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Edna Lister’s Sermons, 1955
Every Mother’s Domain
Edna Lister outline, May 8, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Romans 8:28-39.
“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”–Romans 8:28-39.
Every mother’s domain is a kingdom of love. Wherever a mother steps, love one day shall make a shrine and “holy ground.” Every mother should be a “burning bush” to consume any evil as it approaches her loved ones. When all women return to the soul ray of joyous love, as one, wars will cease. There will be no more crying, no more sorrow, and no more death.
From creature to creator, a mother’s love is the guiding hand behind all achievement. And who are mothers? Every man or woman who mothers anything in business, patients, clients, animals—each lives under and uses the Mother Love ray.
Among those of lesser intelligence, the creatures and the sons of men, a mother trains her children to seek better than she had. Whatever her ideals or lacks, a mother passes on what she is as a living heritage, whether to seek greater creature comforts or just a better education.
A mother’s love lifts according to her degree and kind of love. In the son of God and creator stages of soul development, mothers impart the ideals that fill the world with artists, scientists, doctors, philosophers and ministers. Every stage, every degree, every class uses the Mother Love of God as the glue that holds their relationships together. The individual, from the lowest to the highest, is credited with that degree as their 100 percent ability to love. Whenever and wherever you give your “all,” you’ve given your 100 percent.
So, to sum your whole earth lesson in a few words: You are learning to love God enough, and learning the deeps and heights of the Mother Love of God. This chapter of Romans is dedicated to the love of all mothers. Inverted love is behind all hatred and wars. Think. God is one Spirit, one Power, one Love, one Wisdom. You have nothing else to use. How you use what God has given you determines your results.
The first keynote of Mother Love is sacrifice, giving up self to protect, provide and send her child forth armored in Light. The second keynote is to forgive, again and again. Mothers are never insulted by their children. They may hurt, ache, yearn and grieve, yes, but only because their children cannot see the reality. A mother accepts any trial by fire, and stands, holds to the truth, and knows that all will work together for good. She forgives any offense, loves, and forgets. Mothers are predestined to love, called to love, justified by love, and glorified by loving enough. No charge can be brought against a mother who loves enough, for to love enough means to become of the Elect.
Who can separate you from God’s Mother Love? You conquer, and God works all things together for good because you love. You become a mother to any thing or person whom you love enough. Your business becomes your “holy ground.” Your home and family become your temple because you let the Mother Love of God use you. You lift, enfold, brood over and cover your domain with your wings. You yearn over them all, as God loves you.
Life’s True Savor
Edna Lister outline, May 15, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Matthew 5:13-16, Leviticus 2:13, James 1:17.
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”–Matthew 5:13-16.
“Every meal-offering of thine shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal-offering; with all thy offerings thou shalt offer salt.”–Leviticus 2:13.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”–James 1:17.
Physically, salt is essential for life, and was man’s first choice as a preservative for meats and other foods. In lesser quantities, salt enhances the flavor of food, making it tastier, savory, more interesting. Unsalted dishes seem to have little or no flavor, are bland, tasteless and uninteresting. Psychologically, the twins, indifference and lukewarmness, are uninteresting, tasteless bores who make you want to pull away and run. When it comes to being interesting, indifference and lukewarmness are forever being trampled, pushed aside, overlooked, forgotten and inevitably left out socially. You want to follow that interesting pair, determination and hope, because they always have something to do and somewhere to go. They salt you and build up your fervency and interest, which is a first step up from the doldrums or a boring humdrum life.
“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.”–Matthew 5:14-15. Nothing can hide a city set on a hill. Its lights beckon from afar and call to you to look closer. Not putting your light “under a basket” tells you to be up and out and doing, not to draw in, sit in a corner, hugging your tiny bit of truth alone by yourself and for the self.
Salt has great spiritual significance, too—“Every meal-offering of thine shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal-offering; with all thy offerings thou shalt offer salt.”–Leviticus 2:13. With the salt of Spirit, you take a second step up from mere interest in to brisk love and active joy, with no silly sentimentalism or whine of self-pity. You become your share of the “light of the world.”
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”–Matthew 5:16. You light your house and your kingdom and take a third step, to let your light so shine, pure Light from above, unadulterated by self. No forced pseudo-light is good enough. You cannot fool God with false shining, which are meaningless just words, for “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”–James 1:17.
Your “Added Things”
Edna Lister outline, May 22, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Matthew 6:8, 6:33, 7:7-8.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”–Matthew 6:33. This verse begs us to ask, seek and knock, but to ask what, seek where and knock how?
“Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”–Matthew 6:8. Most people ask, “Why must I do all this when my Father already knows what I need before I ask Him? Why does He make it so hard for me when I must struggle so much here below?”
God gave you an immense amount of soul substance before you descended in this Day of Manifestation. He gave you a vast Oversoul star filled with a huge supply of soul substance, stamped with your name vibration, untouchable by any other.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”–Matthew 7:7-8. Each star is a storehouse that has only one key. I have mine, you have yours—every soul has its own key to unlock his personal star storehouse. If God had not given you the key, you would have no free will to choose what you desire to create.
Your Oversoul star was filled from birth with soul substance ready for you to use. Not only that but a vast reserve supply is also awaiting your call in God’s Bank of Light. Remember, no one else can contact, access or use your private account in God’s Bank. It also contains all your buried memories, talents and hidden treasures of substance and life—the glory of all “added things” to come, waiting, waiting, waiting for you to draw on its abundance.
Although God knows when you need the substance, you have the key. Even He cannot confiscate your key or unlock this storehouse for you. You must use your own unique key to open the lock. The key itself is love, it has has three notches named ask, seek and knock, and with the same key, you must also open three doors, one after another.
The first door is instinctive intelligence moving up to become intellectual reasoning. Instinctive intelligence greedily takes, grasps, and forces, saying, “I will have it, I demand my rights. I am right.” It takes a lot of fumbling to fit the key of love into this tiny keyhole, but truth slowly enters to fill your consciousness.
The second door opens to intellectual reasoning, where you learn more, though you still use law to provide good reasons for doing as you please. You use techniques you find in books, compare teachers and methods until you realize that have bound yourself between the covers of all the books you’ve bought. You still need proof, because you still must see it before you believe it.
Finally, you ascend to the third door, to Oversoul I AM, the Christed consciousness, which opens your star storehouse filled with substance. You ask, seek and knock until the three doors unlock instantaneously as an act of unconquerable faith.
The unlimited potential Power available is magnificent, beyond compare. Speaking the Word frees your soul substance to start flowing from your star as more life, which is renewed from the Heavenly Reserve Bank instantly, as fast as you use it whether in a million years, a day or an instant. When you surrender to the Power’s use, you open the third door to God-consciousness, the mind that was in Christ Jesus, the Christ mind. Moving up, tall and free, you ask to be filled with greater love of God, and seek to be used in more ways.
Finally, you knock on the door to the kingdom first. In one smooth act, your key opens the final door to the vast storehouse awaiting your needs. The Heavenly Reserve Bank of supply fills all your needs amply, to overflowing, for you have reached your Father’s Home. He knows what you need before you ask Him, and you receive before you ask.
Jesus, the Scientist
Edna Lister outline, May 29, 1955, Tacoma, WA. October 31, 1954. Matthew 5:1-12.
“Seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”–Matthew 5:1-12.
In all books on the mysteries of God, we find agreement that the lesser mysteries number fifteen. The first six deal with our attitude of worship, reverence, awe and devotion to God as our Father Creator.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”–Matthew 6:33.
“Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him.–Matthew 5:25.
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.”–1 Thessalonians 5:22.
“What is that to thee? Follow thou me.”–John 21:22.
“I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”–John 12:32.
This is Good! Let there be Light! (Genesis 1).
The second set of nine lesser mysteries, the Beatitudes, deals with our attitude toward the outer world and to our fellow man.
The first beatitude is “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”–Matthew 5:2. “Poor in spirit” means possessing nothing as your own, but releasing all the Power that God sends through you. In Jesus’ time, being poor in spirit symbolized the opposite of pride. God created the soul for law to use, not for self to use law, or Light as Mind, Substance, or Power. You face three main temptations in ascension: the first step up from the creature to the son of man stage, the consciousness of your need to give up self, and the consciousness of sacrificing self in service for another. The overriding desire for self-preservation is a sure sign of dwelling in creature consciousness.
The second Beatitude is “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”–Matthew 5:4. Instinctive creature consciousness mourns in the vale of illusion, the valley of grief, misty with tears shed in self-pity. Selfish grief feels loss, and cries, “What shall I do?” Self grieves when soul requires it to give up its possession of people, things, thoughts, pictures and emotions. Animals experience no grief, but creature consciousness creates and experiences self-centered grief in the son of man through the son of God stages. The son of God stage experiences the first unselfish grief for another, which opens the first union of desire and will, a marriage of the Lamb: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.”–Revelation 2:17. The hidden manna is a combination of intuition and illumination, which are soul faculties. Your “new name” is revealed as you open the pineal body to function as I AM consciousness, the mind that was in Christ Jesus.
The third Beatitude is “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”–Matthew 5:5. As you, the soul, become a complete son or daughter of God, the Spirit of the Lord goes before you as the vibration of “I accept.” Clad in the attitude of acceptance, you are held in the arms of the vast protective law of nonresistance, which fills your aura with rays of repulsion of darkness that absorb any worldly vibrations and returns them as perfect Light.
The fourth Beatitude is “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”–Matthew 5:6. Only this step of hunger and thirst can you ever contact enough love, the love enough that fulfills all law. This is the first step after the outpouring of Power that leads you into the creator stage. Righteousness is right doing, your soul’s vision in action. Step by step, as you assume these “Be-attitudes,” you grow in the stature of the Christ. When you exclaim, “I arise!” you ascend to your Christing. The white wings of the Christ Light descend to enfold and protect the golden bowl, your head. Life itself becomes your miracle, a stage on which you play the part of the creator until you become fully surrendered to the desire and will of God for you.
The fifth Beatitude is “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”–Matthew 5:7. Compassion takes charge of your consciousness and you become a “defender of the faith of God.” You can use your compassion to cover your loved ones’ transgressions in Light so great that even God cannot see them. Thus, under law, they are cleansed as you declare “All is good!” This fifth step opens comprehension of the beauty of God’s Creation and the need to keep it spotless everywhere. You know freedom from darkness because you just cannot see anything but blame-less-ness. Compassion is yours to spend lavishly.
The sixth Beatitude is “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”–Matthew 5:8. Purity of heart, mind and purpose follows mercy. With honor above all else as your ideal, you cannot bear to stand in any darkness. The full law of forgiveness takes charge in your life. Now you can stand blamelessly because you have become the law of blamelessness.
The seventh Beatitude is “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”–Matthew 5:9. Peacemakers are pacesetters in ascension. Declare, “I lift all that comes to me as I walk in praise of the Creator who protects me. I assume all blame, lifting itas it surfaces through the Light I carry.”
The eighth Beatitude is “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”–Matthew 5:10. You now become the full servant of all the Mind, Substance and Power. The white Light of the Christ is a visible sign of a soul ascending to be crowned. Being persecuted for righteousness’ sake symbolizes high vision in action just as religion is an active process in your life, a constant rebuke to lukewarmness and indifference. This signals that you are not a part-timer, but constantly remain high in consciousness, with your head above the crowd, which is growth as ascension in consciousness. You are no longer a target for the love of God melts, dissolves and absorbs all weapons of darkness turned against you. Light melts bullets and turns swords into hoops. This Beatitude is full surrender, the last step in becoming a creator of good.
The ninth Beatitude is responsibility. You permit the self no enemies or blame, but deal compassionately with everyone in your social, business and family relationships. The ninth Beatitude is “Blessed are you, when they revile and persecute you, and shall say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”–Matthew 5:11-12. Nine symbolizes a two-way mirror in which Light shines and reveals the dark smudges, yours and the other fellow’s. Two live wires spark when they meet and could electrocute each other. When the other fellow comes near, your mirror reflects what he is beneath the surface. If he decides that what he sees is in you, he says you are to blame! Since he hasn’t yet learned about reflections, you must lift in love. Nine represents brotherhood and responsibility. Being blamed is a sign that the I AM consciousness, the mind of Christ in you has become a teacher for others!
Each Beatitude is a scientific “way of life.” This magic mirror opens the all-seeing eye of soul vision so that you may see and hear spiritually when needed. “Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”–Matthew 5:37. Others may persecute and revile you “for my sake” when you live by yea and nay. You can say, “Bless you,” to lift a person Even a smile covers transgressions. The first three Beatitudes govern the son of man who is seeking his divine inheritance. The second three govern the son of God, who is actively doing, receiving Light, opening a vibration, and is used by law from above. The final three Beatitudes govern creators who are becoming law and returning with “all things added” from the outer world.
Promises Are Keys
Edna Lister outline, May 29, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Matthew 16:19.
“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”–Matthew 16:19.
The promises you find in the Bible are each keys, and all are keys to your kingdom of success. Truth teaches that you do not wait for a hereafter to go to “a” heaven, but make your own heaven here and now. First, what kind of kingdom do you really want? One of ease and comfort, given to you? Or one that you earn? Your privilege is to make up your mind. Many folks “make down” their minds instead of making them up, bedding down like sheep with indifference and lukewarmness, thinking to get out of paying their debts to God’s laws. You get back what you send out under the law of action and reaction. Your words, blessings, curses or gossip, come home to roost, and sometime, somewhere you will be forced to eat every word you utter that is unlike the love of God.
You can use promises as keys. The Bible is filled with extravagant promises, all of which carry certain responsibilities with them. Proverbs 18:16 promises, “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men,” if that man keeps his gift alive, uses it and exercises it, but not if he lets it die by sitting down, folding his hands and waiting. Another proverb declares, “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life.”–Proverbs 22:4. True humility is a state of grace, where having become law, you are used by love, and the glory of faith, with no thought of self. “Fear of the Lord” is love of obedience and worship that brings “riches, and honor, and life,” which you earn by serving where you are.
“Whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”–Mark 11:24. Do you know that all things are possible to God? Can you stand unwavering, steadfast, never decreasing your vision, but always letting it grow? “He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”–John 14:12. Can you do greater works because you are greater? No, but because the Light as Power being released is greater.
Finally, “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.”–Psalm 91:7. Nothing can come near you but love, when you are safely tucked under the hem of God’s robe, but first you must be there. These promises are the God-given keys to your kingdom of success now.
The Walls of Jericho
Edna Lister outline, June 5, 1955, August 28, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Hebrews 11:1-3, 11:30, Joshua 6:1-16, 20.
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.”–Hebrews 11:30.
“Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said unto Joshua, “See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.” And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” And he said unto the people, “Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lord.” And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the Lord, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.” So the ark of the Lord compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the Lord, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, “Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city”…So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”–Joshua 6:1-16, 20.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”–Hebrews 11:1-3.
Israel had wandered the wilderness for forty years before the Lord commanded Joshua to cross the Jordan River and conquer the city of Jericho. He told Joshua to be strong, courageous and obedient to law, and their victory was sure. Jericho had heard rumors of the miracles that Israel had strewn in its wake, especially the drying up of the Red Sea, and how they had utterly destroyed the Amorites. They were frightened and had strongly fortified their city, but to no avail. Israel obeyed God, and Jericho’s walls fell down.
Obedience requires faith to hold and travel toward a goal, conquering step by step. This is the way of the soul’s upward progress. Like an airplane’s shadow, the little self below is always falling into ditches and holes, wandering in dark valleys, lost in fog or storms, while soul is skimming the heights. Self is forever trying and finally does come to rest as part of soul.
Faith is the substance for which you struggle and the evidence that you will eventually win, if you keep your soul free of earth, wings spread, and throw out the ballast of self. If you run into clouds, fly higher into the sunlight. Darkness is a sign that you are too low in consciousness, and need to seek and find your high vision again. Never stop, never give up until you are enfolded in Light to express your original image and the brightness of His glory.
The Walls of Jericho
Edna Lister transcript, June 5, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Ruth Collord, scribe. Hebrews 11:1-3 11:30, Joshua 6:1-16, 20.
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.”–Hebrews 11:30.
“Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said unto Joshua, “See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.” And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” And he said unto the people, “Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lord.” And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the Lord, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.” So the ark of the Lord compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the Lord, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, “Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city”…So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”–Joshua 6:1-16, 20.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”–Hebrews 11:1-3. Faith isthe substance of things not seen. You have the capacity for thousands of beautiful new ideas. Those who are called “jack of all trades,” are picking up the lines to ideas that they dropped in other lives. The ability to adapt to change is a virtue, the outstanding quality of this day in which we live. Despite this, you stillmay be surprised about an instantaneous healing. The substance of things hoped for is faith, but the world has barely touched just the fringes of the edge of the garment of this substance yet. Once you make your stand on these principles, hold fast to them. Be steadfast in both your faith and in your approach.
Moses repudiated his place with the Pharaohs and led the children of Israel out through the wilderness. Now Moses was gone and Joshua led them. The promise was that they could have the Promised Land if they removed Egypt from their consciousness. They came to the walls of Jericho, whose people worshiped pagan devils, and they had to face black magicians. God told Joshua that seven priests were to carry the Ark of the Covenant around the walls once a day for seven days, and seven times on the final day, while the priests blew the trumpets and the people all followed in silence. On the seventh day, after the seventh circuit, Joshua raised his arms, the priests blew their trumpets, the people shouted and the walls fell down. The walls of Jericho represent an alarming obstacle to overcome, a barrier, or something that you believe you may still need in your life.
The process of overcoming the past is this: your prayer raises the rate of vibration of your physical body to a higher grade of Light as atomic substance, which then melts, dissolves and absorbs your memory of the past to open the way for a glorious future. Scientists, because of their faith, have broken through the walls of substance and have learned to explode the atom. Your body is an atomic laboratory in miniature, just as well-equipped as any outer scientific laboratory. When a germ, virus or wave of any influence hits you from the outside, do you hunt a bed? You could put up your hands and declare and believe that the great substance of the Almighty moves in and heals. If you want to be healed, search for a place to ascend to, not to lie down.
Those who marched around Jericho remained silent for seven days. Each day they returned to their tents and whispered. They moved up into that substance of faith that their high vibration had built. Faith moves mountains of disharmony, gossip, or any other cross-vibration or obstacle when you arise and stand steadfastly in faith while it comes to pass. Faith does not tolerate anything other than itself. It uses you. You do not use it. A plane casts a shadow on the ground below as it flies high overhead. Your plane is the soul, and the self is its shadow. The shadow flits here and there and dips into the low places, but never can draw the soul down completely.
Eventually the self must stumble its way up to the Oversoul’s I AM consciousness, which touches God’s glory. I AM embodies the creative idea, and the possible combinations of creation are innumerable. Faith is all encompassing—you get together with others in faith, not on individual ideas. Faith unites souls in the Light, disbelief and darkness divides them.
A prayer can travel only one way—up, and prayer needs plenty of fervor to fuel its rise. You cannot hold out on God when you let Power possess you. Yet you hold out places in the body, saying such things as, “Oh, a bad back just runs in the family.” The Master said that you can be as perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Ask, stand and accept it with wide-open arms. Hold your arms up and let Godly perfection possess you.
This substance of faith is the “all” of everything. Yet you must practice faith. You are created in the image and likeness of God, who made this perfect substance. Recondition your life for this change. Others may call you names—“You are selfish! You are forcing me to do this!” But if your heart is clean, you remain in the golden silence as you travel the Via Christa.
The children of Israel simply obeyed the law and did not look to see if the walls were falling yet. They set a constant powerful vibration, unrelenting in its purpose. This is what you need to do to overcome your own obstacles of self. For example, when you condemn another for using force, or a lack of love, you take this on yourself. It is never too late, just too soon! Take the first step. Lift your arms and call on God’s divine substance to recreate a perfect body, and stand in Light and love and law. Now is the time of infolding, the time to reach out with arms of Light to bring in your family, home, city, and government, and hold them up to God in peace and love.
What is Your Gift?
Edna Lister outline, June 12, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Philippians 4:4-9, 13, 19, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6.
“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”–Philippians 4:4-9.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”–Philippians 4:13.
“God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”–Philippians 4:19.
“Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.”–1 Timothy 4:14.
“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.”–2 Timothy 1:6.
What is a gift? The world defines it as a voluntary transference without consideration, or a natural endowment. James says that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness or shadow of turning.”–James 1:17. Imagination, thinking and desires are the greatest gifts we have received from God.
