Sunday, December 20, 2009

THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES

5. Spiritual Substance
That which is held in mind comes into form. The more that we hold in mind the beauty, the permeating essence, and the infinity of Substance, the more does its perfection come into perfect form for us.

Therefore, it is most important to learn to establish the realisation of the basic divine ideas rather than to use the limited intellectual concepts of manifest man’s habits of thought.

Paul taught us that Substance is Omnipresence. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him though he be not far from every one of us; For in him we live, move, and have our being…Acts 17:27-28.

In this invisible sea of Substance, man is always near, within and all around him. It must make us aware of our divine nature to realise this Truth.

In the 139th Psalm, we have another lesson on the invisible, limitless Substance, out of which all things are formed. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works; and that your soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. – Psalms 139; 14-16.

These verses of the Psalm point out the invisible waiting Substance in which the perfect pattern of the One Mind inheres. All is contained in the limitless, spiritual Substance. It is formless and comes into form according to the habitual thinking and feeling and visioning of man.

When we accept the idea of Substance as Omnipresence, we know that there is nothing to fear; that there is no lack, in reality; that we need not be anxious, weak, ill, or poor, or lonely. We know that consistent holding to the ideal brings forth ideal results. Substance is moulded by our thought fingers. However, as we continue our study of Truth principles, we realise more and more that we, as humans, have no right to manipulate people or conditions.

We learn that the quality of creative goodness always responds to our vision of Truth, and so we place our effort on the envisioning of the divine attributes and our oneness with Spirit. Expectancy of good brings the Substance into form as needed. That is the glory and the wonder of the basic creative activity.

Bread is the symbol of Substance. In the Lord’s Prayer, in the feeding of the multitudes when Jesus broke the bread available to have it increase to sufficiency, and in the Last Supper when He asked the disciples to partake of bread naming it “my body”, we are shown the truth that Substance is the reality out of which all things are formed.

Form, however, does not refer to material objects only. We must remember that man is a threefold being, Spirit, soul and body. Each aspects of his being must be nourished and sustained so that he may express and manifest the divine ideal. Therefore, within Substance are the ideas needed for the orderly, subtle qualities of harmony, of envisioning, of power; within Substance, are the qualities of life and strength, of vitality, and beauty; within Substance are the component elements that make for prosperity, for abundance of supply, for achievement, and security.

Man’s soul is fed through his acceptance of Spiritual Substance as the living reality within him, and thus he gives more room to Spirit, the eternal identity of his being. Spirit never changes. It rests with man to expand his consciousness of the Presence, in order to permit more and more of the divine essence to come forth.

And so we understand that we include, in the Divine Attributes, the infinity and the all-ness of God. So we include Omniscience as the all-knowing Wisdom that God is. We include Omnipotence as the only Power, the One Power in the creation, and we understand that Omnipresence is God. There is no place outside of God. God, the One Mind, Spirit, permeates the whole creation as Omnipresence.

Now it rests with the individual to make these attributes living realities through study, quite meditation and prayer. When we give our earnest attention, Spirit fulfils.


End




Source: Faith and Works by Helen Zagat

Sunday, December 13, 2009

THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES


5. Spiritual Substance

God is substance. Spiritual Substance is spiritual energy, emanating from God-Mind in creative activity. Spiritual Substance is the idea of all-ness in Divine Mind. It is the real out of which all things in the creation are formed.

We have accepted the truth that God is Mind and that Divine-Mind is all; but, for, many people, there remains a vague doubt or puzzlement as to how the eternal verity can be transformed into the minutiae of our daily needs in our little human lives.

At this point, let us be clear as to the real meaning of substance. We must make the distinction between the use of the word in the popular, worldly sense, and the metaphysical meaning. We are not using the word, substance, to designate a material manifestation, such as “an object made of a hard, shiny substance. Spiritual Substance is invisible to the five senses of man.

Spiritual Substance is invisible Mind-Energy, or Mind-Essence. It is the reality within the creation, either the invisible or the visible creation. Substance is that out of which all things are formed. It is the reality back of and within every visible form or expression in the creation. It is ever in process of movement. It is responsive to the pressure of man’s thoughts and feeling. That is why it is important for man to train his essential thinking patterns, and his emotions.

