IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 500

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART XCII

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 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: 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. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:13-26).

So this is it; the five hundredth edition of In the Words of Jesus which were written in just over five hundred days. We have covered much in this time and there is yet so much more to cover as we speak about His words and their relationship to our own lives as aspirants and disciples. This edition will bring us about three thousand words closer to one and one-half million words which, according to the statistics of the word processing program, we are nearly at and, if we deduct the repeated headings and sayings, the category list and the tags that are posted with each essay we would see a number of about one million words. While this may seem like much, it is but a small investment in the abundance of thoughts and ideas that the Master’s words contain especially when viewed from the multiplicity of perspectives that are addressed in His sayings and the explanatory writings of His apostles. This brings to mind the saying of the Apostle John as he comments on the teachings and the acts of the Master; he says: “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen” (John 21:25). Of course this was written when the idea of a book was not nearly what it is to us today but the sentiment is important to understand as it tells us that the things which we have to read and to study of His Life are but a small percentage of the overall and when we compound this by the words required to adequately interpret His saying and speak about His actions we can see that this can be a Lifelong endeavor or, better yet an endless one. Just as a way of showing by example the reality of how His teachings span the centuries and are adaptable to every one, we should try to see how the man in His day, over two thousand years ago, read His words from an originally copied manuscript which were available only to the few, and how this grows in time to the printing press and the bindery where copies are more readily available and where a man no longer need rely upon the reading of one who claims authority. We come then to the mass produced printing of the modern printing plant that can put a copy in nearly every home and to the current day where we can read electronic copies and where we are able to store an entire small city library on a card that is about 1 inch square.

Can we see here that in the march of time the ability for a man to have access to Truth increases exponentially if we can use that word? Two thousand years ago one had to rely upon some figure of authority to receive any degree of spiritual Truth and this dynamic has changed over the centuries, and most rapidly over the last few, to a point where most ALL men in the ‘developed’ world have access to the actual words of scripture and an abundance of interpretations and commentaries and not only in print, but in audio and video media as well. This gives a totally different perspective to the Master’s caution that we recently discussed, “Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given” (Mark 4:24), when viewed from the perspective of hearing as such which includes reading and seeing. Of course we understand this word translated as hearing to be believing as the man in form but the same dynamic can be seen in play as the available sources of information have grown from hearing one speak or read from the limited availability of manuscripts to the greater availability accomplished over time to today where there is rather equal and unlimited access for ALL. The available sources of ‘truths’ are many multiples of what they were but a few years ago and our ‘hearing’ is as important an idea today as it was when there were but few, if fact, it is likely more important today because of the shear volume of ‘authoritative truths’ conflicting as they are. These are Truly different times but the True meaning of His words remains and, for some of us it is even greatly enhanced.

This makes our point from yesterday ever more important, that we are able to discern Truth but we must realize that right discernment requires some degree of Soul contact, some degree of recognizing and and understanding the anointing that John tells us about in his saying that “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27). Doctrine teaches that this anointing comes from the Holy Spirit but we would say that this anointing IS the Holy Spirit, it is the activity of the Christ Within in one’s Life. This is ever the source of Truth and it can paint all other sources as suspect; in this day and age it is no longer necessary nor beneficial to believe based upon the affirmations of another who may have the perceived authority of some body of men to teach even if ALL were teaching the same or at least similar truths. What is required today is that we believe based upon that inner understanding and acceptance and here we run into the words of the Apostle James again regarding the Wisdom from above. We may be told something and believe it but recognize that there is a selfish component in this thing that we believe, a component that benefits the carnal nature of a man and not the spiritual nature which we can define according to the Master’s words. In this recognition we will KNOW that this is not Wisdom from Above and, should we choose to believe anyway, we can likely KNOW and recognize our delusion. But what if we do not recognize the selfish component of what we are told is True but believe based upon the perceived authority of the speaker? Then, we can only say that we are among the many who can be seen in the same Light as those who hear the Truth and do not see the reality  as from either angle the effect is the same. If we believe a thing that is not True it is because we do not recognize the Truth in the Master’s words or we choose not to recognize the Truth, we are deluded; in the former by what we hear and in the latter by our own self.

Think in this context of  the Master’s teaching on divorce; it is not acceptable behavior and causes harm to one’s spouse an the children as well. The Master simply tells us that it is wrong saying:

• “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery” (Matthew 5:31-32).
• “The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery” (Matthew 19:3-9).

This is a complex subject with many facets but the reality in regard to our discussion is that the Master is telling us that it is wrong yet it has become acceptable in many quarters of the church and even in those that do not openly accept divorce there are other instruments that carry the same effect such as annulment. To most any sensible reader or hearer of the Master’s words, His message is rather clear but it is set aside in favor of doctrine or the pronouncements of those in authority who may well be a part of it themselves. Here we have the selfish motive in acceptance of divorce as being acceptable when in Truth we KNOW it is not; this IS delusion from a spiritual perspective. There is a reality in these words however that we may miss if we do not take the time to measure the realities involved. When a man is approaching the Path, when he is hearing and communicating with his True self, when the Soul is beginning to actively participate in the Life of the man in form because the man in form has finally seen the futility of Life in the world, then he tends toward the understanding that the reasons for divorce are purely selfish and that there is no spiritual profit in it. This is the view of the aspirant and of the disciple who took a vow in marriage and keeps it.

This is an example of the delusion that encumbers a man when the things of the flesh trump the things of the Spirit in one’s Life and there are many others. It is our misunderstanding of the teachings of the Master regarding such things as evil and sin that keep many away from thoughts about God and things spiritual; it we could but see that evil and sin are ALL things that keep him enmeshed in the ways and the things of the world rather than seeing these as egregious acts of man, he could have a better realization of True spirituality and True religion and the thoughts of the Master on serving God or mammon would make good sense. We close today with a simple statement;

ALL men are in sin who are attending to the things of the world instead of attending to the things of God and we are only free from sin when we can say with the Master: “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

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.:

Today we post a World Prayer that is also included in the Prayers and Meditation section with some explanation of its source and its use. We are entering a time of the year which we can consider more sacred by way of the newness of Spring which should reflect in our newness of Life. This is the Festival of Easter and a time of rejoicing; not only for the Resurrection of the Lord from the Christian perspective but also for the teaching that is incorporated in the Master’s sacrifice 2000 years ago and in His continued sacrifice. We should remember His parting words: “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20)

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.