Paul cautioned Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the elders.” And later he said, “I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”
In his Letter to Philippians, Paul outlines a three-step approach to staying stirred up so that your gifts, given of God, can use you. First, to conquer a wayward imagination, you must “rejoice in the Lord always” and be care-full—filled with care—for nothing. Anxiety is really useless. What can go wrong if you are always rejoicing in the Father of lights?
Second, to cause desire to burn brightly, “with thanksgivinglet your requests be made known to God.” We must add muchmore gratitude and praise, coupled to our expectancy that God will provide.
Finally, “think on these things” that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. When we think on things of praiseworthy virtue, our imagination must build the right molds.
The perfect mantra of the conquering soul is “I AM. I CAN. I DO all things through Christ which strengthens me.” When you totally surrender to this gift of strength, you will forget all silly notions, knowing that “God shall supply all your needs according to His riches.”–Philippians 4:19.
What Is Your Gift?
Edna Lister transcript, June 12, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Ruth Collord, scribe. Philippians 4:4-9, 13, 19, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6.
“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”–Philippians 4:4-9.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”–Philippians 4:13.
“God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”–Philippians 4:19.
“Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.”–1 Timothy 4:14.
“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.”–2 Timothy 1:6.
Be care-full—filled with care—in nothing. Rejoice and you cannot go wrong. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Add gratitude and praise to your expectancy to increase it.
Things to think on include whatever is good, pure, lovely, and true. As you think, so shall your imagination build the right molds.
Aspiration and Prayer
Edna Lister outline, June 19, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Philippians 3:12-14.
“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”–Philippians 3:12-14.
To aspire is “to desire, to aspire after, to do something active about it.” You aspire toward a goal, a mark, a prize, and can go no farther than the height of your aspiration. You can become no greater than the point where your aspiration ceases, for you create a “sonic barrier,” a ceiling too thick to penetrate. When you have no further need to seek after, no need to “do,” old age sets in, whether you are ten or eighty. Those who have no aspiration have a closed mind. They know enough, are smug in their present knowledge, self-satisfied and self-virtuous.
What does prayer have to do with aspiration? Prayer is the jet fuel that powers your spiritual aircraft through the sonic barrier. True prayer consists in a yearning toward something greater than the self, and more, something greater than you can find in the world. Prayer has many stages, from lukewarmness to the white point of heat, and many states of consciousness. A jet cannot fly without fuel. As in the physical world, your prayers can ascend no higher toward the Source than the yearning, burning degree of your desire under them. Wishing, wanting and hoping are not enough.
You need burning hot desire, flaming, sparkling imagination and some action of belief that can attain to white heat. You must “believe to see,” for seeing to believe will trap you at the lukewarm degree. You can offer no high prayer without aspiration, or attain fulfillment of your aspirations without prayer to give them their foundation and power. Aspiration is to be resurrected from a low vibration, and prayer is to be ascended to a state of joyous ecstasy.
Love is the expression of true prayer, which forges the strongest lines of gossamer Light in the universe. You must love God enough to penetrate your personal sonic barrier into a joy that is Power in action, into faith unconquerable, a place of miracle after miracle, miracle upon miracle, an ever-ascending goal.
To apprehend is to fully understand. “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind” love enough, “reaching forth to those things which are ahead,” your new goals and aspirations. Press on without lagging or dawdling, with active faith and love, using joy to attain the prize, beauty, health and perfection in all ways.
Aspiration and Prayer
Edna Lister transcript, June 19, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Ruth Collord, scribe. Philippians 3:12-14.
“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”–Philippians 3:12-14.
“One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are ahead, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” expresses the comprehension that a vibration doesprecede you. No one is a failure if he continues aspiring toward a goal. Your achievement consists in ascending to your aspiration. You must see a greatergoal to achieve.
First, you must have an aspiration—you must aspire to attain some goal—then you mustempower your aspiration with greater desire. When you “know” too much or better than everyone else, you die out at the top. Prayer is the jet propulsion of your life. Prayer is the Power behind your aspiration. You cannot expect to get results until you go beyond your “sonic barrier” in prayer. This requires ascending to your faith. Look toward something that is greater than self. Your state of consciousness is your composite of thinking, feelings and the imaginary pictures you build at the time. Your life is all an externalization of that in which you place your faith. You need the right pictures to create a new set of records.
Do not curse what you do not want, but bless it. Psychological law says that you may not be negative about anything, a character trait, a person or a situation, and have it turn out right. It is not what the position does for you, but what youdo for the position. This is your life, and you cando what you choose. Even God Himself cannot help you or get inside if you shut Him out. To comprehend life is to move up from your old state of consciousness and create a new outline for living. Use your mind rightly, control your thinking, command imagination, and build the right pictures.
“This one thing I do now, forgetting those things which are behind.”–Philippians 3:13. Can you imagine a cowboy dragging a dead carcass from winter through spring and summer? Create an imaginary cloud continent way up there, and build a bonfire on it. Put all your past trouble, blame, grief and hurt feelings on it. Don’t bury them in your subconscious mind’s graveyard, but burnthem in Light. Put your ugly past memories in this burial ground of Light and free your brain cells for the beauty of the present.
Bring up all your lines of Light and responsibility extending to other people, and love them enough. Declare, “I reach forth for those things which are new.” Move up to that place in consciousness where Paul was. Set up the good in imagination, for strength, to domore than you ever did before. The “high mark of the calling of God” is to remold your body into what He created in the beginning with more beauty and strength. Aspiration canmove out to do this on yourprayer!
Jesus, the Ascended God
Edna Lister outline, June 26, 1955, Tacoma, WA.; June 1, 1958, December 19, 1954. Ephesians 4:1-15.
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”–Ephesians 4:1-15.
From birth to transition, we are ascending. As individual embodied souls, we study, learn and awaken brain cells. An infant is born with millions of new cells, unmarked, then begins to impress on them. You form tracks, and finally they press deep enough to become a habit. Infants who come in with no brain cells to develop are still ascending, paying their debts for misusing brain substance, and their creative tools of imagination, thinking and desire. The love, care and help such a child receives in this life from its parents doescreate new equipment.
How do I know whether I am ascending? Anyone can tell the difference between a heavy feeling and a sense of lightness of body and soul. How can I consciously help to accelerate my ascension? You cannot see empty space, apparently filled with nothing. Through the ages, humanity has believed in a Father God, though ignorance and superstition peppered those beliefs, with fallacies and abortive ideas. Early man could not fill empty space with the Beings of Light who truly inhabit it, so he created a god in his own image, with failings and flaws just like himself.
The science of reasoning found an easy way to use principle as another god, an ascended one, higher, invisible. At last they were getting somewhere. They postulated that you must be able to do something about seeing invisible form, since some can but others can’t—but what? The answer lies in the tools you use. As a builder, you may need specialized tools, but first you must learn and understand just what your basic God-given tools are.
Man uses divine Wisdom as his thinking mind to apply will. Desire functions as the divine emotion, love, and you are free to choose what feelings you have, love or hate. Imagination is how you use the joy principle to form pictures in the mind’s eye. These are the tools God uses to act asyou. You use mind for thinking to formulate your plan for life, imagination pictures your goal, and desire decides who will pursue it, the I AM of soul or “little me” of self.
The use of the faculty of imagination is the difference between those who see spiritually and those who do not. The magic secret lies in whether you use imagination turned down to see pictures, light or dark, or turned up as the all-seeing eye of soul vision. Without vision, nations perish, and the individual embodied souls crystallize.
How do you awaken your soul faculties? You have one body, one Spirit and one God, the Father of us all, who is the Source and substance of your being. You cannot picture the divine form in space. It is too limitless. Yet you can picture Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, radiant as the sun, which is why “he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth”—to show you the way and how. Stand in your garden, on a cloud, until you seethe glorious face of the Father. Then stand until you feelyour body becoming a sun center, radiant with the one spiritual substance, without descending into your body.
This is yourMount of Transfiguration. Can such a use of imagination, your greatest creative tool, be wrong? This practice lifts you upoff the old step, and you leave lesser steps behind. Let your love descend from this high place in consciousness into the subconscious “lower parts” to find, dig out and give up old beliefs in the truth of appearances. Let the Light of Spirit lift the darkness of old beliefs, fears and doubts. It’s only “crude oil” coming up so Spirit may refine it into pure high octane gold.
Am I strong enough to declare my life good? “I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places.”–Isaiah 45:2-3. The law says that when you step up to the one Lord and one faith, the one baptism will descend to fill you as Power. How do you apply this law of ascension as the one faith to seek, to do? The subconscious mind works night and day, according to the orders yougive it.
Before you leave home or the office, set the subconscious like an alarm clock to fill your destination as a radiant sun center of Light. Step through the door into a sphere of Light, a sheath of protection around you. Use this treatment for your family and everyone you meet, for it involves your creative tools, your thinking mind, imagination and desires.
This is one Lord, one law, one faith as spiritual substance in action as you. “My Father is rich. I am rich” with new cells for the body, new atoms for power and strength, new position, new love, new glories. I AM leads your former captivity captive, and the old self “little me” ascends as the captive of love. Use your imagination and letthe Power do the work. Picture that Face and someday you will see a glorious, beneficent, magnificent, new life, beautiful beyond compare.
One Life in Christ
Edna Lister outline, June 26, 1955, Tacoma, WA. John 14:6-14.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 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.”–John 14:6-14.
Do you believe this Scripture? How can you tell when you believe? When your faith is strong, you are up in consciousness. When your faith is weak, you are down in the dumps. You can be no stronger than your greatest weakness, yet conquering reforms the weakest of your weaknesses into your greatest strength.
The Master promised “The works that I do you will do also; and greater works than these will you do, because I go to my Father.” Is his going by himself enough? Oh no. You are supposed to follow him to our Father. To do this, you must choose to be more than a merely satisfactory image and likeness of the Father. Do your friends want to move higher in consciousness when they see you, when you speak?
Unless you prune your self, life will do the pruning for you. Not only must you “believe and ask in my name,” but must prune, and “ask in my name.” The Power does the work, but it depends on you to be its vessel, channel and instrument. You do know the way. You do know the truth. You do know the Source. You have seen the Father. When you see anything evil, you know that it is still His perfect substance—even malformed bodies are still His substance.
Jesus told us to come to the Father “by me.” Your growth depends on your answer to this call, not simply riding on Jesus’ coat tails, but following him, and making ladders of your tests, trials and temptations, instead of crosses.
One Life in Christ
Edna Lister transcript, June 26, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Ruth Collord, scribe. John 14:6-14.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 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.”–John 14:6-14.
The fourteenth chapter of John is wonderful. Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, and Jesus explains that this is possible only if you believe. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Jesus Christ is one with the Father and we are one with him.
In truth, all that is, is One. When you look into the face of evil, do you see God? Everything that is, is part of God, no matter the appearance. When someone curses, do you pay attention to and listen to them? Do you hear God saying, “Let there be Light”? You either believe that all is perfect, or you do not. The same divine substance flows through the universe, everywhere evenly present and available. If you have even once seen love or heard the words of wisdom, you see God everywhere. You have seen the Father, you do every time you look in the mirror. Ask yourself, “How am I representing my Father?”
Your body is not your soul. The body is not you. You dwell in this body, which is yours to use, and you are supposed to be the master of it. Do you let it dictate to you? Accepting that you are the master of your body is the basis for healing whatever als you! As a victor, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Tell the body, “If you knew where I am going, you’d stop howling.” Then act as if you can, and do it.
The Christ principle and its expression are the source of your life and ability. The laws of God must rule you, not your subconscious mind of appetitive soul. Further, you must choose to live by the laws of Christ. You cannot change the laws of mathematics, so why try? You can live by love, and God’s addition and multiplication. To live by the dictates of the appetitive soul is to live by subtraction and division.
Do you believe that God is, and that He has all strength? That divine strength moves through, according to your goals and the Light you release in your declarations of conquering. Make them great! Nothing limits what you can do with the equipment the Lord God Almighty gave you. Your subconscious laziness limits you. Yet so many pf the Elect are still saying, “Show me the Father.”
Even material things are amenable to love, which can refashion anything into its original form. Music, for instance, releases the vibration of the harmony of God, which is destined to heal. History has proven that a singer or an instrumentalist has at times brought through such Power that people have thrown away their crutches and props and were healed because they had seen the Father.
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
— William Ernest Henley
I Arise!
Edna Lister outline, July 3, 1955, Tacoma, WA. 1 John 5:1-8, 5:13-14.
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree as one.”–1 John 5:1-8.
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Now this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”–1 John 5:13-14.
“I will arise and go to my father.”–Luke 15:18. You may arise from and go to a wrong place or a right place, down or up in consciousness. The wrong way to arise is to ask, “How will this affect me? I can’t leave. I’m bound by circumstances. Why tell me this? I do not want more.” You are in the Promised Land and in heaven now. What does this mean? To arise means to make a choice, but of what? Since you have no place to go, it must mean how to live in the Promised Land, how to make your present place a glory. It means moving up from an unconscious state of living into a consciously directed state of awareness of being in the Promised Land. You can tell when you have moved up in consciousness by whether you feel good or less good, well or ill, light or heavy, eager or lukewarm.
John’s Letter gives us three essential ideas to arise on—belief in Jesus as the Son of God, love of God and obedience by keeping the Commandments, and victory by the faith of God. First, you accept the love of God and are obedient by the “water” of Christ consciousness. Second, you accept the Son of God as the “blood” vibration of energy. Finally, you accept the faith of God as Spirit substance.
Spirit bears witness, functioning through your soul substance, directly increasing Christ consciousness, vitalizing atoms and endocrine glands. Water bears witness to the vibration of love for healing, expressing as graciousness, compassion, joy and praise, which must continuously water the body, nourishing and sustaining. Earth dries up without water.
The “blood” bears witness to the Christed consciousness, the blood of the Lamb, an energy stream for strength and action. Spirit, water and blood are all in one and all act as one. They bear witness on earth as you, your soul expressing the personality we see in each other.
Three bear record in heaven, the Father, who knows your strength and weaknesses, is the Spirit of wisdom and illumination as ideas from divine Mind. The Mother is the water of love, nourishing and sustaining you. The Holy Ghost bears record of the Son, the energy of joy.
These three represent powers that are yours to collect as part of your inheritance. Yet, you still ask how. You are known by your works. So, arise and ascend in consciousness to where the three are as one, not a dozen different things as one.
If you think of God as a Father, you are thinking of three sets of three: Father, Word and Holy Ghost, Father, Mother and Son, and Spirit, water and blood. You cannot separate them, for they are one.
When you think of Jesus as the Son, three powers move through you, and you are known by your works. You have the power to yearn and brood in compassion over your creations, the power to desire to be o’ershadowed by Spirit at all times, and the power to hold imagination up to the Light steadfastly.
Never permit self to be willful or deliberately disobedient, because your atomic body collapses if you deny the “blood.” You suffer from a spiritual drowning if earth waters your atomic cells, because it cuts off your supply of the substance of faith as energy.
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Now this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”–1 John 5:13-14.
You no longer run to the picture gallery in your subconscious basement. You have moved your museum gallery up to your tower room or into your garden of love. Under the magic act of surrender, you are possessed by joy. At last you break through your sonic barrier, and hear a voice calling, “Child of God, come! Ascend in consciousness to Me!”
Spiritual Independence
Edna Lister outline, July 3, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Philippians 3:13-14.
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”–Philippians 3:13-14.
Believe it or not, you do know what to do next. The world wastes time fooling around between one thing and the next. Most people have no well thought out, overall plan for life.
You cannot force the outer to conform to your will, but you can have a supreme inner soul plan to follow regardless of what, where, when or how in the outer. “I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.”
— William Ernest Henley
You are the master of your soul destiny, and hold your fate in your own hands. First, eliminate the enemy idea. Love your so-called enemies, blessing them with no curses. Finally, do good, which means that you must love enough. Nothing can withstand love’s fire, which burns down all barriers, and burns out pain and illness in the body’s cells. Love is timeless. Love is measureless.
How unselfish must you be? How much of your self must you give? Pour self out until you reach a state of joyous activity where you ascend in consciousness and do now, forgetting the past, reaching forth and pressing on. This one thing you do now, you stand still where you are. Wait a moment, ascend into the Light and stand steadfastly until you love enough.
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
— William Ernest Henley
Salvation Through Faith
Edna Lister outline, July 10, 1955, Tacoma, WA Matthew 5:25-26, Philippians 2:5-8.
“Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.”–Matthew 5:25-26.
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”–Philippians 2:5-8.
You are concerned about your place in life from your first consciousness as an individual until you finish with earth. You spend your early years preparing for your place, the next years in finding it, then the long struggle comes to hold fast what you have gained. All along the way, you are forced to choose between this and that. You think you are settled, but something from the outside creeps in and upsets your plans and place.
If your place in the world is your only hope, you are headed in the wrong direction. If you grow overly satisfied, you grow complacent in physical, emotional and mental fat. If you are dissatisfied, you grouch, whine and complain because your vibration has dried up until “no one is home.” You put yourself under the pair of opposites, up and down. It follows that you fall prey to the “enemy” idea. You sink lower and do less.
“Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.”–Matthew 5:25-26. The basement is three steps down, but the tower room of the golden silence is only one step up in consciousness.
People complain, “How can I agree when the other fellow is wrong?” It is not wrong for them. They are right for themselves. No law says that you must do the wrong thing for you. But you can agree with them by saying, “You’re right; how perfect that is for you!” which is true for them and satisfies them.
If you, knowing this, become hurt or offended, and blame them, the “enemy” idea, your self-created adversary, soon turns you over to your own soul for judgment. Your soul is the judge, who rules that you are wrong. Then the officer of the day, Mister Regret, takes charge.
Remember, only one step down creates your adversary and makes it easier to take another step down. Officer Regret puts you in the prison of remorse, where you languish and grieve, wallowing in your selfish sense of grief.
One step up, and you arise and go to your Father, the only satisfying place that never changes. No one can ever interfere with your place at the window of heaven, where you draw on your inheritance from the Source of Power and joy. The process of moving up costs you four steps, but the act of a miracle moves up in one.
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”–Philippians 2:5-8.
This is your background for attaining the act of a miracle. To be equal with God is not robbery. We are all equal in our ability to serve, to surrender, to be obedient. As a servant, used by all Power and all love, you express God’s attributes and qualities as your actions. God works to will and to do, and it is His good pleasure to give you His kingdom because you are working out your own salvation by loving enough.
Salvation Through Faith
Edna Lister transcript, July 10, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Ruth Collord, scribe. Matthew 5:25-26, Philippians 2:5-8.
“Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.”–Matthew 5:25-26.
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”–Philippians 2:5-8.
From his earliest consciousness, a child reaches out for his place on earth. We all have specialized brain cells called neurons, which carry the memories of the laws we must use every day of our earth life. The memories of law register on your brain cells, and you go over them to remember what to do. Hindsight is casting the mind over the negatives, how you failed in what to do.
You spend your early years preparing yourself for the place you desire. Then you spend years finding your place, and the rest of your life in holding onto it. When you grow complacent, you grow “fatty cells” in your brain, on the inner and in your outer body. Some adults never grow out of the infant stage. They see another’s position and want that. They want the place another made instead of what they could create. If you do this, you put yourself under the domination of the opposite. Expressing dissatisfaction with your place, whining, complaining and grudging, causes you to take a long step down. It does not get you anywhere when you plod and poke; like poking a toad with a stick—it just hops a little further away.
“Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.”–Matthew 5:25-26.
These two verses provide an outline for glory, and how to go up in consciousness. “Agree with the adversary quickly,” otherwise the adversary will deliver you to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, who will put you into prison. It’s just four steps to the bottom.
First is, “I agree,” which means, “You are right.” That is the truth for him. Even a lie is the truth for the liar. The fault that the other fellow sees in you is seeing; he must see it in another first to become conscious of it in himself. Some see the faults only in others, never in themselves, which is infantile, but is the first step. He is a teacher unless you make him into an adversary.
No one can judge you by the way you appear. Each judges by what he sees, and by his own state of development. The other fellow gives you a truth of the moment. Accepting this, with “I agree,” is obeying the first law of ascension to open the records, but you may not charge a debt of blame.
When you say, “You are right,” the Light moves in and through you. Then go to the altar and check that this is so. When you say, “It’s his, not mine,” you name him an adversary. Then you will be brought before the judge of your own soul, your conscience. Officer Regret puts you into the prison of remorse. Coming up and paying to the last penny is an act of contrition and surrender. Then you stand under the Light, saying, “Father, please wipe it out,” and apologize on the outer. This pays your debt on the “cash and carry” plan of life.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.”–Philippians 2:5-6. These verses tell you that you are equal in the right to find the place of destiny that God gave you, to use the attributes that God gave you, to become I AM THAT I AM. Do not consider it robbery to claim an inheritance in God.