Spiritual Substance is really Omnipresence. It is the “body of God,” or the permeating essence. In this Substance inhere all the basic, creative ideas in Divine Mind. All that is needed is within the invisible, shimmering, radiant Substance. It is swift and unfailing in its response to man’s call of faith.

The comprehension of the attribute of Substance can be the key that opens the gate to the living of life in the miracle way. It is most important to probe beneath even what is called “deep meaning”. When we open our minds to Divine Wisdom, we receive revelation of truth to the consciousness. By meditation and receptivity, we are shown the true meaning.

Thus we receive a vivid realization of our connection with the Infinite and with the divine attributes.

Man has not recognised Substance because his thought has been centred on effect instead of cause; on the manifestation in matter instead of on the idea back of manifestation.

The truth is that Substance is the reality. We can comprehend this more vividly when we examine the Scriptures with understanding.

We have already referred to the book of Genesis, chapters one and two. And we find that Jesus proved the reality of the invisible Substance continually, as He taught and ministered to the people. In the fourth Chapter of the book of John, He tried to bring the truth of Substance to the attention of His disciples; Say ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. John 4:35. In this lesson, we see the meaning of Substance. All is ever waiting in the invisible, ready to come into form, according to the visioning of man. This visioning is above the psychological faculty of visualizing, which deals with the picturing of material things.

To envision the divine Principle is to make at-one-ment with Spirit. Then the perfection of Spirit works in us and through us and for us. The manifestation is greater than that which can think.

When we have a true comprehension of the invisible, omnipresent Substance, our underneath feeling and thinking mold the Substance in a general way, for the manifestation of good. There are times to be specific. For instance, one knows that one needs to meet obligations in our world, or that one wants health, or harmony in certain situations, or inspiration for achievement in creating work. Then give thanks that the invisible Substance, in which all divine ideas inhere, comes into manifestation to meet every good need and more.

That which is held in mind comes into form. The more that we hold in mind the beauty, the permeating essence, and the infinity of Substance, the more does its perfection come into perfect form for us.

Spiritual Substance, Divine Attribute to be continued………





Source: Faith and Works by Helen Zagat

Sunday, December 6, 2009

THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES

4. POWER

God is Power. Divine Mind moving on itself generates power. There is only one Power. This is the power in the creation. It propels ideas into manifestation. Without power, there would be no manifestation. Faith, love, wisdom, life, requires power and strength to fulfil their offices in the creation.

The human consciousness must accept power in its divine aspect, in order to achieve results on life’s pathway. But there must be the realisation that there is only one power-God –Power. This power is good and only good. Any manifestation of power used evilly is the result of man’s mistaken use of free will and of the power to think. For instance, both the inventor and the counterfeiter use the one power.

The counterfeiter misuses that power for selfish ends; the inventor lets the power work through him for good purposes.

There is the good use of power, and there is the false use of power resulting in tyranny and dictatorships.

Jesus said: All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matthew 28:18. We understand this to mean that when we unify with the Christ Mind, we can receive the flow of power in thought, and on earth which represents our body and circumstances.

With the realisation that God is all, and that God is Power, we begin to feel the glory of Omnipotence – All-Power. We know, with unshakable conviction that there is nothing to fear, that that Power, used with the attributes of Love and Wisdom, must bring forth vitality of expression in the soul; strength in body; active idea-patterns leading only to the good; and splendid achievement. In this power lies healing for ourselves and for others.

The word is empowered when we let divine power flow through us, balanced by the perfect activity of the law of being.

In the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, we find a vivid presentation of the principle as it is to be applied to the individual.

Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgement is passed over from my God?

Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40;27-29; 31.

We have the admonition to hold to the truth that God is always with us, within us, and all around us; that God is the Creator, the only Power. In realising our oneness with God, we partake of power to do all things. This power applies to our thinking, to our good judgement, to our visioning of ideals, to our bodies and to our circumstances.

We are the channels when we are receptive, and when we have faith in the One Presence and the One Power as the real activity within us.

End of Power Divine Attribute


Next……… Spiritual Substance Attribute



Source: Faith and Works by Helen Zagat