to “have faith, and doubt not“, this ability to “not doubt in his heart, but shall believe“, IS the reality of that same KNOWING that Jesus shows us in the trifecta. The Master tells us that the source of ALL such KNOWING is found in keeping His words….this IS KNOWING the Truth as we read again in our trifecta of spiritual reality 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).
- “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).
- “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).
Here we have the Truth that “shall make you free“, we have the realization of the Presence of God and we have our entry into the Kingdom of God; ALL of this through keeping His words which Paul shows us as the reality of our expression of agape in his words above. Here we should try to see how that these ideas ALL tie together through the singular idea of agape and then its qualities or aspects which Paul IS showing us in makrothumia and chresteuomai. We should try to see here again that the idea of makrothumia IS so much more that longsuffering and patience as this IS rendered and understood; makrothumia takes us to the very heart of agape and it IS here that we see and understand NOT ONLY our own plight but the affliction of vanity, of illusion and glamour, on ALL mankind.
Thayer’s defining idea makrothumia: to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart 9, gives us a better view of the idea being presented by the apostle. In this we can better see the relationship between the spiritual man and his heart in this world and if we can understand that the heart IS the consciousness of a man which IS either under the control of the Spirt, or Soul, or it is under the control of the carnal mind and emotions, we can perhaps better see the point. Under the control of the Spirit or Soul, the heart of a man DOES understand his own plight and he DOES more clearly see the affliction of vanity, of illusion and glamour, on ALL mankind and here we should remember the Master’s words by which we can better understand this dynamic; Jesus tells us “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” Matthew 12:34).
Makrothumia then, as a quality of agape, IS present in the Life of everyman who expresses agape. It IS also then a product of that KNOWING that comes in keeping His words and, if we can connect the dots, it IS also then a product of the Truth. To KNOW the Truth IS ever the reality of expressing agape as this IS the singular Truth that ties ALL things together and holds ALL things together. There IS NO way to separate these ideas and here we should be able to see the role of makrothumia as our ability to see ALL men as One….with NO “respect to persons” whatsoever. This IS Paul’s point in showing the disciples at Corinth makrothumia as the foremost quality of Love. Repeating our selection we read:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not agape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And 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 agape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not agape, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
“Agape suffereth long, and is kind; agape envieth not; agape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Agape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
If we ARE to look at the idea of makrothumia as patience or as longsuffering, we should look at this from the perspective of the Spirit which IS ever One with God who IS agape. Peter shows us the Lord’s view of makrothumia as His being “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” and while this idea of makrothumia IS rendered in terms of patience and longsuffering by most, it IS rendered as “He bears patiently with you” and as “he is waiting in mercy for you” by the Weymouth and the Bible in Basic English translations respectively. These later ideas give us the more proper flavour of the Lord’s view as He IS waiting for us, for men universally and individually, to free themselves from “the bondage of corruption“….to escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust“.
It IS the single-minded man who has escaped the plight of the man whose focus IS NOT fixed upon the things of God and here we should remember that the double minded man, the man who IS “unstable in all his ways” IS the man of whom James says “let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord” (James 1:7). We should remember here as well that the apostle’s subject here IS NOT the things of the world but rather the things of God which he shows us as Wisdom; the same Wisdom which he later defines in terms of the world as “confusion and every evil work” and in terms of God as that it “is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:16, 17).
This idea of Wisdom IS agape and should be understood in terms of one’s expression of Love as makrothumia. James DOES NOT speak in terms of agape save in repeating the Great Commandment and in showing the reward “to them that love him” (James 1:12, 2:5). James DOES however speak in terms of Wisdom, of the Wisdom of God, “the wisdom that is from above” which IS “Every good gift and every perfect gift“; this Wisdom “is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights” (James 3:17, 1:17). This Wisdom IS reflected in the Quote of the Day on our blog that we have been carrying now for some time; this Wisdom IS the effect of one’s expression of agape and this Wisdom provides the whole of makrothumia, the whole of our KNOWING ourselves and through this KNOWING the plight of ALL men.
And we must ever understand that this ability to express agape along with the makrothumia which helps us to DO so with NO “respect to persons” comes to us by measure….by the same measure that we ARE focused upon the things of God. Here we have the True idea of Jesus’ words saying “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you” (Mark 4:24) and while this idea IS offered us in terms of “what ye hear” by the Apostle Mark and in generality and in relationship to judgement by the Apostle Matthew, it IS according to Luke that Christian doctrines see this idea. Too many interpret Luke’s words into material gain and this despite the context in which it IS offered.
Luke tells us “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:37-38). The context here IS a lack of judgement and condemnation, it IS forgiveness, and it IS these that “shall be given unto you” as one gives them and NOT the carnal things as IS taught in so much of the church.
Too many teach that to give IS in terms of tithes and donations and that one’s reward will be in greater measure. This they interpret from their idea that one’s reward will be “pressed down, and shaken together, and running over” which they understand in carnal terms as” shall men give into your bosom“, and this despite the fact that the idea of men IS NOT a part of the apostle’s words. It IS in the minds of men that the personal note IS added here and whether this be in the form of men or, as rendered by many, as they, this IS but the interpretation of men, an interpretation which sees a reward that IS “running over” with excess despite the next words that show us that it IS “the same measure” which “shall be measured to you again“.
There ARE NO others stated or implied in these words and when taken in context we should see ONLY the man who will “Judge not“, the man who will “condemn not” and the man who will forgive offering these things and receiving from the Lord ever more of “the wisdom that is from above“. Again, it IS this Wisdom that IS “Every good gift and every perfect gift” that “cometh down from the Father of lights” and it IS in this Wisdom that we find the ability to express agape and to DO so in its quality of makrothumia.
To express agape in this quality of makrothumia IS to express that understanding which sees through the eye of Wisdom that as God “is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) neither should be the man who IS created in the “image of God” (Genesis 1:27) to be His expression of His defining quality in this world….Love. We close today with the idea behind the Master’s words saying “For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again“. Here we should see the reality of that same reward that He shows us in regard to our expression of agape as He tells us “if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?” (Matthew 5:46). And we should remember here that there IS ONLY one reward that “cometh down from the Father of lights” and this IS “the wisdom that is from above“, the Wisdom by which we ARE able to express agape and understand ourselves and the plight of our brothers.
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 |
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GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
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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.
We change our Quote of the Day today to the words from Solomon on Wisdom along with our thoughts on them from the original postings of them in In the Words of Jesus parts 46 and 556. These words ARE a testament to those things that we should be asking of the Lord and which are representative of the Holy Ghost. Wisdom, understanding and knowledge which will lead us to understanding the fear (reverence and respect and awe) of the Lord and the knowledge of God so that in this world we can understand righteousness and judgement and equity and be preserved by discretion and understanding. Thus are we in a position to treat everyone as we would want to be treated ourselves.
Since we are centered on the ideas of Wisdom today we offer the following from Proverbs as our Quote of the Day. Solomon, who is KNOWN for his Wisdom, which we read in the story of his Life was His gift from God, a gift that he receives because he does not want for the things of the world. But Solomon gains as well the things of the world in plenty and as his Life story proceeds we can see clearly that it is his Life in the world that is to his detriment. The wisdom however produces for us the writings of the Book of Proverbs and it is this that he is remembered for. His Life is interesting reading and is well documented in the Books of Kings and Chronicles.
….incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee (Proverbs 2:2-11).
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