Seek first your place in the kingdom of heaven by giving all others their own place in the kingdom according to their present state of consciousness. The Book of Job shows that God’s promises are always fulfilled eventually. It’s a how-to manual to reach your salvation and inheritance. I AM the Power moving from the heart of God to fulfill this salvation now.
What Is Freedom?
Edna Lister outline, July 10, 1955, Tacoma, WA.; August 7, 1955, Cleveland, OH. Galatians 5:13-14, Acts 15:23-31.
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”–Galatians 5:13-14.
“And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.”–Acts 15:23-31.
Fear of responsibility to love enough causes many people to hunt personal freedom at any cost. Fear has also kept many from entering the healing ministry. “What will I do if nothing happens?” You are a seed planter, but God is the harvester. If you want to be the harvester, you want outer credits. To love one another means cooperation, getting together in a conference to find one idea that makes sense, causes the group to be cohesive, and is the best for all. Yet first, you must get together with self, little me, soul and Oversoul’s I AM consciousness.
They wrote this letter—“The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.”–Acts 15:23. The apostles represent the super-conscious mind speaking to the spiritual faculties of soul. The elders are the conscious intellectual faculties, logic, reason, discernment discrimination, and discretion, who are pulled between the apostles and the brethren, the subconscious, instinctive emotional urges to self.
The apostles, illumination, intuition, imagination, faith and understanding, must be welded together by joy. The brethren are the seekers, full of pride, arrogance, prejudice, opinions and plausibility, quite able to give plausible reasons for being selfish. The brethren bow to and give in to enemies, including doctors’ verdicts and world opinions. The elders bow and pass on up, obeying the law of “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”–John 12:32. The apostles are the guardians of the creative flame of life in you, as you. The price of freedom is to love. God’s Light as Wisdom is limitless faith unconquerable, and love unquenchable in its power to consume barriers, to heal and to lift.
What Is Freedom?
Edna Lister transcript, July 10, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Ruth Collord, scribe. Galatians 5:13-14, Acts 15:23-31.
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”–Galatians 5:13-14.
“And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.”–Acts 15:23-31.
You can never escape what you dislike, so you must declare it good to make it so. Unless you are conscious of a Source beyond the self, you will have such concern. Those who concoct evil all reach an end sometime. We will always have some form of a United Nations, a unity of nations, always higher in scope, and more Christ-like.
Healers, teachers and speakers are afraid to speak the Word for healing, for they all fear that nothing will happen. Never look for credit, for you may permit no self in your desires. Be completely selfless and give freely with no thought of being paid for it. Are you a seed planter, or do you want to play God and take the credit for the harvest? You are free to express God and love your neighbors as you love yourself. Salvation is free, but you cannot seek it on the outer. You must make your contact above. You cannot run from anything and escape it; eventually it will catch up with you.
“The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.”–Acts 15:23. They wrote this letter to their peers because they had found the way to deal with a problem. When you discover how to meet a problem, you lift every group with a similar problem. Every vibration goes out and levels every similar thing in its path. Too often, an adverse vibration goes out just when another positive vibration is about to be created and released.
The apostles represent the super-conscious mind and twelve soul faculties. The elders represent the conscious rational mind, good judgment, conscious reasoning and the intellectual faculties. The brethren represent the subconscious mind, emotional opinions and prejudices. Oversoul’s super-conscious mind says, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”–John 12:32, giving God all the credit. The brethren, who rule in the region of the solar plexus, have only one faculty, reasoning that sounds plausible. Anyone can think up all kinds of reasons for not doing what he must do, his duty.
The apostles stand serene and confident, and bow to the One God. The elders constantly listen to and revert down to the little self, the brethren. Anyone who steps out to assume responsibility is free, and speaks the Word, praying for the Power to move through constantly to burn out crystallized cells. It sometimes takes time to dissolve the crystallized cells to open the mystic eye.
Do you think that you have to wait for Christmas or Easter for the Power to move through? Ascend in consciousness to the place of the apostles, the twelve soul faculties, and open the Power line. Stay up with the elders, too. You cannot afford to permit the little self, the brethren to climb up and slide down. Self must remain in the Light.
The love of God is the only freedom you have or shall ever have. Do not ask for credit. Keep the Power flowing through. People are like sponges. You can fill those who ask for help with Power again and again. Receive your credit from above, not on the outer, and do not take credit on the outer. Speak the Word for soul freedom, and you shall have credits overflowing as strength, life, wisdom, love and a sparkle in your eyes.
Living Waters
Edna Lister outline, July 31, 1955, Cleveland, OH. John 4:5-14.
Then cometh he [Jesus] to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
–John 4:5-14.
This episode illustrates the difference between life and no life. Jews normally had no contact with Samaritans, whom they regarded as unclean according to the laws of purification. Thus, Jesus startled the woman by asking her for a drink, and further with his mystical statement. She did not understand him. Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
–John 4:13-14.
You are reborn from above, when Light descends to the sacrum, at the base of the spine, awakening it and causing it to bubble up as does an artesian well,
Your desires set the keynote of how you grow during your life. You inhale eternal life constantly. Some seeds never grow beyond the sprouting stage, but die and other seeds, often weeds, take their places. Some are watered every day, and others never have a chance to receive the joy that bubbles up in the living water. You miss the joy in life when you subject yourself to the enemy idea. All it takes is a suggestion, one thought and down you go in consciousness.
You create adversaries by growing down, not up, a tendency that you must overcome. You know that you can create with Light from the size of the darkness, the messes, the adversaries you create for yourself. Yet you can learn and grow mentally every day, if you let Power use you and cleanse subconscious mind.
One boss entered his office, looked at an employee and said, Are you happy?
She said, Yes.
He replied, Then why don’t you tell your face about it?
Your conscious mind is perfect. Why do you not tell your subconscious about it? Let it in on your love, your joy and your high vows.
Today’s let-down is tomorrow’s set-down. Today’s glory fashions tomorrow’s ascension growth. Today’s rejoicing brings your tomorrow’s miracles. Today’s living waters water tomorrow’s success.
artesian
is derived from Artois, France, where such wells were sunk as early as 1126.
Living Waters
Edna Lister transcript, July 31, 1955, Cleveland, OH. Ruth Johnson, scribe. John 4:5-14.
Then cometh he [Jesus] to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
–John 4:5-14.
Jesus met this Samaritan woman in the sixth hour of the Mother for a mystical reason. The orthodox Jews scorned the Samaritan Jews because they had married non-Jews, and were ritually unclean according to Hebrew Law. Jesus was unconventional. He broke many traditional barriers because he knew that Light had to win over darkness, and condemning others does not help Light win.
“Living water” is Christ consciousness born of inner Light, and you are reborn every time you look up toward the Source. The pure Light of life functions through the endocrine system, so lift your hands and head when you pray. Light descends the spine to the sacrum plexus center, and becomes a bubbling well of life within you. The creative fire floods upward gloriously when Light touches those nerves. Yet you constrict your thyroid if you look down or drop your head while reading or praying.
Soul ascension is the secret of all success, inner or outer, which unfolds just as an acorn becomes an oak tree. An acorn is no better than any other seed; it can sprout shoots that die, but eventually an oak grows from some of those shoots. People are like seeds. They sprout a shoot when a new teacher comes to town, but their shoot dries out and dies when the teacher leaves. They continue to sprout shoots, teacher after teacher. You can see the dried up shoots as lines in their faces. Those who sprout vital shoots drink deeply of spiritual waters, and their vitality is visible.
“Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”–John 4:13-14. Drink of the bubbling well-spring of eternal life, which is the source of enthusiasm, to water your Tree of Life. Ascend in surrender, love, acceptance and sacrifice in the love of God.
You die a little each time you fail to finish a project, or to fulfill your vows or promises. The mental body atoms collapse and cause stiffness, mental fuzziness, depression and paralysis in body or affairs. Jesus taught the Samaritan woman these truths that day. You subject yourself to the idea of outer enemies, but you are your greatest enemy, and each must conquer the enemy called self. You create the adversary who rides you with a whip and spurs. No power on earth can be an enemy if you refuse to accept the enemy-idea or give it form and substance. Another may tell you that you have an enemy, but you create it.
Your heart’s desires set your keynote of life. Evil is impotent until someone names it My. Just saying, “I am a metaphysician,” or, “I follow truth work,” takes you nowhere. Most people have buried so much in the subconscious mind that their misused soul substance acts as an anchor, which they must lift and repay. The son of a possessive mother spent his life in bitterness because his subconscious promoted the idea of “I’ve been cheated.” He constantly sought worldly power, not God, and his arrogance regularly offended others. Tell your subconscious that you are through with its nonsense. Never visualize yourself in a position of authority to aggrandize the self. If you are happy, tell your face about it.
Picture a great pipe organ being played: The world hears the underlying bass, which is the subconscious rumbling. Clean it up or subconscious negativity will arise to drown the high tones and bar success at the psychologically critical moment. Stay in your room of Light in the Lord’s house, and maintain your contact with the living waters.
Your subconscious is running you if you pay attention to negative words instead of lifting, and you are in the basement coal bin when you criticize another. Turn your imagination up to lift your consciousness from the basement. “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.”–John 21:22. Keep your nose out of other people’s business.
If your vision is high and you have surrendered, your bubbling well-spring waters your shoots into growth. As evil intentions leave the other fellow’s mind, Light absorbs darkness and brings peace. Picture a high altar, a throne, a beneficent Father. When you are there, declare, “I am the child of a wealthy King. I am wealthy before you, Father.” Power and glory will move through you to do the work when you see only Light.
The Bread of Life
Edna Lister transcript; August 7, 1955, Cleveland, Ohio. Margaret Pratt Doan, Ruth Johnson, scribes. John 6:35, 47-51, Acts 15:23-33.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”–John 6:47-51.
“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.”–John 6:35.
These are among the most mystical statements Jesus ever uttered, and he said this to prepare his disciples for the Last Supper. If the Gospel writers had recorded everything Jesus said, it would fill the world’s libraries. The Gospels contain the keys to every possible combination of personality characteristics, and to every situation that could arise on earth. Jesus taught divine laws to cover every contingency.
The bread of life symbolizes Light as Mind, Substance and Power combined as one trinity of principle. When Substance is uppermost, Mind and Power uphold it as the principle from which form is built. When Mind is uppermost, the planner builds the mold, and Substance fills it. The bread of life is Light as Substance, ready to manifest in the world. Mind, Substance and Power are inseparable, and you create force, the source of your difficulties in life, when you try to separate them.
“That” is an impersonal name of God as principle, and “I am that bread of life” means that Jesus is the first Begotten Son of God, whom we call the Holy Breath. Your share of the Holy Breath is “that bread” you consciously accept and express. Life represents activity, while death is static. “Bread of life” implies light, fluffy, expansive, porous and open substance. “Living bread” is the divine Substance of God, the only substance that will lighten you to ascend.
You can apply five approaches to everything in the Bible, and you need them all to form a balanced whole—psychology, metaphysics, science, philosophy, and mysticism. Psychology studies personality relationships. Metaphysics includes statements of truth modified from primary principles. Scientific law, from our viewpoint, deals with the principle of nonresistance as the ultimate control of atomic power. Jesus taught a perfected philosophy of principle and personality. Mysticism deals with the personality behind principle. For instance, Jesus mentions his Father as a personality eleven times in one chapter of John. The Bible is all about personality and principle.
The 15th chapter of Acts is a history of Paul’s difficulties with his groups. This text begins with letters from apostles, elders and brethren in Judea and Jerusalem. Their letters symbolized the agreeing and adjusting that tied the lines of vibration between the groups, carried messages of praise, understanding and friendship, so the letters were ascending in quality:
“Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company…chief men among the brethren. They wrote letters by them…So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch, and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle. When they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation. Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. And after they had tarried there for a time, they were let go in peace from the brethren to the apostles.”–Acts 15:22-23, 30-33.
Apostles symbolize the super-conscious mind, great spiritual faculties and metaphysical principles. The disciples who slept in Gethsemane while Jesus prayed represent these faculties: James is imagination, John is intuition, and Peter is faith that illumines. Yet imagination, intuition and illumination could not remain awake for three hours to watch with the Master.
The elders represent the conscious mind’s pure intellectual faculties, logic, reason, discernment, discrimination and discretion, which sustain the elders and the brethren when you nourish them. The elders’ conscious soul mental faculties stand between the super-conscious and subconscious, and they can sink until the subconscious submerges them.
The brethren represent the subconscious mind’s instinctive intelligence, actions, and urges. Subconscious mind cannot reason, but it does make things seem plausible. Subconscious brethren misuse the faculties as bitterness, criticism, blame, pride and self-pity. The faculties fall asleep if the super-conscious apostles fail to nourish them, and the subconscious brethren rule.
How can you ascend unless you eat the Bread of Life? You have only one Crown of Life to earn, but we each have several personalities in the running: I want, I hope, I wish, I try, I seek, and I wait. The I-wishers sit and wish and wait. Dear little seekers, once you have found the Christ principle, what more is left to seek? You want the easy way, to sit and make statements instead of reaching for the Bread of Life.
Making metaphysical statements from a low point of consciousness is like shooting bullets that blast holes in your molds. They mean that you are trying to escape responsibility for lifting others to a cloud continent of Light. What would happen if you just stared at the food on the table and said, “I’m trying to eat”? Saying, “I am trying to obey law,” is just as foolish. You must hear, accept and obey.
The elders, the conscious mental faculties of logic, reason, discretion, discrimination and discernment, lack good common sense if they are undernourished. Subconscious mind agrees with the brethren who bow to old adversaries and create new ones, not the apostles who worship at the throne of God.
Your last waking thought directs your subconscious mind to worship, no matter what positive or negative thoughts, words or deeds you’ve done during the day. Oversoul apostles nourish and sustain soul and self. The Bread of Life moves through imagination, intuition and illumination. The elders bow to the brethren when they are full of the Bread of Life, saying, “Follow me” with a fiery voice.
Do you want to go home to God or to negative imaginings? What are you doing to your brethren and elders? You can redeem or convert only the subconscious mind, so purify it, do not let it limit you. You may approach the throne and say, “Father, I am pure,” if you have never been hurt or blamed another. You may not just look pure and sweet and get away with it. Become goodness until you are unconscious of your goodness. Everything responds to life and joy, as to a song.
You refuse responsibility when you dislike your share of the spiritual debts God gives you to lift. Is paying your fair share a terrible task? When your apostles accept responsibility and remain aware in the garden to release the Bread of Ascension, when your elders are observant, obedient and active, you do not ask, “Why should this happen to me?” Take it as an honor when you are chosen to lift. Be a strong one, reach with arms of Light and say, “Let it come, Father. I’ll lift.” Does it matter whose darkness you are lifting? Subconscious mind can become an obedient servant to law, without whining.
Let the brethren be joyous, which is the Bread of Life, of Ascension. The apostles, imagination, intuition and illumination, watch and wait with the Master. All answers flow with the River of Life as Christ consciousness when the apostles are awake. The greater the surface area of brain cells awakened and developed, the more the apostles can pour through illumination.
As the elders bow with the apostles for the Bread of Life, they wait upon them in the high place, singing, “I rejoice. This is good.” Then you may approach the throne of God and say, “I am that Bread of Life, nourishing and sustaining all Thou hast created.”
Heavenly Manna
Edna Lister outline; August 14, 1955, Cleveland, OH. Hebrews 11:1-11.
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away [translated] so that he did not see death; and was not found, because God had taken him: for before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a reader of those that diligently seek Him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he should receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”–Hebrews 11:1-11.
Faith is the outer expression of an inner joyousness of soul because you love God enough. Hebrews 11 is a great summary of all the miracles the children of Israel had experienced. You need the heavenly manna to feed your miracles. When you love God enough, better than life, you create your own joy vibration. When you are joyous, you move under the protection of the great law of nonresistance. When you are no longer resisting, faith moves forth to conquer for you.
If faith is the substance of things hoped for, it becomes heavenly manna to feed you. You cannot understand faith that works miracles unless you also understand the promises that come before the miracles.
“I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”–Matthew 16:19. What is this kingdom? Where is it? To have any kingdom, you first decide what kind of kingdom it will be. You have your own kingdom, one that you have selected. Is it a kingdom of ease and comfort? No! It is a kingdom you earn. This all means that you need a life plan to create your kingdom. If it is a little plan for a kingdom in miniature, remember that what you bind on earth, you also bind in heaven. If you plan a large kingdom, why so it is!
“A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.”–Proverbs 18:16. Many gifts come to you from the outside, but talents are also gifts, which grow from within, like peaches from a tree, according to your desire. “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”–Mark 11:24.
Without training, your gift may remain useless. Exercise and practice using your gifts. Learn to use what you have, where you are. Every day, do something toward fulfilling your life plan. “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.”–Proverbs 22:4. The Lord is a synonym for law. Humility loves the law. You have to be open-minded to see and to accept the gifts that the Lord bestows.
Humility dares to listen, to change, to declare everything good. Humility sees Light moving into the dark places, dares to incorporate any darkness in its plan—not to repudiate it—by declaring it good. Humility dares to live in the Light, to let go of the past and to push into higher Light, not dragging the past along, but making it a footstool.
To have the manna of faith feed you, you may use no willfulness or force in asking, make no half-demands, set no time limits. Instead, in the consciousness of the eternal now, declare, “Now is good.” All time is good time, but the best time is now. You lose the proper timing when you mentally jump from wanting it yesterday to thinking the miracle will never arrive. The greatest confusion comes from this. Climb steadily, rhythmically in time with your own chord of life, your life’s plan.
“He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”–John 14:12. Do you honestly believe in this law? “With God, all things are possible.”–Matthew 19:26. Do you go just this far, then think that you are doing it?
What do you expect? Creature consciousness fears, doubts and expects lack. The creator believes and expects that “All Power, Light and Love work through me and as me.” What do you truly want? Do you want to walk with God, to be Christed? Do you desire to love God enough? Let joy express itself in you as faith. Dare to live, to love and to stand with God. Dare to be beautiful, as the woman clothed with the sun. The Mount of Transfiguration is just one step up from where you stand now. The only “greater work” you can do is to step up to your Mount of Transfiguration. Are you ready?
“This all sounds good,” you say, “but what can I do with it beyond planning my manna-fed kingdom? What will standing on my Mount of Transfiguration do for me?” In all practical everyday tasks, the subconscious mind of the creature soul works like a clock for you, according to the size of your plan and what you bind or loose on earth. Before bed, visualize your home, office, transportation, all the places you must go, people you must contact, and see them each in a sphere of Light. Before leaving for work, send a sphere of Light to fill your office. When you are ready to leave again for home, send a sphere of Light to fill your home.
Always see a sphere of Light on the steps into and leaving your house. Put one in your car and sit in it. Put another in your office door so that you and everyone else must step into it. Have a sphere of Light waiting for you everywhere. Light and the ability to visualize are among your gifts from God, so use them. Then your life plan will always be fed with heavenly manna. You will remain excited, thrilled and expectant.
Your plan will pursue you. It will transform your life because this plan is your Mount of Transfiguration, and fills you with the love of God and faith unconquerable.
Heavenly Manna
Edna Lister transcript, August 14, 1955, Cleveland, OH. Ruth Johnson, scribe. Hebrews 11:1-11.
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away {translated} so that he did not see death; and was not found, because God had taken him: for before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a reader of those that diligently seek Him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he should receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”–Hebrews 11:1-11.
Faith is the outer expression of the candle of joy lighted in the heart, a sure sign that you have mated desire to will to become I AM consciousness. A marriage of the Lamb joins desire and Love to open the pituitary gland of intuition. Will and Wisdom unite to open the pineal body of illumination, and your faith is then unconquerable.
You cannot express joy permanently until you balance desire as love, and will as wisdom. Love and wisdom endure a series of trial marriages when you express wobbly faith. You have touched a marriage of the Lamb whenever you experience even the slightest joy. Many divorces are due to vacillating up- and down-ness of will and desire in husband and wife. You cannot mismate or divorce outer personal desire and will when Light balances you.
Love is not sentimental or puerile. So never stoop to argue with self-willed belligerents, just let them enjoy their vacation from joy to wallow in darkness. You stop doing what you do not enjoy. Willfulness fills the world and people run from what they abhor. If you can run from Light, you can ascend from darkness. Use no force. Live by “I am. I can. I do,” and ascend!
Oversoul descends on a joy vibration, under the full Power of nonresistance, and unconquerable faith becomes your expression. Tuned to your personal “chord of life” vibration, you establish lines of Light at the Source. Faith, love and wisdom are all substance in varying degrees. Unconquerable faith creates form, yet you cannot understand faith as substance without studying the miracle stories in the Bible. Sarah, Hannah and Elizabeth, who conceived in “old age,” prove that the creative powers never cease when you have experienced a marriage of the Lamb, when desire and will, Love and Wisdom become I AM consciousness.
“I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”–Matthew 16:19. This verse is the foundation of your life of faith.
You have created the lack or abundance you enjoy on the outer. Your face shows what you have declared good and the darkness you have created. Lift your lost Shangri-La and sordid memories from past experiences. You fashion your own kingdom of heaven on earth according to your plan of life. You cannot stand pure white as a lily before God if you live according to a plan dictated by any outer environment. Yet, if you live by divine laws, the principle of nonresistance sheathes your body so that nothing can touch it. Joy and manna pour from heaven to expand you to the full image and likeness of God.
You cannot expand in heaven if you squinch yourself here on earth. What you have bound on earth, you bind in heaven, what you loose on earth, you loose in heaven. Your body is the chalice of the Almighty, and this is lost wisdom. Most people curse their bodies when they should bless them from morning till night. Light descends as Love and Wisdom from your crown to the sacrum plexus when you live by Christed I AM consciousness. Love causes it to ascend the spine like a bubbling fountain of joy that overflows into your life, and faith descends like manna from heaven straight into your affairs to become substance. A rigid body cannot take the influx of such atomic energy, but without it, you cannot be a good ensample.
What you bind on earth, you bind in heaven. Those who admire their own beauty hated to come to earth. Their vanity of self is hatred inverted, but cursing an unlovely or sick body is just as wrong. Each has created his own physical defects in past lives. Balance is honoring what God has given you so that your body expresses joy. You dishonor your temple as the image and likeness of God unless you care for it and give it the proper fuel.
“A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.”–Proverbs 18:16. Your dream-desire plan is part of your gift, a vision of what you would become, and what those close to you may seek to prevent you from getting. Yet you will express your gift if you ascend to God, who feeds your heart’s desire with heavenly manna. If you set afire the torch of your desires, you will be drawn to the right place and people. Yet you could also wrap your talents in self-pity and bury them in a field of self. You are always signing yourself away as you make treaties with life.
Will a child’s gift bring him before great men if he wants to play piano, but never practices? So it is with every pursuit. Do the next thing next. Cleanse all blame from your heart and mind for those whom you have thought held you back. You could go to any library to study. You are what you wanted to be. If you wanted to be lazy, you got nowhere, which is your own fault.
“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.”–Proverbs 22:4 A “fear of the Lord” is reverence for God. Humility adds to reverence a devotion to law, and it honors integrity. You can attend with interest to those who bore you as easily as you can to the most brilliant persons. They all bring you beautiful gifts, if you look for them and find the soul that responds to your touch of interest.
Humility is that soul quality that causes you to lift a person and put him on a pedestal so his soul shines. The love of God so absorbs and enfolds one who expresses humility that no self remains. Humility is the Master’s compassion, the badge of royal family membership, the hallmark of the Elect on earth. Would you have time to descend and cater to hurts and resentments if you lived life this way?
Humility is forever flexible. Should you face delay, expand your plan, because what you free on earth, you free in heaven. Free your life on earth to expand it in heaven; free your talent for joy, then tell your face about it. You may have to sell something to raise the money, but you need not feel loss. Heaven is more abundant, and your riches are the gifts of joy. Jesus said to ask anything in his name, believing, and you already have it. Ascend higher and increase your love for and gratitude toward God. Thank Him for His ever-present abundance now, for now is the right time.
“He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”–John 14:12. The greatest work you can do is to climb your Mount of Transfiguration. God does the rest of the work by using you. You cannot do much to remain free of worldly troubles except to ascend your Mount of Transfiguration, and make your marriage of the Lamb in heaven. An abyss lies beyond the Mount of Transfiguration, so think well, for it means rising to the top or falling to the bottom.
“I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”–John 12:32. Never drag the past with you, but put negative people and situations high on a cloud continent of Light. Lift those who pester you beyond endurance, and call on fire from heaven to consume the irritation. Those on your lines of Light have no option but to ascend with you when you eat of the manna, because your lines of responsibility pull them upward. They no longer drag on you when you have put them on that cloud of Light. Put your worst favorites, your house, office, hospital rooms in a sphere of Light before you go to bed. See the sphere of Light at your front door as you return home from work. See the angry person step into a sphere of Light, and watch his anger disappear.
You can transfigure your life when you ascend to joy, harmony and abundance. Transform your mind, heart, body and soul into the love of God until nonresistance creates rays of repulsion that fend off darkness. Surround your loved ones in spheres of golden-white Light. Love God enough to become unconquerable faith. Let your joy, love and wisdom spill over to feed the world with heavenly manna.
Manna From Heaven
Edna Lister outline; August 21, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Hebrews 1:1-11, Mark 11:24.
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a reader of those who diligently seek Him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”–Hebrews 11:1-11.
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”–Mark 11:24.
Hebrews 11 is a great summary of all miracles. Faith is an outer expression of an inner joyousness of soul because you know God and love Him enough. When you love God enough, better than life, you create your joy vibration. When you are joyous “just because,” you ascend in consciousness under the protection of the great law of nonresistance. When you no longer resist life, faith moves through you to conquer for you.
If faith is the substance of things hoped for, it must become the heavenly manna, which feeds your miracles. You cannot understand faith that works miracles unless you also understand some of the promises that were made before the miracles. The Master promised us, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”–Matthew 16:19.
What is this kingdom? Where is it? It is the great city of your heart, the fortress of your mind, the garden of your soul. It is a kingdom that you earn. To have any kingdom, you first decide what kind of kingdom you want. Is your selected kingdom one built of comfort and ease? If you want only a little kingdom, remember that what you bind on earth, you also bind in heaven. To have a great kingdom means that you need a life plan, and to declare a large “So it is.”
If it were not for the second promise, you might just sit down and dream a kingdom. Proverbs 18:16 promises that “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” Do you get this gift from the outside? No, your gifts are your desires, your talents, which you must exercise and use right where you are. A true gift needs no training to fulfill itself, for you never spend a moment separate from it. Exercise your talents to do something toward your large life plan. People are discouraged because they do not want to appear awkward before the world. To dare to be wrong takes great courage, but not as much as to dare to be happy!
“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life.”–Proverbs 22:4. Riches, honor and life are the rewards of humility and fear of the Lord. Open your mind to see and to accept everything as a new gift, and never spend any time being bored or weary. Humility loves the law, and dares to listen, to change and to declare everything good. Humility forgets itself in service, and sees Light moving into dark places. Steadfast humility dares to add any dark appearance to its desire plan by declaring everything good. It dares to live up in the Light, to let go of the past, to push up hard enough without dragging the past along, too.
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”–Mark 11:24. To be fed by the manna of faith, you may indulge in no willfulness or force in asking, no half demands, no setting time limits. Use the eternal now, declaring, “Now is the good time!” All times are good times, but now is the best time of all. Your greatest confusion comes from jumping around on your life chord. Your timing become discordant when you jump, so steadily, rhythmically moving up sets a perfect pace and will keep you tuned to your proper tonal chord in life.
The Master promises, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 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.”–John 14:12-14. Do you honestly believe in this promise? All things are possible, but do you go just this far then think you have done it? What do you truly want?
The Mount of Transfiguration is one step up in consciousness. Are you ready? Do you want to walk with God in Christed consciousness? Is your love of God enough? Do you let joy express as your faith? Do you dare to live, love, stand, to be beautiful, glorious, divine, clothed with the sun, now? The only “greater work” you can do is to step up in consciousness to your Mount of Transfiguration, love God enough and let joy carve a channel for faith to use you. Faith unconquerable does the greater works.
This all sounds good, but what can you do with it beyond planning your manna-fed kingdom? What will standing on your Mount of Transfiguration do for you? The creature fears, doubts and expects lacks. The creator expects all Power, Light and love to work “as me and though me.” It all depends on the size of your plan. You need a practical, everyday plan. Self works like a clock for you, according to the size of your plan, and what you bind or loose on earth.
Before bedtime, picture your home, office or destination and everyone in it within a sphere of Light. Before work or the day’s travels, send a sphere of Light before you to fill your destination. When you are ready to leave for home, send a sphere of Light to fill your house. Yet most important of all, picture everyone you meet at home, the office, in cars, or buses, as walking or sitting in spheres of Light. Put one at your office door for every visitor, and have a sphere of Light waiting for you everywhere.
Imagination is a gift from God to use. When you do, your life plan will be fed with manna; you will remain excited, thrilled and expectant. Your plan will pursue you. It will transform your life because it is your Mount of Transfiguration, where you become the love of God, joy in God and unconquerable faith.
Manna From Heaven
Edna Lister transcript; August 21, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Ruth Collord, scribe. Hebrews 1:1-11. Mark 11:24.
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a reader of those who diligently seek Him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”–Hebrews 11:1-11.
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”–Mark 11:24.
Jesus said, “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it, and not die.” This bread that Jesus describes is the heavenly manna. Hebrews 11 sums up all the outstanding miracles of the Old Testament. It opens with “Faith is the substance of things hoped for.” Here is a God in whom you may abide, stable and serene. When you have found God, you discover your joy, and from your toes up, it must express itself.
You cannot fall passionately in love with principle. Having found a God as One whom you love, you have the joy of a personality. Also, you must admit that His personality exists at the Source, for were this not so, you could not know Him here below. If you have this joy, it is because you love God so.
Automatically the power of nonresistance moves forth from this great love of God for God. Faith rides forth on this love, as a carrier wave. Then those rays of repulsion, protective rays of the love of God, mesh with the rays from other people. Therefore, being resistant to others is impossible. These rays are stronger than the world vibration and hold you securely protected. So take advantage of the whole armor of God! The power of nonresistance is the greatest of all powers. The name of Jesus the Christ releases more Power all the time, a constantly growing Power.
Unconquerable faith is your ability to be immovable. Faith must be this manna from heaven. It is your manna from heaven. Faith is a process that opens when you find God as personality and principle, and are joyous because you have found Him. You can approach God through His promises. First is “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”–Matthew 16:19.
Your prayer molds determine what you receive. Do not bind them to small-minded plans. You cannot have any more Light-as-miracles pour through than you prepare for on earth. Your salvation is your work here below, which you continue to do. Your kingdom is your citadel of God, the city of your heart, the fortress for your mind, and the garden of your soul. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”–Matthew 5:16.
When the city of your heart is full of love, you are as “perfect as your Father in heaven.” It can be done. You have seen it. Do you want the kingdom of your heart to be love? Who can make you think, or think you into a different position? Your mind is a great fortress. You may have the keys to success in your hand, but you must still find the lock. You hid it in your garden of soul. One day your garden will be great, but you cannot find it by meditating on your solar plexus, which is not large enough to hold your big toe.
Do not declare that your surroundings are your kingdom, for even that is too binding. Your garden is up above and beyond all earthly vibrations. So you can stretch up and reach for a vast kingdom. Organization is so necessary. You cannot have a city of the heart unless you have planned for it. It must hold a place for everything.
You find the second promise in the law, “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.”–Proverbs 18:15. Get busy. Practice and study. Use what you have. The gifts you can bring before great men are your talents. Yet the greatest gift is that hidden in your heart, which brings you before great men in the outer world.
You can eventually do anything you want, if you waste no time. Read during that extra fifteen minutes between one task and another. If you read for fifteen minutes a day, as dedicated study, you could earn a Bachelor’s Degree. How much misspent time have you redeemed? Live your life fully, now, and see what you can do. Just start doing it.
The third promise is “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.”–Proverbs 22:4. How simple. The rewards for humility are riches, honor and life. Study this. Look at your position in life. First, make a budget, and do not spend income that you do not have. Yet you need not budget your heart, mind or soul. Loose your imagination. Pay unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but loose yourself in heaven. Do not bind yourself to a tiny budget in heaven, but see all that you desire. Obey outer law, and loose the way in heaven. God has His way. Your way is obedience to outer law and inner divine law.
To pray, turn your eyes up to God. Humility is to pray up, to look up and to extend imagination to see God’s face. Humility is the ability to dare to be wrong, and to take the blame. If everyone did this in the world, there would be no wars. “I’m so discouraged” means that you lack courage. If you are disheartened, you are a coward. To say, “I’m wrong,” is true humility, facing that fact that you cannot always be right. It includes taking the blame, as the Master did on the cross. Humility is also the ability to say, “I am beauty. I am Light. I am becoming divine.”
The fourth promise is, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”–Mark 11:24. Plan for it. Know it. Or do you plan for what you will do if God does not come through? Be organized in your planning, and clearly picture how you will use the things you ask. This is how you provide God with an organized proof and plan for your desire-goal.
The fifth promise is, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father.”–John 14:12. Doing the greater works is letting Light, joy and faith move through you. Stand on your own Mount of Transfiguration. Step up in consciousness and make up your mind to stand on law. Let your faith fulfill your plan. Success will chase you, pursue you everywhere when you ascend into Christ consciousness for ideas waiting in divine Mind. Glory will fill your heart with thrilling joy.
It’s time to take your mind off lesser fund-raising ideas like rummage sales. Love changes everything that goes through your mind into love itself. Anyone with a rummaged, ravaged mind will be healed by that love. What can be dishonorable about honorable work? Love cleanses whatever was once dirty.
What you bind on earth is bound in heaven. Do not be bound by any thought or deed on earth, washing dishes, scrubbing floors—whatever it is, loose it in prayer. You are free and the glory of God moves through you, and uses your hands. All souls among the Elect are healed and new positions are open to them.
And It Came to Pass
Edna Lister outline; August 28, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Hebrews 11:17-19, Hebrews 11:23-30.
“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”–Hebrews 11:17-19.
“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.”–Hebrews 11:23-30.
The Old Testament is filled with variations of the announcement, “It shall come to pass, thus saith the Lord” of a prophecy or promise. Later you always read, “and it came to pass.” Obedience requires faith to hold your resolve, and travel toward a goal, conquering step by step. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”–Hebrews 11:1-3.
This is the way of the soul’s progress upward. Like an airplane shadow, the little self below is always falling into ditches and holes, wandering in dark valleys, lost in fog or storms, while soul is skimming the heights. Self is forever trying and finally does come to rest as part of soul. Faith is the substance for which you struggle and the evidence that you will eventually win, if you keep your soul free, wings spread and throw out the ballast of self.
If you run into clouds, you fly higher into the sunlight. Darkness is a sign that you are too low, and need to seek and find your high vision again. You never stop, never give up until you are enfolded in Light to express your original image and the brightness of His glory.
“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”–Hebrews 11:17-19. Abraham knew that God meant what He said, Isaac’s descendants would multiply as the stars of heaven. His knowing was a definite, positive, active faith, even when God asked him to sacrifice his son.
“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.”–Hebrews 11:23. Moses’ parents knew that God would save their son from Pharaoh’s death decree against Hebrew children. His sister Miriam knew just where to launch Moses’ ark of bulrushes so that Pharaoh’s childless daughter would find him, love him and save him. She raised and trained Moses as a prince of Egypt, with all that wealth and worldly position could provide.
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.”–Hebrews 11:24-26. Moses sacrificed self, fame and riches for the honor of serving God. He knew that being a man of truth was greater than all the riches and treasures of Egypt. “Moses endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.” His faith in God led Moses through the plagues and forty years in the wilderness.
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.”–Hebrews 11:30. The legacy of unconquerable faith caused Jericho’s walls to fall. Will unconquerable faith work for you? Yes. Money, property, houses, cars, relationships, “it shall come to pass” anytime, all the time.
Ask yourself, “Where am I headed, up, down or horizontally? How can I know? I shall surrender to be a servant of all God’s Power, waiting on the Lord while working out my salvation here on earth. I agree with God, adjust to men, and never give up the goal, my principles or my heart and soul convictions, but I love enough!” Abraham loved God enough. Moses loved God enough. They knew that God cannot fail. It shall come to pass for you, divine, glorious and free, full of unconquerable faith. You shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
Divine Mathematics
Edna Lister transcript; August 28, 1955, Tacoma, WA.; December 4, 1955, Cleveland, OH. Ruth Collord. Scripture: 1 Kings 17:1.
“Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.”–1 Kings 17:1.
Elijah prophesied that there was to be no rain for three years because of evil in Ahab’s kingdom. Ahab had married Jezebel, a Phoenician priestess of Baal, who worshiped in the Black Mass with human sacrifice and sexual perversion. The Lord commanded Elijah to go to a widow in Zarephath who would sustain him during the drought and famine. When Elijah asked for food, the widow said, “I am going to mix this little meal and oil for me and my son, we shall eat and then die.”
Then Elijah prophesied that the barrel of meal would not waste, nor would the cruse of oil fail until it rained. Against the widow’s expectations of hunger and lack, the supply was sufficient. When you listen to the God-side, the up-side, you never need to swayed by or give in to propaganda. You stand steadfastly on truth. It is better to have one little bit of truth and live it than to have much knowledge but no truth.
The widow believed to see, and every day she had enough. God did not fill her barrel full, but provided each day. You shall have what you need if you work out your salvation every day. You can practice concentration for a lump of gold or a plate of food, and it may be there eventually, but so what? I want to serve, so I say, “Father, You’ll have to take care of this,” and go about serving. My purse is filled when I need to pay my hotel bill.
If you say, “This is all I have,” you may as well say, “This is all I need.” Say instead, “I am giving this dime, and it is the beginning of $1,000.” You cannot hold or contain mind. You must think with it and use it, or mind stagnates. Some people say, “If I just didn’t have to pay this bill, I could afford to do that.” Say instead, “Thank You, Father, for this bill to pay. This payment is the beginning of $10,000 for everyone concerned.” The addition of the $10,000 is an excellent expansion treatment for the subconscious mind.
Do not subtract from your large consciousness. Do not subtract from your statements of truth. Be thankful for paying sales tax and income tax. A healing prosperity treatment is “For every penny I spend in state sales tax, I am saving $100 for myself.” The scripture says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”–Matthew 6:33. Seeking God first gives, adds eternal youth and atomic power. Griping, being hurt, blaming or excusing the self subtracts from eternal youth and atomic power.
“From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”–Matthew 25:29 describes someone who has no desire to know, apply or practice law. The application of what you know to what you do brings multiplication and success. You are always practicing the presence of God in what you do. When you praise anyone, you increase the love in your own heart. You can change your life through praise. Praising God multiplies the atomic substance in your body and brings health. To avoid division, do not waste energy on unnecessary pursuits, such as dramatizing a situation or using force. Take that one step up to the Mount of Transfiguration.
Your message is ascension and the increase of all good! Apply these laws. Subtract from your life whatever is binding and limiting. People say, “I’m down to my last dollar,” or, “This is the last chance.” This is utterly false. God’s tomorrow is filled with wonderful new chances.
Living Waters
Edna Lister outline; September 4, 1955, Tacoma, WA. John 4:5-14.
“Then cometh [Jesus] to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”–John 4:5-14.
Water is a symbol of emotions, but the living waters of eternal life represent love, which sustains life. This story draws the distinction between life that is just an existence and life in God, which is vital, lively, joyous and exciting. Just existing means boredom, but living means being interested in today while waiting eagerly for tomorrow.
Jesus was traveling through Samaria to Galilee and came to Sychar, where Jacob’s well was, on a parcel of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jesus rested there while his disciples went into town for food. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked for a drink. He shocked her for two reasons. First, Jewish men never spoke to strange women, and Jews never dealt with Samaritans.
The “well of water springing up into everlasting life” refers to breathing from above, from the life of the Father of all Lights. Light from above awakens the sacrum plexus nerves and the magnetic currents flow upward to water the Garden of Eden in the higher creative center of the head.
We all know that darkness is the absence of Light, and death is the absence of life. Yet death begins when you stop growing, and have no hope in or desire for the future. Statements such as, “I can’t remember,” or, “I’m so dumb,” kill a few brain cells every time you speak them. Every time you say, “I’ve done my work. I’ve worked too hard. I want to rest,” the subconscious begins to work out a way to take you off your feet. If you must lie down, rest up.
Your desires set the keynote of your life, yet you may let self twist your words, to betray you. Words are the expressions of your desires. Ideas are seeds that you plant. A seed’s roots must be nourished by loving hands with a green thumb, and pruned as needed. Yet if you talk about your seed ideas, you may allow others to uproot them or wither them with scorn. You subject yourself to enemy ideas, too.
No one can ever create your adversary from the outside, yet they may suggest them with a look, a word, or an action that tempts you to mistrust. If you go down in consciousness, eventually you must overcome and come up again. Another’s meanness just gives you his disposition “yarn end” to wind into a ball, so just put it on the altar until it is enough for the Father to weave a new soul robe for him.
You can grow every day, if your conscious thinking is perfect. Are you happy now? Does that little self-pity fellow below your real heart know exactly how happy you are? Can you tell your subconscious about it? It’s your servant. Let your “little self” in on the secret of your “bubbling well spring of life.” Just as it has dragged you down, it will bubble up with joy when life gets tough, and lift as high as it went low. Today’s “let down” is tomorrow’s “set down,” and the “bed down” the day after.
Today’s glory is tomorrow’s ascension growth, the bubbling well spring of living waters. Today’s rejoicing creates tomorrow’s miracles. Today’s living waters are tomorrow’s success, new position, salary increases, new ideas, new joys. Joy is being thrilled with enough life, expectant of miracles after miracle around the corner. Joy forms “bubbles” on your daily living, nothing flat or boring. Put your body’s cells to work for you so that you can do everything you would love to do. The body uses atomic power, so breathe deeply to fill the body, and feel the Power rush in to fill you.
Living Waters
Edna Lister outline, September 4, 1955, Tacoma, WA. John 4:5-14.
“Then cometh [Jesus] to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”–John 4:5-14.
Water is a symbol of emotions, but the living waters of eternal life represent love, which sustains life. This story draws the distinction between life that is just an existence and life in God, which is vital, lively, joyous and exciting. Just existing means boredom, but living means being interested in today while waiting eagerly for tomorrow.
Jesus was traveling through Samaria to Galilee and came to Sychar, where Jacob’s well was, on a parcel of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jesus rested there while his disciples went into town for food. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked for a drink. He shocked her for two reasons. First, Jewish men never spoke to strange women, and Jews never dealt with Samaritans.
The “well of water springing up into everlasting life” refers to breathing from above, from the life of the Father of all Lights. Light from above awakens the sacrum plexus nerves and the magnetic currents flow upward to water the Garden of Eden in the higher creative center of the head.
We all know that darkness is the absence of Light, and death is the absence of life. Yet death begins when you stop growing, and have no hope in or desire for the future. Statements such as, “I can’t remember,” or, “I’m so dumb,” kill a few brain cells every time you speak them. Every time you say, “I’ve done my work. I’ve worked too hard. I want to rest,” the subconscious begins to work out a way to take you off your feet. If you must lie down, rest up.
Your desires set the keynote of your life, yet you may let self twist your words, to betray you. Words are the expressions of your desires. Ideas are seeds that you plant. A seed’s roots must be nourished by loving hands with a green thumb, and pruned as needed. Yet if you talk about your seed ideas, you may allow others to uproot them or wither them with scorn. You subject yourself to enemy ideas, too.
No one can ever create your adversary from the outside, yet they may suggest them with a look, a word, or an action that tempts you to mistrust. If you go down in consciousness, eventually you must overcome and come up again. Another’s meanness just gives you his disposition “yarn end” to wind into a ball, so just put it on the altar until it is enough for the Father to weave a new soul robe for him.
You can grow every day, if your conscious thinking is perfect. Are you happy now? Does that little self-pity fellow below your real heart know exactly how happy you are? Can you tell your subconscious about it? It’s your servant. Let your “little self” in on the secret of your “bubbling well spring of life.” Just as it has dragged you down, it will bubble up with joy when life gets tough, and lift as high as it went low. Today’s “let down” is tomorrow’s “set down,” and the “bed down” the day after.
Today’s glory is tomorrow’s ascension growth, the bubbling well spring of living waters. Today’s rejoicing creates tomorrow’s miracles. Today’s living waters are tomorrow’s success, new position, salary increases, new ideas, new joys. Joy is being thrilled with enough life, expectant of miracles after miracle around the corner. Joy forms “bubbles” on your daily living, nothing flat or boring. Put your body’s cells to work for you so that you can do everything you would love to do. The body uses atomic power, so breathe deeply to fill the body, and feel the Power rush in to fill you.
What Miracles Are
Edna Lister outline, September 4, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Acts 19:11-20.
“God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”–Acts 19:11-19.
To demonstrate means “to show, to make clear,” but “monster” is at the heart of the word. Common usage made it part of metaphysical speech in the 1930s, but despite its common usage, it still gathers after its root kind. Every word has a numerical vibration and tunes in its own degree and kind, which is the basis of all cyclic laws, such as action and reaction. You send forth a vibration of quality on every breath, and its quality is increased as it orbits the earth and returns to you increased in quantity.
The evil spirit knew Jesus’ name, but demanded Who are you?
of the sons of Sceva. They imitated what they’d heard Paul say, but words spoken without consciousness of their meaning are weak, lacking the power of truth and so seldom work. A miracle is the reverse. Tune into the miracle station of unconquerable faith and all power, and every time you use Jesus’ name, another vast wave will flow over you and through you. It goes forth and collects its own and greater power to what you release.
Stay tuned in on the vibration of miracle after miracle, miracle upon miracle.
Idle words betray you, but they cannot change by themselves. Your words follow a certain vibration and have no way of knowing that you do not mean them. They go out there, busy creating, gathering after their degree and kind, while you go on fooling yourself with more excuses. Stop such nonsense. Be responsible and make certain that your words do follow the meditation of your heart.
Free Will
Edna Lister outline; September 11, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Matthew 26:36-44.
“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.”–Matthew 26:36-44.
This text is a perfect example of giving up personal will. We are supposed to follow his ensample. His soul was weary, heavy because the disciples had accomplished so little, understood so little, and he had to leave them to carry on, sink or swim. He could do no more, and he must have wanted to stay.
The first time Jesus prayed, he took the first step in giving up personal will. “O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” He talked all his soul agony out and up to the Father in his prayer. Since the disciples were sleeping, he went back to pray again in the second step of surrender. “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.”
This time he accepted that he could lift only the blackness of earth, open the Gates of Light for us and show the way by drinking the cup. He took on enough of earth’s debts to relieve us so that we could pay the rest. He never tried to awaken them the third time, but left and prayed again, “Father, they are but children and cannot accept. Father, I am now ready. Let Thy perfect will, planned from the beginning, be done in me, through me and for Thy world.”
Such a world controversy rages about personal will, and “giving up” will is seen as passive, negative and useless. Child educators preach, “Let them express themselves,” when all they can express is self. The world is afraid that nonresistance will lead them to become a nonentity because advocates of nonresistance act passively and inactively. The same sort of doctrine cult has arisen concerning desire. Some preach that you have to kill desire. Yet desire is the expression of the Creative Impulse, the creative fire moving through you as God’s life! You cannot kill desire. You can repress desire, which only atrophies the endocrine glands through which it functions.
The whole process of civilization teaches that you must ascend desire and mate it with free will to become the Oversoul’s I AM consciousness, the Christ Mind, which is the only true ascension. You can never know what a glorious free will is until you know love, until desire and will become intuition and illumination. Desire lifted becomes a flame that purifies will and burns out selfish dross and the self-exaltation of the personal will, which is always bumping along on a flat tire. Self-will is just another way of saying, “I’m determined to learn all my earth lessons the hard way.”
The free will of God functions smoothly and rhythmically. The question is not “Do I have free will” or “Can I use free will,” but “What can free will do for me? How do I want to use my God-given free will?” Free will is untouchable and really is all-knowing illumination. After you first realize your responsibility, complete with “if it’s possible” and “nevertheless,” you take that first step in surrender. Then you look down and find your disciples, faith, love and joy are all sound asleep. You “try” to awaken them.
Then you take the second step, to go up in consciousness to pray again because you must lift the little self that asks, “What cup?” before it says, “Well, if I must drink it.” You review your life, taking responsibility for your thoughts, emotions and imagination. You know that you must accept all blame, but little self says, “Don’t blame me. Don’t tell me I’m wrong. It hurts me. I can’t bear it. Pet me. Love me as I am. I need understanding. Praise me for being noble. Love me in spite of.”
Faith is nodding, love is napping and joy is fast asleep. You cannot wake ’em up, so you go back for the third step. You now assume full responsibility to be the Master of your own house. “Father, I become the servant of all Power. I surrender to Thy free will through me and as me because Thy free will is perfect illumination, untouchable, glorious, divine, and now adds itself to my love of God, my faith of God and my joy in life.”
Free Will
Edna Lister transcript; September 11, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Dorothy Allen, Ruth Collord, scribes. Matthew 26:36-44.
“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.”–Matthew 26:36-44.
This text outlines the surrender of self. The Master was sent as the Son of God to suffer all travails as a son of man, and to sacrifice all self. His ministry included every law and emotional attitude toward life, and applied them to everyone. The four Gospels contain all laws of life.
Only the three who had gone to the Mount of Transfiguration with him were there to understand. It comforted him to have them with him in Gethsemane. For a year, before his arrest, they had traveled with him from city to city. He knew that all he had given and taught would be so misunderstood, more so that any other teacher ever. Why?
Jesus taught the heavy parts of truth, all about giving up the self. He knew—he looked ahead and saw that his disciples would suffer in his name. “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”–Matthew 26:39. Jesus had to let go of his disciples to carry his message forward. He turned them loose, but he had to lift from his heart the heaviness that he felt for leaving them. Otherwise, he could not have the joy of knowing that he had done all that he could, which carried him through the Crucifixion.
“He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.”–Matthew 26:42. In drinking this cup, Jesus would remain with the world to be responsible, even if his disciples would fail. To drink the cup drew the whole world into his being, and he took on the full responsibility. He had vowed responsibility, and had released his disciples to pay their debts.
His third prayer in Gethsemane did not need to be written. “Father, I put them into Your hands, and give them freely unto Thee. I know that Your great arms of Light hold them closely.” He put his loved ones in the Father’s hands, then returned to them and said, “Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.”–Matthew 26:46. Two schools of thought deal with the subject of surrender. One believes that you must actively give your will up to God. The other believes that you only need to sit and let the fire go out, saying, “I’ll wait for God.”
On the subject of free will, one school says that everyone has “free expression.” Another school says you must kill your desire, but to do so also kills cells and endocrine glands in your head. Will is born of wisdom. In truth, you must mate desire with will by lifting desire to know “free” will. Selfish will says, “Go away, God. I’ll learn my lessons the hard way.” Free will is God’s plan for your learning that the will is His and the choice is yours. Selfish will runs like a flat tire, bumping along.
The first step is “Thy will be done,” which is to look and see whether God has a plan for you. You say, “If it is possible, please take this from me.” Then you grudgingly say, “Nevertheless, Thy will be done” and make the sacrifice. You return to the disciples a third time. Faith is nodding, love is napping and joy is sound asleep. You shake them, and this time determine not to let them fall asleep. This time, joy reigns and faith leads.
At the second step, you pray, saying, “If I must drink the cup,” but descend in consciousness. You decide this is the right thing to do, and accept. At the third step, you say, “I’m ready to continue on from here into the Light.” Free will is divine illumination and acceptance of that original plan for you.
Each morning, say, “Father, I am ready for Your plan for me today, and willing to step put and to do what You want me to do, Your way.” This is free will. Wisdom comes from this. You have the right answers and grow in wisdom. Free will is not license to do as you please. Let free will use you. The little self says, “Do not scold me,” and interferes, taking you out into the fields, picking flowers. Self says, “Leave me alone. Let me work this out my way, alone.” It slams the door, shouting, “I’m never coming back!”
Yet it does return, tail between its legs, and accepts. You must accept. You can do nothing else. The self way is the way of delay and takes you further and further from free will. Free will is a divine glory that opens your great life plan. Take the blame for family squabbles, idle words, etc. All you need do is to say, “Here they are, Father. Take them with no blame. Let them be Thine and on their way, fulfilling Thy life plan for them.”
The third step of responsibility is, “I’m lifting the lines of all these loved ones. Let Your great Mind, Substance and Power pour through them so that they may live Thy life for them.” You are responsible for surrendering, to let illumination rule your life, to let Light express to do the work. This is how to have the right answers all the time. Unconsciously, your spirit accepts Spirit. Never try to hide, but be open and in the open. To run away and hide under a rock is to crawl on your belly instead of standing upright.
A Cat’s Nine Lives
Edna Lister outline; September 11, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Ephesians 3:20-21.
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”–Ephesians 3:20-21.
Osiris and Isis brought the doctrine of the immortality of the soul to the Egyptian civilization. As with all mysteries unveiled through the ages, it finally degenerated into worship of the body, and its preservation. The idea of physical immortality, which is that the very bodies that are buried will “rise up at the last trump” to be used again, promulgated today in some cults, stems directly from the original doctrine of the soul’s immortality.
In the beginning, the Egyptian messiahs simply taught the masses that “all was of God.“ The truth that the life of God, which is everywhere evenly available and present in all things, retrogressed into the deification of thousands of animals and objects that became sacred, among them, the cat. The cat is not sacred, but because of its qualities, it symbolizes the triple trinity of nine eternal virtues. Any multiple of nine folds into a single nine, therefore the ancients called it the universal number. The nine lives of a cat symbolize eternal life.
The cat as a symbol embodies six creative ideas, the first being perfect independence. You can never take away a cat’s individuality or independence. It never “knuckles down” or loses itself, but is always the one that commands respect. Second, the cat symbolizes perfect adjustment, since it never worries or carries a burden because it knows how to accept. It hunts alone and always rustles up a meal, which represents perfect adjustment to life. Thirdly, the cat represents determination because of its ability to concentrate perfectly on one idea. A cat will single-mindedly howl at the door until you either let it in or let it out, and it will wait for a mouse by the hour in complete stillness and silence.
Fourth, the cat symbolizes relaxation: After it works, it rests, plays, then rests again in perfect relaxation. And it has the sense to breathe itself into its body after sleep with a good, long stretch. Fifth, the cat represents perfect freedom in balance and always lands on its feet. Finally, because the cat has a perfect sense of direction and control, it never gets lost, but always finds its way home. So the cat represents immortality in nine universal lives: Perfect independence, perfect adjustment to life, perfect determination, perfect relaxation, perfect balance, and a perfect sense of direction and control.
If you find that you are not the perfect embodiment of these principles, do not worry. You can open a new account in God’s Reserve Bank, and wait at the door until you receive. “I open this account with enlarged ideas and huge declarations. I deposit what I desire to draw out, and must make my deposits every day. If I deposit fear, doubt, delay ideas, irritation or criticism, that’s what I will draw out.” Deposit all cat virtues, and let go of all cat detriments, such as laziness, selfishness, and fault-finding words that scratch like claws. Always preen before your mirror to see if your joy-face is on straight, if you are wearing your crown of love.
Open Doors to Success
Edna Lister outline; September 18, 1955, Tacoma, WA; November 20, 1955, Cleveland, OH. Revelation 3:8, 3:11, 3:18-20.
“I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.”–Revelation 3:8.
“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”–Revelation 3:11.
“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”–Revelation 3:18-20.
These verses are beautiful, glorious words of assurance and comfort, something to count on. Which of the many outer doors to health, home, business, success, friends and companionship do you knock on? The Master cannot mean a small door, so it must be a key door, which once entered, causes all other doors to swing wide. It represents the door to your own soul, through which pours the Light of your Oversoul Star as all Mind, all Power and all Substance to fill your creations, the door to your House of the Lord and room of Light.
Your room of Light is foursquare, north, south, east and west, which you build by the way in which you live the Golden Rule. It has four walls, four doors and large windows on either side of the doors. You can enter from any point, position or place where you are, and no one can shut the doors. You can turn away and wander in the dark, with your back to the Light, crying, “Where is God? Where am I? Why can’t I see?” Yet if you close the door, God always knocks again.
Many have misunderstood one statement, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” Read it as “As many as surrender to be the servant of all the Power to love God with all mind, heart, soul and body, I rebuke and chasten. As many as sing ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ night and day before the high throne, as many as are helpers, teachers and healers by choice, through whom I can pour an ever greater Power, I rebuke and chasten.”
Being rebuked and chastened is a privilege, a sign that you are growing and being used. Should you lose your way in the world, something sends you back to Christ, who has knocked at the door of your mind. If pride holds you back, a blow will come that forces you to give it up in sacrifice. Some are too eager to show their “good works,” and their words reveal that they “know” too much, a know-it-all! Family, friends and the world pin their ears back.
You’re always surprised when you are rebuked, saying, “Who, me?” Surrender self, and give it up to make room for love enough to do the work. If you’re caught out on your words and must eat them, you are being chastened. This means you’ve been sifted and found worthy!
“I went to the angel and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me, Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be sweet as honey in your mouth.”–Revelation 10:9. This describes idle words. They may taste sweet as you say them, but your stomach rebels when you have to say, “Excuse me! I didn’t mean it.” Appetitive soul rules from the solar plexus, and when you let it indulge in idle words, you have to eat them and they cause heartburn. The words don’t know you didn’t mean them, but work on their own vibration according to the degree and kind of tone you gave them.
You can hold the doors to your room of Light open in three ways: First, by anointing your eyes with “eye salve.” Second, by buying “white clothing,” and finally, by buying “gold refined in the fire.” First, use the eye salve, which is love. You can reach up and see Christ in everyone when you wear your rose-colored glasses. Give them the benefit of the doubt, without blaming. Live life as though the spotlight is on you and the world is watching every action and hearing every word.
The “white clothing” represents the purity of a heart of all love, the Christ mind, and your purpose, which is standing in the Light. Your desire for perfection holds the door open, not because you are perfect. You no longer worry. Like Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind,” you say, “I’ll worry about that tomorrow!” As a king hires a court jester to make him laugh, hire someone else to do your worrying.
You have earned your eye salve for spiritual vision and white clothing to be clothed in Light, now, but you need gold refined in the fire to be rich. Your exchange must be equal and balanced, for only steadfastness of purpose will buy the gold. At last you see the great vision, the horizon expands and begin climbing toward it. You pass tests and overcome temptations and ascend higher.
Finally, you reach your goal, and success is yours. Right away you begin to be bored, cramped and shut in until nothing seems worthwhile. You want to break down the wall and run away. Fear enters, you feel lost and alone and try to crawl back into your cast off shell, only to find that you cannot. You hear a Voice again, saying, “Behold, I stand at your door and knock.” You look up and see another higher vision, and remember your vows of purity of heart, mind and purpose.
The horizon expands again, the door opens, and again you hear a Voice crying, “Buy from me gold refined in the fire, new white garments, and more eye salve.” And you do buy the gold of Spirit in the golden silence. Again you hear a Voice, saying, “I come quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown,” the “halo” of your crown lotus petals open to the Light.
You know God’s Voice will always say, “Behold” Place yourself in the Divine Alchemist’s crucible until the dross of self is burned away. You become pure gold, refined in the fires of love until the face you turn to God shines with His golden Light.
Intuition or Hunch?
Edna Lister outline, September 18, 1955, Tacoma, WA. James 1:17, Isaiah 30:21.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness or shadow of turning.”–James 1:17.
“Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.”–Isaiah 30:21.
Intuition is “a quick perception of truth, without conscious attention or reasoning, truth attained through apprehension, also instinctive knowledge or feeling,” which you induct from the five senses. Perception is “the act or power of perceiving intuitively, to become aware through the faculties, or instinctively through the five senses.” The term “hunch” came into expression from the old superstition that good luck attends the touching of the hump of a hunchback. A hunch is “a premonition, meaning to admonish in advance of actual warning, instinctive foreboding or a prediction.”
From these definitions, it’s easy enough to see where misunderstandings can occur, because their very definitions seat intuition and hunches in two different places. A hunch arises from the subconscious mind. Intuition is part of super-conscious I AM. The I AM center in the head, ruled by the Christ mind, holds the centers of intuition and illumination in the pituitary gland and pineal body. Hunches belong to the solar plexus, the seat of the instinctive “brain,” ruled by that part of mind called the subconscious. Since subconscious means below the conscious level, it’s no wonder that confusion results.
Apperception is the kind of perception in which the conscious mind is active during the process of perceiving. Apperception includes the addition of recognition and interpretation, all powers of the intellect used in acquisition and elaboration of that which is perceived. “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.”–Isaiah 30:21. Intuition is the result of desire and will become one as the I AM consciousness in the tower room of the higher creative center.
Hunches operate from the solar plexus, which is the seat of all past superstition. Predictions, for instance those based on studying the cycles of astrology, can come true, but prayer, which releases God’s Power, moves the white Light of the Christ through those stars and planets to set predictions and hunches aside. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness or shadow of turning.”–James 1:17. Intuition is the Voice of God speaking when it comes from above with no variableness or turning as miracles.
You can become a genius or expert through intuition. An expert is a job holder. You cannot be an expert job hunter and job holder at the same time. Let go of the job you do not have, and declare “I am in my right place.” Then apply until a new position opens. However, you cannot be an expert at avoiding work and making excuses for not finding it, and a job receiver. Some people are experts in weakness, disease, pain and lack, but they cannot also be experts in gain, open doors and the strength of shining Light.
A man, who was down on his luck, failed to pay his rent. The landlady turned off his heat, and finally threatened to evict him during sub-zero weather. He went into the freezing night hunting for a doorway or corner in which to freeze, while his little self kept whispering, “Death is the only way out for me.” He finally heard the voice of intuition saying, “I AM,” and he wonderingly repeated, “I AM. I AM. I AM” until Power surged in him, possessing him with unearthly strength that warmed him. He returned to his room, which seemed warm enough to him, and slept.
The next day he returned to a business where they had refused him the day before, to find that an employee had failed to show up, and they put him to work. Intuition solved his problem when he became still enough to hear the Voice of God. He nearly died, but the Power did the work when intuition overpowered the “hunch” realm in his mind.
Prayer and Healing
Edna Lister outline, September 21, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Matthew 6:33, 12:36.
In all your prayers and with every need for healing treatment, begin with “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”–Matthew 6:33. When you seek the Father, you will inevitably reach Him when your desire and love burn hot enough to bridge the abyss in consciousness.
“Thy will be done.”–Matthew 26:42. In praying for yourself and for others, you must get self out of the way. You can do so easily by declaring, “Thy will is done in me and in all my affairs.” To conquer self’s laziness in discipline, use rhythmic declarations, such as “I rejoice and am glad,” in three groups of three, in other words, repeated nine times. Raise your hands high above your head when declaring the first set.
Hold your hands palms up, cupped to repeat the second set. This fills you with Light. Finally, hold your hands, palms turned inward, level with your ears. This consecrates you, body and soul, to healing prayer. To declare, “I AM THAT I AM,” without sufficient preparation, would release more Power than you could direct and control. The resultant force would knock you down on its return.
Other I AM declarations will help to build up your rate of vibration to undertake healing work. You may wish to recite the following declaration three times each: “I AM that Wisdom, I AM! I AM that Love, I AM! I AM that Word, I AM! I AM that Harmony, I AM! I AM that Joy, I AM! I AM that Strength, I AM! I AM that Health, I AM! I AM that Good, I AM!”
I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
–Matthew 12:36. Watch your words. To say, “don’t forget,” is idle, but to say, “Please remember,” is acceptable. Wait until the right time to tell anyone anything. Speak gently. Walk softly. Use wise silence and golden speech.
Forgiveness
Edna Lister outline, September 25, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Luke 17:1-4.
“Then said he to the disciples, It is impossible that no offences will come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him that a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him.”–Luke 17:1-4.
Offenses will come inevitably because as many paths back to God exist as there are individuals. Every member of a family is different in his or her degree and kind of self desires and soul desires. We must all obey some basic laws, to eat and sleep, for example. We agree that love and knowledge exist, but differ in our interpretation and application of what we know. We agree on most basic needs, such as houses, stores, cars, clothes, eating, sleeping and marrying. Yet, we disagree on the kind of house, stores, cars, clothes. Two women may agree on a table and disagree about which tablecloth to use. Empires can be split over which cover to use.
The offenses that cause most family quarrels arise from petty differences. If the conflicts become too extreme, it may be better to leave the situation than to leave the body, without charging debts of blame to pay or misusing all your soul substance in offenses. Offenses can spoil an entire life; an incarnation can be cut short, but the soul would return debt-free. Often those who choose suicide do so to escape spiritual debts. People all have opinions and prejudices about what selfishness is. We call another selfish if they make demands and “stubborn” is a favored epithet when they disagree. We call another unforgiving when he disagrees with “little me.”
“Millstone” has a fearsome, destructive sound. A millstone is a heavy weight used to grind grains. You are cast into the sea of your own condemnation. Any misuse of Light as Mind, Substance and Power a grinding between the upper and nether (lower) millstones of the gods. The upper millstone symbolizes principle or law. The lower millstone represents your subconscious knowledge of misuse. Woe unto him who knows truth, but repudiates his responsibility.
Jesus distinctly mentions offending “one of these little ones.” A “little one” is anyone who knows nothing of truth. Woe unto you when you offend such a one, then dare to charge a debt of blame to him. “ It is impossible that no offenses will come” because all too often you see no need to correct your own offensive ways. When you know that you are offensive on any count, you are supposed to sacrifice it. Otherwise, you not only charge a debt of blame to your own account, you also push the “little one” down. Then you are due a rebuke. You dare not rebuke another until you are incapable of offering the same offense or charging a debt of blame, to anyone, anywhere at anytime. You cast the first stone when you blame or unjustly rebuke.
You do need to integrate all laws for clear soul vision. You can use many laws to make yourself feel good. The safe way to rebuke is to let Light do its own rebuking. This is wise and best, if only to make certain that you will not have to eat your words. To repent means to reform, not to promise to do better or “I’m sorry. I’ll try,” or “Help me.” These are the sort of soul vows that you make when the subconscious is at work. St. Paul said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” To forgive usually means that you want to arbitrate. Ideally, you are supposed to forgive up to seven times seventy times per day. To forgive is to pour love on the offender until he is healed and strong enough to pay his soul vows.
When you obey these laws, you no longer offend, but correct self when you know that you have offended. Correct your own offenses without blaming another, not even yourself. Rebuke self by letting Light shine. Repent by reforming your ideas, thoughts and pictures in imagination. Forgive everyone, “me” most of all. This is how you make the soul triumphant over the self. The method is free. Life is exciting, thrilling and wonderful with soul ascendant over self!
Defeat or Success?
Edna Lister outline, September 25, 1955, Tacoma, WA. 1 John 5:14, 2 Peter 3:8, Philippians 4:19.
What is defeat? As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.
[See Proverbs 23:7, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
]
To feel a sense of defeat causes you to begin thinking of failure. The instant you consider defeat, you begin to slow down for repeated failures, quitting, sitting down to wait before success arrives, all ending in total defeat. Success is confidence, expectancy, eagerness and accepting now. Your first confidence is that God’s will is good. This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us.
–1 John 5:14.
Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
–2 Peter 3:8. Your second confidence is that you do have the time now. It’s never too late, just too soon. It is not even delay because it is finished in divine Mind the instant you ask, and manifests under law at the right time. You may not push or force, but just accept now.
God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory.
–Philippians 4:19. Success is eternal expectancy, and eternal eagerness. Defeat expects the bad. Success expects the good. Be eager for more life and experiences, more tempering by life’s experiences. You may not pray to kill temper, but to accept life’s experiences eagerly as tempering for the soul, as steel must be tempered.
Take your place in line and hold it without martyrdom. If you need to give place to a needier one, never quit or go to the end of the line on the defeat idea. Step back, one pace, then stand expectantly, eager to receive, with hats off to your past and coats off for your future while you stand, work and serve.
I AM THAT I AM
Edna Lister outline, October 2, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Acts 12:7-16.
And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.
–Acts 12:7-16.
King Herod had killed James, the brother of John, and had arrested Peter to please the temple priesthood in Jerusalem. Peter was in prison, sleeping, bound in chains between two soldiers who were guarding him. An angel appeared to him in prison, saying, “Arise quickly,” and the chains fell from him. The angel led him to the iron gates to the city and they opened by themselves.
You also are bound between two soldiers, opinions and prejudices. They represent so many things of the world that work to ensnare you, to entice. Artificial beauty and forced happiness through the entertainment industry, for example.
What results is joy in chains, love on crutches, faith crucified, and hope buried under pride, lukewarmness and indifference. An angel of the Lord is always calling to you to break away from the world’s bondage.
How do you break free from bondage? An Eastern potentate possessed vast wealth, too great to be counted. He had three sons. When he died, each of his sons had to choose one portion and all the responsibility that went with it. The remainder of his estate would go to Yusef, his vizier and favorite, whom he had raised and a man trusted and feared.
The oldest son chose the palace, throne and province that included the capital city and its wealth, enough to maintain it. The second son chose the summer palace, second in size only to the capital. It included a province to rule, orchards, farms, servants and enough wealth to maintain it.
The youngest son was a stripling of sixteen years, untried and naive. Everyone expected him to choose a horse or something trivial that required little or no effort to maintain. The youth shocked them all when he said, “I choose Yusef.” His choice encompassed the bulk of his father’s kingdom. How does this story relate to you? When you say, “I choose God,” you’ve sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else is added to you.
I choose I AM THAT I AM, which includes the whole, all, everything. This is the way of the creator, to have all else added. The way of the creature is to fight and struggle, earning everything the hard way. Some choose worldly wealth, fame and honors. Some choose martyrdom, invalidism and poverty. Yet every soul must choose, consciously or unconsciously.
Some choose God and the pathway of the soul by conquering self, becoming law and ascending in consciousness. When you choose God, the chains fall away, the indifference and lukewarmness, the opinions and prejudices. You always face a choice. An angel of the Lord is always telling you to “Rise up quickly.” No longer is your joy in chains, or your love on crutches. You are a crucified martyr no more, your faith is revived, and your hope is resurrected.
Joyfully, you declare, I AM that life, I AM. I AM in love with God. Life is my challenge and my strength. Love is my answer. I AM in love with God!
I AM lifts you and sends you forth to conquer. Faith upholds you. Hope is your foundation. Love is your creative substance. I AM leads you into majestic, splendid, glorious life.
Your Broadcasting Station
Edna Lister outline, October 2, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Matthew 3:1-3.
“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”–Matthew 3:1-3.
All promises, from the earliest prophets after Adam and Eve until today, apply to all children of Israel, who have lived in each civilization. All these promises are as good today as they were in the past, and they apply to us, now. The Lord is once more saying, “Prepare the way before Me.” The “way” is the Christ Way in every mind and heart.
Life is a challenge, a call to arms. To stand steadfastly as the Light is a challenge to darkness. “With me is the strong arm of Jehovah, my God.” Does this thrill you, stir you, move you, ring bells in your heart? Or leave you cold, indifferent, untouched? Your degree of enthusiasm for life and work determines your degree of success.
The call rings out, “Let us assemble at Jerusalem.” To do so, seek your temple sanctuary, which is your broadcasting station, the center of Christed consciousness, your high tower of refuge in the higher creative center. Your brain cells and head centers are your receiving and sending sets, but you cannot send and receive at the same time. If you are inducting impressions from the world’s mental static, you cannot be sending out thoughts from above simultaneously. The head is your main control room of Light as Power. The substation of self cannot know the overall plan or ideas of the Christ mind unless it listens to the broadcast. Like using a two-way radio, you send a message, say, “Over,” and must wait for the reply. The substation spends time asking why, how, when, where, distracts your attention, or fills your consciousness with static, so you cannot hear it.
Now, by law, this is the time and this is the place to put in a new general manager, the Christ consciousness, who can control the substation and end the static-laden broadcasts of self. Broadcast the message that you want God and the world to hear.
“I have hired a new general manager, and Christ consciousness turns my broadcasting station into a radar station of Power. I have returned to my sanctuary in Jerusalem, God’s radar station for me, where my miracles can find me, day and night. I am now broadcasting from faith, from love through my joy station.”
Laws for Conquerors
Edna Lister outline; October 7, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Matthew 5:25, 6:33-34, 1 Thessalonians 5:22, John 12:32, 21:22.
Every two hours, a new Zodiacal sign rises over the eastern horizon, bringing a new share of the world’s spiritual debts for you to lift with it. This truth is why Jesus said, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”–Matthew 6:34. Yet he also taught a fundamental law in which you cannot fail. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”–Matthew 6:33. This is the first of six laws that are absolutely necessary for success. Mystically, “righteousness” is the right-use-of, or “right vision in action.” The law clearly says to “seek first,” which means now, not later.
The average person falls into a ditch, then climbs out. You may fall downstairs into the basement of consciousness, knowing that you must climb out again. Most likely you will continue doing this until you ask yourself, “Why fall in first?” Go to a garden on a cloud of Light instead. Just quickly climb up, stand steadfastly, and think Light, with no words, just Light. Zipper yourself into a golden spacesuit of Light, then face the world of men and things. Or, you can see the Master as he walked on the water, between you and others.
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”–Matthew 6:33-34. Now you can live today, and meet each problem as it unfolds before you.
“Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him.”–Matthew 5:25. This law is all-inclusive, since an “adversary” can be anything that runs counter to your will and desire. Since your job is to eliminate the idea of an enemy outside you, accept everything instantly, to lift. Agree with God that this is good, and adjust to men.
People ask, “How do I lift?” Why, just play a game of “Pretend.” See the person or situation on a cloud altar in a garden, and declare, “This is good. Let there be Light.” A perfect prayer statement is, “I am now enfolded in the heart of a sphere of Light. I am now touching this innermost Light, which goes forth to accomplish, and to fulfill. It is divine, complete, all-knowing, all-seeing. Let me be fully surrendered for this Power to use. I am now open to receive full illumination.”
“What is that to thee? Follow thou me.”–John 21:22. Compare yourself with God, with the Master, not with anyone else. All that you can attain by comparing yourself with anything or anyone in the world is to feel good for a brief time, which brings no lasting benefit. “I now compare myself with the Master only.”
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.”–1 Thessalonians 5:22. To “abstain” is “to refrain from voluntarily.” This law means to avoid anything that can be misconstrued as wrong, otherwise you are tempting law, which will immediately present the bill for your payment of debts. God has designed the soul to refrain from doing wrong voluntarily, while just as consciously choosing to become a perfect ensample or pattern for others to follow.
“This is Good.”–Genesis 1. Declaring it good, no matter the test, temptation or situation, is the perfect answer in every avenue of life. God declare each day of His Creation good, and so must you.
Soul Slavery or Freedom?
Edna Lister outline; October 9, 1955, Tacoma, WA. November 27, 1955. Matthew 7:7-8.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”–Matthew 7:7-8.
This sounds so simple, yet you can meet so much interference in attaining freedom. First, ask what you are seeking. What is religion? What is slavery? What is freedom? Religion is the belief binding the spiritual nature to Supernatural Being, involving a feeling of both “dependence upon” and “responsibility to.” Religion is the scientific study of the principles and laws governing your relationship to God, the whole, and with man, the many parts.
The practice of religion is the application of general laws to fit personal needs in one of several distinct ways. The savage cowers in the cave of doubts and fear until the storm passes. Neutral souls just go to church, for which they receive credits. They hang onto Jesus’ coattails and try to ride up free of charge. Some metaphysicians say, “Let God do the work.” A few assume complete personal responsibility and apply law. Those who love God simply because He is, are satisfied with the devotional approach. Yet other honest seekers need their questions answered with an accurate intellectual explanation. Both approaches are valid, and they contend with each other in the religious world. However, neither approach is complete.
Slavery is bowing to a master or an enemy, such as fear, doubt, old patterns, or old ideas. People can be slaves to opinions, prejudices, pride, hatred, anger, self-pity, food, drugs, and drink. Freedom is the opposite of that which enslaves. Many experience momentary freedom when someone makes them happy by offering a sugar-sop to “little me,” but this is not real freedom.
To know true freedom, you must know who you are, where you came from, and where you are going. You are the sons and daughters of God, and the Word made flesh in His image and likeness in heaven. You are going to heaven, where the Master has prepared a place for you “in my Father’s house.” Heaven is both the place, and the state of consciousness you are in right now.
“I may accept this, but I still do not know how to get my freedom.” Complete freedom includes desire, decision, and action. You can desire to be a slave to self, or to plan your life free of self! Flaming desire, free of doubt, fear or hate, will mate itself with will and exalt itself, if left undirected, for that is the path of least resistance. Decide whether little self will rule your life down, or live by soul and let I AM rule you from up. Who is going where, I AM or “little me?” Declare, “I am all conquering!”
The action to take is to ask, seek and knock in one of three ways. “Little me” says, “Gimme. I take,” and is blown by every wind. Reason and intellect, which says, “I have” and “I know,” are too busy seeking causes to find time to conquer. Self and intellect are filled with too much “that’s impossible,” too much “I say so” talk, and not enough “I do so” practice. To respond to new ideas, ways, patterns and illuminations, you must ask, seek and knock at the door of intuitive I AM consciousness, which is the mind that was in Christ Jesus. So, you desire that God uses you, and ask to be used. Decide to love enough, and seek God’s love. Under action, you knock at the door of abundance, where all things are possible. I AM takes you. I AM can. I AM does.
Soul Slavery or Freedom?
Edna Lister sermon transcript; October 9, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Ruth Collord, scribe. Matthew 7:7-8.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”–Matthew 7:7-8. Ask, seek and knock. People are confused by these words. They want to know how to ask and seek, and where to knock. When you have heard about Jesus the Christ, or a great truth to apply, you need seek no longer. You go up in consciousness and apply it.
What is religion? What is slavery? What is freedom? Take the great statements of truth and apply them to daily life. Religion is more than theology, creeds, and dogma. Religion is one of twelve great cosmic departments, just as science and harmony are cosmic departments of principle. Religion is the study of philosophic laws, the study of the principles of God and the management of His universe. Religion is a belief that binds the nature of man to a supernatural being and involves him in two ways, both as dependent on God and responsible to God.
Among metaphysicians, one type sits with his hands in his lap, passively knowing. The dictatorial type uses law as force on everything and everyone until it reacts on him. Only then does he inquire.
First you must consider the forms that fear takes for you, because fear is slavery to your senses, emotions, and to the world. Slavery comes in many forms: You can be a slave to appetites, to a creed or to another’s idea of religion, to a family member or to resentment in your own heart. In reality, you have no religious freedom if you are enslaved to your emotional life.
Freedom consists of desire, to know who you are, second, decision, to know where you came from, and action, to know where you are going. You are a joint heir to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Christ is your elder brother, and he said, “Ye are gods” and it does not yet appear what ye shall be. We are the sons and daughters of God. We are endowed with His essential parts. If you doubt this, you will remain a slave to doubt and fear. If you say, “I can’t do this,” you are in bondage to doubt.
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”–John 14:2. Eventually, you must accept that heaven is a place. Heaven is also a state of consciousness, and you create a heaven here as a place in which you live. Heaven is a place. Use this as the premise that when you are free of the body, you will be taken to the right place. You can make your own heaven here right now. If it seems more like Hell, what does that say?
Live by the I AM consciousness of the mind that was in Christ Jesus for freedom, or go with self into slavery. You choose whether you allow “little me” to take you down in consciousness, or I AM to take you up in ascension. You choose this every moment of your life. The “little me” of self is always taking offense, being hurt and indulging prejudices.
Soul desire burns for more illumination, new ideas, new glories. You want all this. “Little me” is long on “I say so” and blunt about “You must do so.” In I AM consciousness, you lose that talking, forcing urge and listen to Spirit. Your decision eventually must be to follow the laws of Jesus Christ. Action comes from your decision to ask, seek and find. Do not let the little self gum-up I AM! Let the love of God cover the little self with love.
When self becomes intuition and illumination, you live in the mind of Christ. The faith of God and the will of God are perfect. God turns you loose to live His way when you let faith and love function through you as His attributes. When little self stands up, demanding to be counted, pull it up to I AM. Say, “Come up to God!” The subconscious mind is the seat of instinctive intelligence. The Bible likens us to forty-nine animals that live by instinctive intelligence.
These people say, “It’s only natural. It’s just human nature. We all have animal desires.” Yet why should you let creature consciousness run your life? The intellectual reasoning group always needs to know the reason why. “Who is God? Why should I believe that?” Enter the silence to tell God that you love Him and ask for His Light as Power to use you, to have His love rule your life. Ask to have His faith fill you, to overcome the world now. Thank Him that He is the One.
Go to your Oversoul I AM consciousness to ask for new patterns to live by, ideas for new ways to do all things. Ask for the God to use you. Ask, seek and knock. Do not reason it out, but call on Power to use you. Ask that Light may use you. Decide to live by that surrender to the Power, so that you may give up more and more of self. Then the subconscious does all the right things. It will lift its voice in praise. The action of I AM in your consciousness opens the door to God’s wisdom, strength and abundance. When you are in I AM consciousness, the abundance pours forth and the added things come. To be surrendered is to be possessed by the love of God. To stand in action is to let the mind of Christ consciousness be in action as the Father.
Interested in God?<>Edna Lister outline, October 9, 1955, Tacoma, WA. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18.
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”–2 Corinthians 3:17-18.
Mankind has evolved from a vague, savage groping after God as things, from clubs to arrows, spears and swords to guns. He has advanced from tearing meat from bones with his teeth to using knives and forks. Civilizations have come and gone. Archeologists have discovered several earlier cities buried under the ruins of Nineveh.
The need to know drives humanity, yet in what direction? Where do you place your interest? Peace builds governments, cathedrals and galleries, and war tears down these constructions. Is your interest focused on family, neighbors, or God? Where is God in your life? He is the substance of all, and you cannot leave Him out. Do you think of God as all you do? Do you work, or do you labor? Man’s work has produced porcelain vessels to carry water, yet even if we only labor, still we toil in His ancient dust.
Be interested in God, who is the Breath of Life you breathe, the food you eat, all, the everything in life. “Ye are gods.” So, what do you do with your share of God? How interested are you in your daily life? Are you bored? Anything you do is worthy of your attention, which is the right use of your devotion to God.
Be focused on doing your best, twenty-four hours a day. If you want to get away to write, study or meditate, then do, just as you are, flaws ‘n all. If you cannot find time, then you are still looking for time and place, which is right here, right now. Most people hold the attitude that they must find some other time, in some other place. They excuse their failure to do by saying they are non-religious, non-scientific, and produce nothing as the result. People do not reach their goals because it is so hard or too far, but because they take so long. You can choose faith unconquerable “with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,” or to remain in the fish “fins ‘n gills” stage.
Ascend in consciousness. Behold with “open face,” and “be changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” To be interested in God is liberty. Here the question arises, “Do I follow the truth of appearances, or the truth of reality?” Some people say, “I cannot lie” about the truth of appearances, which usually means that the grip of their past darkness is still too great to let go.
Is it a lie to declare with God that “This is healed”? Ignore the appearance, and declare with the psalmist, “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.”–Psalm 91:7. Give up self-pity, the fish fins ‘n gills stage, where others hurt you, in favor of the God ‘n wings stage, where you lift and conquer.
Agreeing With God
Edna Lister outline; October 14, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Matthew 5:25.
“Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.”–Matthew 5:25. The “enemy” idea presupposes that some adversary exists outside of you, not within your own consciousness. This, in fact, is untrue. The first place to look for the enemy is within the self.
The first law in ascension of consciousness is to accept everything that comes as something that the Father is depending on you to lift into the Light, or to fill with Light, if the thing is evil. You agree with God that all things are good, even the evil and the stinkers. Their substance is God’s and is perfect.
When you have agreed with God that this is good, you will find it a simple matter to adjust to the peculiarities, inanities and downright nastiness of your fellow man. Even the evil ones you may meet are nothing more than fuel for the fires of your ascension.
People ask, “How do I lift?” The simplest approach is to think of lifting as a game of “Pretend.” Imagine that you see the person on a cloud of Light, kneeling before an altar. Or imagine yourself sitting in a beautiful garden, filled with Light and the most gorgeous flowers, whatever you think makes a perfect garden.
First, fill your prayers with praise. Then declare, “I AM now enfolded in the heart of a sphere of Light. I AM now touching this innermost Light as Power. This Power goes forth to accomplish, to fulfill my decrees. This Light is divine, complete, all-seeing, all-knowing. Let me be fully surrendered for this Power to use. I am now open to receive full illumination.” Now decree perfection of healing for all those whom you have lifted. Preface each decree with “Let.”
The Ambassador
Edna Lister outline October 16, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Ephesians 6:13-20.
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”–Ephesians 6:13-20.
St. Paul says, “Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand,” then “having done all, stand.” To stand means to be unmoved and remain steadfast. He emphasized standing because fears and doubts enter after you have done all that you know how to do. Then he describes how to put the armor on, which includes six steps to protection—gird your loins with truth, wear the breastplate of righteousness, shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, use the shield of faith, wear the helmet of salvation, and take up the sword of Spirit. The truth that you use to gird your loins is sincerity, and loyalty to God. The sword of Spirit carries the vibration of the Word.
The feet represent understanding, and you must cover them with a “preparation” for peace, but what kind of preparation? Let your desire ascend to mate with will in the your Oversoul’s I AM place of poise, then Power descends as peace. The only way to prepare for peace is to become a child of poise and Power. Faith is your shield, which you carry on your left arm and hand, to take in Power from above. It forms a shield of Light before you, protecting you from anything the world can produce.
Salvation means “to be saved from,” and you wear the helmet to protect the head when you open yourself to the Light. Light whirls down from the I AM center to fill you with intuition and illumination as you watch, work and wait. This is how you condense divine substance within your aura to fill your prayer molds.
Wield the sword of Spirit in your right hand, which gives out the Power from above. “By their works, you shall know them” means works, not words and talk. Having done all, which includes “praying always with all prayer,” you stand, “watching with all perseverance” for what you do want.
The bond you share as a creator with God empowers an ambassador of Light. God’s bond is a guarantee that you increase with every breath you draw. You have no more time to waste with fighting, opinions, or prejudices. God bonds you because He trusts you to wear your armor.
Paradise
Edna Lister outline, October 16, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Matthew 6:19-21, 6:33, Luke 23:43.
“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”–Luke 23:43. People have pictured paradise as a pleasure ground in the near East, another name for the Garden of Eden. In religion, paradise denotes a place, region or state of bliss and surpassing delight. So to “be with me in paradise” means to be in a state or place of bliss. In this case, and in several others, paradise means heaven.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.“”–Matthew 6:19-21.
You can think of heaven as a perfect place, or as a perfect state of consciousness. Heaven as a state of consciousness is yours. To “lay up treasures in heaven” seems like a brief for poverty and lack while on earth. To understand this teaching, review “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”–Matthew 6:33. All laws must dovetail and balance.
Deliver your soul faculties (the tribes of Israel) from self’s domination below the solar plexus (Pharaoh in Egypt). Enter the Promised Land of the heart center, and return to the Garden of Eden, which is the head (the golden bowl) and the center of Oversoul’s Christed I AM consciousness.
The five senses, seeing, hearing, tasting, touch and smell, are your servants, not your masters! Your senses are either your friends when lifted into the Garden of Eden, or they are “serpents,” your enemies that drag you down into the body and imprison your soul. To be master over the five senses is heavenly. To be a conqueror is heavenly. Everything in life is under control once you make up your mind to conquer, not to control.
Then you come to a drab, dull place where you feel that no one understands you. Old pleasures no longer satisfy you, yet the new is not yet fully yours. The soul has been descending, being dragged down into Egypt, for aeons. It takes time to persuade “little me” to ascend to Christ consciousness, your paradise, undiscovered, yet waiting. Until then you are apt to spend much dull, disappointing time looking for the answers in the world because your five senses are still serpents, crawling on their bellies.
Soon, however, your search for the beauties, the treasures of the super-conscious mind, pay dividends. For outer “things” are “added” once you conquer, more friends, more joy in life. Now your senses have wings. Say, “Father, lift me. Fill me. Hold me. Use me.” And you do find your treasure in heaven.
Waste no time, but love what people are inside. Spend no time trying to love what people do. No one can see anything in the dark. Cover their deeds with Light so that they see themselves. To blame them buries their transgressions deeper, while they continue to feel ever more perfect. Finally, you no longer strain toward the future with frayed nerves. You no longer spend today regretting the past. You have no time in which to live but the now.
Take time to live today. Enjoy life, living and loving today, which stores up treasure in heaven for tomorrow. Dwelling in joy in your own Garden of Eden is your paradise now.
Comparisons
Edna Lister outline; October 21, 1955, Tacoma, WA. John 21:22.
So much of the trouble, difficulty, resentment, blame and hurt feelings in the world rise from making unwarranted comparisons. The law on comparisons is, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.”–John 21:22. As you walk the Master’s Path of healing, you learn that you may compare yourself with God, with the Master, but no one else.
When you compare yourself with what you find in the world, you often feel good about what is no good at all. Like looking in a fun house mirror, what you see is distorted by self. Declare, “I now compare myself only with the Master.” Then you see yourself in Light and as truth.
Joy as Courage
Edna Lister outline; October 23, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Acts 27:12-34.
“And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west. And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat: which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; and the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; and sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under color as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.”–Acts 27:12-34. After Paul’s conversion to Jesus’ teachings, the chief priests and the elders of Jerusalem had brought him to trial before King Herod Agrippa in Acts 26, but he appealed to Caesar for trial as a Roman citizen.
Acts 27 opens with a review of weather difficulties on the trip to Italy, and how storms delayed their journey. They decided to sail, against Paul’s advice, to layover for winter in Crete, and immediately ran into a severe three-day storm. You run into a storm whenever you exercise your will instead of heeding God’s will for you. Taking the bit in your teeth costs you plenty and wears out the body.
Paul said, “Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.”–Acts 27:21-26.
Paul spoke the truth to the soldiers and sailors of the ship’s crew: Surrender self will and abide in the ship of faith. Their will must have been awakening to the truth because they listened and did as he said. The ship’s crew and the soldiers had forgotten to eat in their fear of the storm: “Paul implored them all to take food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.”–Acts 27:33-34.
The fourteenth day represents the path of choice and separation, a choice of Light and separation from darkness. The crew was being asked to choose their future conduct, to separate from their negative past. The body is the temple of the living God wherein you live. Paul knew they must fulfill their neophyte vows of diet to be saved from harm, so he commanded them to eat.
The ship ran aground. The front was stuck fast and remained immovable, but the violent waves destroyed the rear. The soldiers voted to kill the prisoners before they escaped, just the drastic overreaction self always recommends. The centurion, who represents the conscious mind in charge of the mental faculties, was willing to listen to Oversoul’s warning, represented by Paul. He saved Paul and ordered that those who could swim should jump overboard to get to land.
Sometimes you must swim against life’s strong tides, so it helps if you know how to swim well. Surrendering the self-centered will puts on your “water wings” of faith. The men who could not swim stayed afloat using boards and broken pieces of the ship, yet had a rougher trip because they were still hanging onto bits of self and expecting others to save them. So it came to pass that 276 souls escaped safely to land.
You know that you must return to God, in the Light, and the long journey requires your understanding, willingness and zeal. You must hear, hearken, heed and obey God’s law on every level you achieve. Fear not. The world must bring you before Caesar’s justice, and when it does, surrender. Abandon the ship of self, and find that “Lo, God has given you all those who sail with you.”
Fate or Destiny?
Edna Lister outline; October 23, 1955, Tacoma, WA. John 3:3-7.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”–John 3:3-7.
God sends every soul to earth with a “fate line,” which can end his life if he drastically misuses his spiritual gifts and soul substance. Why? One who misuses will lose his body before he destroys himself, or ends in worse shape than he started. To live beyond the fate line, you must be reborn from above. What does this mean? You must accept God, and live by God’s Love, Light and Power. Hindus believe in the wheel of fate, and continue coming to earth again and again in the same old condition. Some people never learn, but stay in the same grade, life after life.
Ask yourself, “How does this affect me?” Year after year life swings by in a cycle over the same ditches you have dug with your griefs and blame. You created all the mud on the bottom with your past tears. Every holiday, anniversary and birthday, people fall into the same mistakes, take offense at the same old words from the same old people, are hurt the same old way, and blame the same old blames. Some folks have the same silly things happen to them during every vacation. This is the yearly wheel of fate.
Some pander to a cycle of poor health: “Never mind, little pain. I’ll take good care of you. I’ll take you to bed with me in just a little while to rest and coddle you. I’ll sleep with you all night so you can be right there, all nice and strong and ready to grab me quick in the morning before I can even open my eyes. So, be happy, little pain, hang on tight for a while, then I’ll can give you all my attention.” Your fate line is designed to take you from your present embodiment if you refuse to ascend to your Path of Destiny through Rebirth from above. Your Path of Destiny is the acceptance of your place as a son or daughter of God.
Your heritage is God’s Power, Love, Light, life, and glory. Spirit renews your body. You “pass over” your fate line or time, which is the true meaning of Passover. How do you step onto this Path of Destiny? Start something new. Find your soul, and get acquainted with that high soul of all Power.
On the fate line, you can be a genius at the wrong thing, the wrong word, neglecting silence, one great avalanche of “needs.” When you walk the Path of Destiny, you are a genius at seeing supply and abundance, brilliant at neglecting emotional hurts. You are free. Your streamlined body was built for speed and long hours of joy. Your desire becomes one great throbbing urge to succeed, to climb, to know, to comprehend, a pulsating need to express more life.
Appearance or Reality
Edna Lister outline, October 28, 1955, Tacoma, WA. 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Hebrews 8:1-5.
To abstain means to refrain from voluntarily. You must “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”–1 Thessalonians 5:22, otherwise you are tempting the law to issue you a citation for instant repayment of your spiritual debts.
“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”–Hebrews 8:1-5.
You are the high priest of your own body temple, responsible for your own healing. Priests offer gifts according to the law, and serve as the shadow of heavenly things. You may not pick and choose which laws you will obey or ignore. For, as God told Moses when he was about to make the tabernacle, “See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”–Hebrews 8:5. Until you become the law, you make imperfect copies of shadowy things. When you are the law, your creations are perfectly made from the divine pattern. This is the difference between being an example and being an ensample.
For God So Loved
Edna Lister outline, October 30, 1955, Tacoma, WA. John 3:12-16, 1 John 4:20.
“If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”–John 3:12-16.
“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”–1 John 4:20. If you do not love your brother, whom you have seen, how can you love God, whom you have not seen? Jesus presents a portrait of God’s great love, a glorious giving love, free. Yet he also paints a word picture of our difficulty. Most people want sensory proof, to see, feel and touch before they believe. You can overcome this difficulty of needing to see before you believe by understanding the two types of love—self love, which is selfish, and soul love, which is unselfish. Self love puts self first, but soul love places God in the top slot.
Putting God first sounds so hard, so difficult, so joyless, no fun. Let’s consider what dividends pile up from self-centered love, which is proud of “my opinions and prejudices,” is concerned with “my relationship” to the world and others. Self-centered love even compares itself with others to feel good. Self love makes you feel “my world revolves around me, what people think of me.”
When told to declare your body strong, pockets full and business good, self-centered love says, “I must be realistic. Business is bad. My memory is no good. My pockets are empty. My body is weak. To say anything else is a lie. I cannot say black is white.”
So self names all the weeds in your garden. Self loves all the weeds in your garden. Self nourishes them and declares them stronger than God, more powerful than God’s Power and more enduring than His love. Self receives more and better weeds as dividends.
Put some soul love into the scales and see what you have. What is soul love? Only Christed Oversoul consciousness can answer truly. Soul love is unselfish. Is unselfishness wishy-washy, spineless and insipid? Is soul love soft and gullible? Is the love of God a weakness or a lie? You have to answer these questions for yourself. What do you believe?
The Christ mind says, “No, a thousand times no.” When you ascend in consciousness, unselfishness becomes the greatest power in the world. Oversoul begins naming the flowers in your garden, as joy, compassion, loveliness, graciousness, consideration for others, thinking first of God then of others. These flowers make you feel like you want to make yourself good, and to make others happy.
The mind of I AM begins to so love the whole world. I AM so loves God. Joy becomes a great weed killer, and I AM can see your flowers. Through Christed consciousness, you learn that soul love is the universal heat that starves the weeds and dissolves darkness.
That mind that was in Christ Jesus teaches you that self-love is like dry ice. Self-love is the lake of fire, burning forever, which is the time it takes to consume self. Soul love is brisk and firm, a pillar to lean upon. It makes you free, and frees the world from you. Soul love is now your magic wand, and you begin to collect miracles.
Now you know why God could send His Son as a sacrifice. God’s Love is all-powerful—He can hold you to bring you back Home, into His arms again. He could give you free will because at any time He can draw in that part of Himself that He sent forth. Yet you must lift yourself up “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.” So, to draw you in before love can win through you would mean wasted ages, your struggle to conquer evil thrown away, no lessons learned.
God must let you go on conquering until you teach the whole world what “God so loved” is and means. Become a living ensample of “God so loved.” Not soft or as a nonentity, but in all firmness backed by the Power of God, all glory in the unselfish love of God.
I’m a Millionaire!
Edna Lister outline, October 30, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Hosea 12:8, Matthew 6:33.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”–Matthew 6:33. If you do not feel like a millionaire, here is the sure cure: “My Father is rich. I am His wealthy son/daughter. I am my Father’s heir to His kingdom. My allowance is a miracle. My Father now increases my allowance in all ways.”
Now, do you think these statements pay dividends? Do you feel rich? Or do you still think, “I don’t know what a millionaire feels like. Why should I feel like one? What for? It’s too much trouble. I wouldn’t know what to do with that much money.”
This “I do not know what a millionaire feels like” attitude indicates no imagination or vision, without which spiritual seeing and hearing perish from lukewarmness and indifference. The sponge-type just sops it up and it oozes out. Without action, you are not applying what you know to what you are doing. “Why should I want to feel like a millionaire? What for? It’s too much trouble.” These people have considered it, talked about it and discounted it because it’s too much hard work, too much effort and too many long hours.
The wisher-type says “I wish I had it,” but they just do not want to give up self or what self wants to do. The off-in-a-corner-type says, “I do not want it. I want a hut on a mountainside.” These people also say, “I want to be alone. I like to study at home. Groups bother me.” “I wouldn’t know what to do with that much money. Perhaps this is not for me. I do not trust myself. I might do harm.” God trusts me you with His whole Creation, with anything. When will you trust yourself?
You can add and multiply millions of things—knowledge, health, children, miracles. And you can subtract and divide by your right use of God’s riches, according to two things, your own ideas of His riches, and to feel wealthy inside. God only knows as you. If all you feel is indifference, you have no desire, no action and no contact between God’s Bank and your wallet. You must feel related before you can inherit.
Your riches will come according to your idea of God’s wealth. Open a new account in heaven. You can draw on all you put in, minus your deductions. You do receive what you ask for, minus the service charges for fear, doubt, blame, self-pity, rebellion, resentment and hurts.
“I am become rich, I have found me out substance.”–Hosea 12:8. “I am rich in life. I am rich in strength. I am a millionaire in joy. Lift me. Fill me. Use me to fill my lavish molds.” How much life do you want to use when limitless life is available to you?
“I am now deathless, ageless and abiding. My body is filled with the limitless Life of God. My wallet is filled with the limitless wealth of God. I now increase my bank account with God. I stop charging debts and start investing love. I am a millionaire in love, joy, strength, eternal youth, and new ideas. The ideas of prosperity and abundance now possess me.”
The Open Door
Edna Lister transcript; November 20, 1955, Cleveland, OH. Ruth Johnson, scribe. Revelation 3:8, 3:11, 3:18-20.
“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it: for you have a little strength, have kept my word, and have not denied my name.”–Revelation 3:8.
“I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it” refers to the mystical door of your soul consciousness, whose insistent drawing power makes you determined to lift your petty desires to mate them with God’s will for you. This door opens the vast storehouse of universal substance to creators. You are part of the infinite unity, and every part of your being overlaps the whole. The water of the River of Life washes everyone, and is your immunity from darkness. How do you hold the door open?
“Behold, I come quickly! Hold that fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”–Revelation 3:11. Every nerve in the head becomes a petal in the thousand petaled lotus, a crown of glory. No vibration of an imbalance can touch you, and nothing negative can take your crown, gold or white raiment from you.
Some people hold fast to life’s negatives. They often hoard recurring pains, encourage them, promise to take them to bed, nurture them, and make the pains strong rather than strongly recognizing God’s healing. “Give me enough strength to finish, then I can cuddle you, dear little pain.” You use soul credits when you claim pain. Yet the Father no longer lets you use credits for self after you make high vows of ascension. You must let law use you instead.
Say, “Father, let the Power move forth” when you know that pain is a spiritual debt. “Let this debt, which I recognize, burn like Moses’ burning bush that I may see the law therein.” Light absorbs the debt, and you do not feel pain. You do not benefit your Father when you pay the hard way through pain, a habit you have developed from long years of expecting pain. You have conditioned yourself because you have vowed to help pay the worlds’ debts.
“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”–Revelation 3:18-20.
Oversoul tries the gold of Spirit in the fire of experience, but you are buying at a heavy price if self dictates the exchange rate. Declare strongly, “This is mine to lift. It is good and very good,” for from blackest night comes the most radiant dawn.
The white raiment is woven of truth as Light, your auric sheath of protection. The price for a sheath of Light is steadfastness in courage, which is God’s Wisdom upheld by Love.
“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”–Revelation 3:18. You cannot touch even the fringe of God’s love if you still take offense. Go up in consciousness to your tower room and anoint your eyes with a devotional attitude toward God, love’s eye salve. It absorbs negative words and actions, and they are not. The love of God is not soft, but firm, rugged, and never deviates from absolute truth. Love is an unchangeable, unmovable rock on which to stand, one that will not move to suit the convenience of your selfishness.
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”–Revelation 3:19. How can you learn your lessons unless God tells you what you do wrong? Chastening is a privilege. Once your embodied soul signs the vows and covenants with your Oversoul, the principle of divine justice shows you your selfish faults and brings you back in line. Law presents each rebuke three times as love, but whacks you if you refuse to recognize it, until you ascend again to Light.
Most people enjoy doing things the hard way. To do God’s “greater works” is work. “Therefore be zealous and repent.” Your miracles are less than 100 percent because you pray for partial miracles. Do you want weakness changed to strength to fulfill your destiny, or to finish your life in frailty and old age? Repent, and walk in God’s glory. You can ascend to your penthouse of I AM consciousness to receive a new mission.
You can live in your high place, on your Path of Destiny. It matters not if your mission is public or to stand in a quiet place and release Power, you just fulfill your destiny. To stand and know truth for world conditions is a great and richly rewarded service.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.–Revelation 3:20. To sup means to be fed, “mingling with the everywhere evenly present and available measure of God as Mind, Power, and Substance. You can breathe and touch the portion of Mind that touched Jesus 2,000 years ago. You cannot hold Mind, it must flow or stagnation and crystallization would result.
The Master says, “I will knock, even if you close the door ten thousand times. I am always ready to pour Power through when you let me open wide the door. Be courageous, and hold the door open.”
Soul Freedom!
Edna Lister transcript; November 27, 1955, Cleveland, OH. Ruth Johnson, scribe. Matthew 7:7-8.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”–Matthew 7:7-8. Ask, seek and knock are three simple words to hold so much. They form a key to your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual expression, which must be as one, without inner conflict. First, decide what is important.
Religion gives you a way to comprehend the meaning of slavery and freedom. The dictionary defines religion as “a binding of the natural man to the Supernatural Being” and involves two phases, dependence on and responsibility to that Being. Religion is also a scientific study of the principles and laws governing your relationship to God, the whole, and to man, the many parts. Your practical application of religion is to modify and dilute these great principles and laws to an understandable solution to meet your daily needs and expectations of law. You cannot separate yourself from your Source, and you grow selfish when you judge only by your relationship to man.
Commonly, your approach to God springs from one of three backgrounds, devotional, intellectual or wishy-washy. Utter dependence ranges from the savage cowering from the storm, orthodox religionists who cling to the coattails of Christ, to those who depend entirely on God. The other extreme is chest-beaters who say, “I am God. God created law for me to use.” They force their ideas on you, expressing inflexible opinions about law and proper conduct, not the immutable life of God.
The “I know that!” type operates on intellectual intelligence. They say they live an impersonal life, but are pestiferously personal. Either of these extremes is limp, but they are the two halves of a perfect whole. Those who go to church because it is “the right thing to do” or “good business,” are in the middle course. They just take their bodies there. Lukewarm souls use instinctive intelligence, and work under little self, always striving to make others good so they will be happy.
Yet we must agree with God, adjust to people, and use the oil of Spirit on our squeaky relationships. So, we must use another approach to God, both devotional and intellectual. No person is complete unless he has devoted himself to a Source greater than himself, as revealed in the personality of God.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”–Matthew 7:7. God cannot set aside divine law to please you, and taking advantage of God’s good nature by expecting Him to do so is dishonorable. Yet worshiping God as just principle can leave you cold. Wisdom is the great intellectual principle, but love vitalizes principle.
Who am I? From where do I come? Where am I going? You are sons and daughters of God, the Word made flesh in God’s way, by condensation as He descended into Creation. You “walk on water” when you conquer emotions. You can do only two things to substance: Raise its vibration and expand, or lower its vibration and condense. You raise the vibration under prayer by integrating the person with faith.
Your desire flames on seek, knock and find when you finally want to ascend. As you think of God, you are with Him, love Him and want more. Since you came from the Father, you want to return, and so you seek. Decide whether you will get off “little me’s” teeter-totter faith. You wallow in weakness when life “discourages me,” but do it when your desire to do flames. Your desire to know more about principle ascends to mate with your will to know. Desire becomes intuition. Will becomes illumination, and the River of Life supplies your energy.
What approach do you choose, the way of self or soul? The wise soul chooses desire, decision and action. Super-conscious Oversoul never partakes of the little self. You feel better when “little me” ascends to Oversoul, yet you are never more in heaven than you are right now. Law always demands payment for debts and deficiencies. Oversoul I AM always lifts “little me” up in its expression. The weaker self-based decision is to tarry along the great path.
The River of Life is now flowing home. Twenty years ago, all we heard was talk about war. Now all the talk is about peace, the cry of those creators who walk this high road of completion. Do what you know is good now. Subconscious mind is your servant, so use it as such. Seek to be an instrument of almighty Power. You cannot make Love, Wisdom and Energy perfect, since they are already, yet you must seek them. Knocking is that soul ability to seek greater knowledge. What you find is your ability to live by life’s highest principles. Let the Light of God empower you to ascend as His sons and daughters. You seek more illumination, so raise your antennae of illumination and intuition.
You are an ascending creator god walking earth, a vessel to contain Power, a channel to sluice it, an instrument to speak the Word of direction and control. God needs prayer agents of service, working together to heal the world. The scientist and religionist are one because ultimately the quests and goals of science and religion are one. You can surrender self. God created you for Light and Power to use. You are His creator instrument. Simply relax, breathe deeply and recharge your energy to find the freedom to express as the creator you really are.
Divine Mathematics
Edna Lister outline, December 4, 1955, Cleveland, OH.; August 28, 1955, Tacoma, WA. 1 Kings 17:8-16, 2 Kings 2:11, Philippians 4:13, 4:19.
“And the word of the Lord came unto [Elijah], saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.”–1 Kings 17:8-16.
“It came to pass, as they went on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”–2 Kings 2:11.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”–Philippians 4:13.
“My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”–Philippians 4:19.
Before he came to Zarephath, Elijah had been on the run. Ahab had done more wrong and evil than all the kings of Israel before him. He had wed Jezebel the Phoenician princess, whose father was a priest of Baal, and had begun worshiping Baal also. Then Elijah prophesied, “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”–1 Kings 17:1. The Lord told Elijah to go east to the brook Cherith, near Jordan, and the raven would feed him, morning and evening. Yet, after a while, the brook dried up, because of the drought.
The Lord spoke to Elijah again, telling him to go to Zarephath, where a widow would feed and house him. When he arrived and asked for food, the woman told him that she had only a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruse, a small container. The drought had been so severe that no grain had grown. The woman and her son had only enough left for a last meal before they starved.
What follows is one of the greatest miracle stories in the Bible. “Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.”–1 Kings 17:13-16.
To share what you have opens the way for a miracle of increase under the principles of division and multiplication. “The barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail.” The law works in four ways, as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Your results depend on how you apply these laws, how you use them.
Elijah had added himself to God when he prophesied the drought. When he feared Jezebel wrath and retaliation, he subtracted himself from evil. Elijah added himself to God again when he did as ordered and he followed God’s orders when added himself to the widow. Then he divided his faith and shared it with the widow until she, too, believed. The only legal addition is seeking God first. Do you have to see the miracle before you can believe? And if your faith so great, that you do believe you will see?
Sooner or later, life demands sacrifices of you, which are a form of subtraction. You find yourself down to the last of your food, money, strength, or last minute of time. Do you pay a selfish or fearful tribute to subtraction? Are you mentally running from life because you are afraid? Or do you base your life on addition. Addition always comes first. Every outer need or demand is a sign that you can invoke the law of increase and receive the added things and wealth you need. Your words either build or betray you.
Most people are so enmeshed with self that they need to get acquainted with their own souls. Spiritual seeing begins with visualization. If all you see is lack or need, subtraction is your god. Seeing the need perfectly supplied or the required strength added is the start. Then you make huge declarations to add yourself to God so that He can multiply the Mind, Substance and Power to fulfill your needs. Addition is the first step of preparation. In the second step you accept that God shall supply your needs. To do this, you subtract doubts, fear and all ideas of failure from your thinking.
Multiplication is the third step. You are the answer to your own prayers. By praise, faith and by loving God enough, you multiply His release of Mind, Substance and Power through you. The fourth step is division. When you share what you have and give to others, be lavish and give freely without counting the cost. Believe to see the miracle, and give of your time and hours, with the effort of your hands and feet. What do you expect? Do you expect fear, loss, or having a miracle? Do you know the difference between now and later?
The timing of miracles depends on the quality of your love, praise and faith. If the quality is weak, you experience delay and the miracle comes later. If the quality is strong, the miracle is speedy in its arrival. Success in adding and multiplying miracles requires that your desire becomes a great throbbing urge to succeed, to climb and to know and comprehend. Adding more life creates a more powerful streamlined atomic body. Watch your face to make sure you are wearing your joy smile.
Permit no subtraction through fear or boredom. Do you just want to get away from it all? Do you want to move to a new place? Who is going when you do, I AM or little me? Wherever you go, you take your self along, just as you are now. You are your same old self living life the same old way, with just twenty-four hours in a day.
To succeed, you must add yourself to God so that He may use you fully. Then add yourself to your place and work—all of you, added now. The goal is not too far or too hard to attain. Your selfish subtractions from the good take so long to conquer. Subtract the self! Add your soul to God now. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”–Matthew 6:33. You gain all things when you add God’s strength to yours. By seeking him, you add His riches to your life.
Divine Mathematics
Edna Lister transcript; December 4, 1955, Cleveland, OH. Ruth Johnson, scribe. 1 Kings 17:8-16, 2 Kings 2:11, Philippians 4:13, 4:19.
“And the word of the Lord came unto [Elijah], saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.”–1 Kings 17:8-16.
“It came to pass, as they went on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”–2 Kings 2:11.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”–Philippians 4:13.
“My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”–Philippians 4:19.
The description of Elijah being caught up in a fiery chariot means that the power of his fire body and sun centers was so great that he was caught up in the Spirit. Jeremiah, who probably wrote the Books of Kings, would have pictured Elijah’s Ascension in a fiery chariot, the mystical Jewish symbol of Ascension.
Elijah, under the laws of incarnation, being in the body, was subject to humanity’s trials and emotions. His ascension was one of Elijah’s great initiations.
Elijah ascended in his fire body, but Jesus walked earth in his fire body, and held form after his Transfiguration. He could have walked into the clouds any time following the Mount of Transfiguration. When he cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me,” only his desire body remained, for his other bodies had already ascended.
Ahab, the King of Israel at Elijah’s time, was corrupt. He had married Jezebel, a daughter of a Phoenician high priest of Baal, a prince of darkness. Queen Jezebel was a wicked priestess of Baal. She enslaved men, who committed iniquity for her or she had them killed.
Elijah lived in the midst of this evil rulership. Israel’s evil called down the wrath of God, which is spiritual debt. The Elect must lift their own and the world’s spiritual debt physically, as Jesus showed us how to do. Elijah had added himself to God, so he had to tell them the truth. Elijah prophesied a drought that resulted from the people’s debauchery.
Jezebel had her eye on Elijah, who was tall and handsome; she wanted him to serve her. Elijah, who had added himself to God, still feared Jezebel, so he subtracted himself from her and the city. God ordered him to flee and to stop by a brook where “ravens,” dark-skinned desert dwellers, would feed him. Lying by the brook, Elijah took stock of himself.
He was passing the initiation, had cleansed and purified himself of doubts and fears and added all his scattered bits. He added all of himself to himself, became intimate with his own soul, and added more of himself to God, which was the second addition.
The episode of the widow at Zarephath illustrates division and multiplication. Elijah divided and shared his faith, love, wisdom and ascension with that widow. When you share your soul qualities, you divide them among those who are in need to multiply the whole. No dew or rain had fallen since Elijah had prophesied drought, and the resulting famine was a reaction of law. Reincarnating was better, giving Israel another chance if they would not subtract their soul substance from the worship of Baal.
The widow of Zarephath lived under that law of famine Elijah had prophesied. She had only one cake, a last bit of oil, and was ready to die. Elijah wisely had the widow participate in the miracle. He asked her to give him the cake first, and he divided it three ways, for himself, the widow and her son, to multiply the meal and oil.
“And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.”–1 Kings 17:16. The faith that the widow displayed by giving Elijah the cake, multiplied her meal and oil until the famine ended. Law works miracles when you work under absolute necessity, then you must earn again. You have to work to redeem misused soul substance. Receiving a gift from God is no reason to expect more for free when you can earn it. Your first problem is to add you to God, for you cannot add God to you. Subtract your self-condemnation, fear, doubt, worry, the leftover whining voice, hesitant sag, self-pity, and guilt complexes.
Love does not sag, nag or act pious. True piety is the brisk love of God. You can be negative, add yourself to darkness and thus subtract yourself from God. Yet you can wipe out a guilt complex by telling God how much you love Him.
Dividing yourself multiplies evil. You may not subtract love from another, or you divide self-pity and blame with him. Go to your own altar in repentance, to remember your highest ideals, and divine Love refuels you. Your family reflects you, so declare for them also. Multiply with love, faith and praise of God. You have hands, feet, hours, faith, love and joy for division or to share with others, and the results depend on how you use them. Get acquainted with your soul, add yourself to God, and multiply everyone’s love, faith, and joy.
While you may practice division, you may not run away from life. Elijah had to remove himself from the false position he had created for himself when he made a stupid earth vow of idle words by saying to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”–1 Kings 17:1. Those were his words, not God’s! He was able to ascend at the brook because he then subtracted himself from his false position by truly repenting his idle words.
To divide yourself with the world is to share greatly, for your division will multiply your joy, faith and praise to share until nothing negative can bother you. When you pass an initiation, gratefully go to God and repent, saying, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.” You know that “God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”–Philippians 4:19.
Addition is God first. You contact the realm of answers to see photographic pictures when you live high in soul consciousness. You can study and learn on a cloud continent of Light. Practice divine mathematics. Multiply your love and devotion to God to divide and share your beauty with the world.
Now Is the High Time
Edna Lister outline; December 11, 1955, Tacoma, WA. Romans 13:8-12.
“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 neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: 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. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”–Romans 13:8-12.
“He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”–Romans 13:8. What is this love? Love your neighbor as yourself. I do believe this is truth. Love is the fulfillment of the law. I believe. I know this.
Paul’s Letter to the Romans sums the secret of Jesus’ ministry. He loved enough to give up his life. Finishing an impossible task is easy enough when you can see the results. Jesus’ love and compassion were without self. Therefore, his love “as yourself” did not mean “little self” as subconscious “me.” These verses show three ways to put love into action. First is the group action, to “love one another.” Second, to love singly, you must love your neighbor as yourself. Finally, you return love, which fulfills the law.
Now is the high time to put this into practice. What you send forth must return. You do not need to remember thousands of laws if you simply remember to love to give, and love to do. The action of group love is love doing. Yet it can be difficult, since each is on a different rate of vibration. You need a common denominator, but what? Love, doing and giving love. The love of God is the common denominator in all universes. Love of a sunset, flowers, music, children, laughter brings people together.
“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor.”–Romans 13:9-10. “If I hate myself, will it affect my neighbor?” You need not hate your neighbor to make him ill. Your thoughts permeate the atmosphere around you. Others walk in it, pick up your vibration, whatever it is, and just as you can pick up germs physically, you can catch thoughts also. Thoughts can be worse than physical germs, eating away like a cancer.
Love’s chief characteristics are compassion and forgetfulness of self. Love’s outstanding expression is to give and to do. Love of self pampers and excuses self. Self is always right, always hurt, always grim—no laughter, no smiles, no joy. People “pass it on.”
“How can I love myself?” Learn to comprehend the Love of Christ, the Love of God. Blaming another is self love. The blame you credit to your neighbors, friends and family, is your self expressing, while you are torturing the I AM consciousness of soul.
Love one another to fulfill the law. Love of giving and of doing is the basis for the third expression of love, “Love is the fulfilling of the law.”–Romans 13:10, meaning the return vibration.
Jesus walked with God, his Father, while he did all his works, and he said that greater works you shall do. How can you do this? First, you must love more. Now is the high time, with no low time. The Power of Christ consciousness makes you alert, divine, glorious and free. Love is the high time, the glory time. No one would waste the time or money to see a poor movie repeatedly. Love never repeats a past pattern for today. Love seeks new, creative pursuits.
Love must climb. Love must achieve. Love must cover the debts of others. Love must set your soul pace. Love, which brings dividends from chaos and failures, never gives up. Love never looks back. Love has a forward, upward look. Love overcomes. Love overlooks.
Now is the high time to awaken from sleep. The new day is at hand, with no sorrow, sickness or tears, because death is wiped from earth. Why? How? Love fulfills the law when you walk with God, when you love God enough.
What Confidence Is
Edna Lister outline; December 11, 1955, Tacoma, WA. 1 John 5:11-15.
“God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”–1 John 5:11-15.
Confidence is firm trust, assured expectation, unwavering boldness, not authoritative, not dictatorial, not brash. Your finest confidence is your trust in God. Be unwaveringly confident, with a firm standing and understanding. What do you stand under? The Light and glory of God.
Lilies have the boldness to push up every spring. They do their best where they are, and appropriate all good. Just so must you hold fast to your line of Light from the Source to “I AM,” Oversoul consciousness. Your line cannot be cut, torn or pulled out, unless you do so. You are confident every morning that earth is still traveling in its orbit, the sun is above the clouds, the stars and planets are still in their places and the mountains abide. God made them all.
You can have full confidence in God’s faithfulness, and in the name of Jesus the Christ to create miracles for you, under His will. God’s will for you is all good now. Believe. Trust. Hold an assured expectancy of “all these things” added. Doing His will transcends the physical-material world. His will is that you live high in consciousness, by Oversoul’s I AM super-conscious mind.
Declare everything good now! Even the lily’s unconscious faith is bold as it dares and does. Declare, “My expectancy is unwavering and bold with the boldness of faith unconquerable!”
Your Divine Gift
>Edna Lister Christmas Day outline; December 25, 1955, Tacoma, WA. John 3:16-21.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned: but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than Light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the Light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”–John 3:16-21.
Christmas represents the verb to give. “God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son” paints a picture of a Father making a supreme sacrifice, graciously bestowing a divine gift, the joy of giving. We all know the joy of giving, but our graciousness must extend to joyous receiving to balance the divine gift as we become “as a little child” on this one day of the year.
wo thousand years ago, the inner Gates of Light were closed, and the world was held in bondage to darkness. It has taken all this time to open the Gates and lift that darkness still biding in the hearts and minds of men. The children of Israel had been dispersed to the Babylonian Captivity in 587 BC, when King Nebuchadnezzar took their leaders as captives in exile to Babylon, and scattered the remnant. Benjamin and Judah remained in Judea as captives in slavery to his Empire. Their selfishness and disobedience to law had caused it, but God did not want it. God sent His Only Begotten Son to show humanity the way. Tax trouble is always with us, so Joseph had to take Mary far from her home for the Roman census. Rumors flew all over Judea and the Middle East about a new Messiah, a newborn king.
Three wise men of different nations knew by divining the stars that a Messiah was coming, for they had waited years for this sign. Herod, the Roman client king of the Jews, was afraid. He held the wise men as virtual prisoners when they inquired at his court, and released them only in the hope that they would show him where this usurper king and threat had been born. The same Power that told them of the Messiah’s birth warned the wise men of Herod’s deception. They had not known where the new king was, but they had followed the star to the cave in Bethlehem.
Christmas symbolizes the Christ Spirit of joy. At his Ascension, Jesus said, “My joy I give to you.” Christmas is synonymous with the Christ Light. Living in the Christ Light involves three attitudes toward God—aspiration, faith and devotion, and no success is possible without them.
From plant to creature, from son of man to son of God, everything seeks the Light, and aspires to or toward a greater good. Light is magnetic to the life within a seed or bulb in the ground, or to the soul seeking the Light. Everyone aspires to greater things, from a new garden hose to a television set.
Each must have faith in his ability to succeed, and have unconquerable faith in God’s Light. Finally, you must devote yourself to God’s service in the world. To give, to receive graciously and thankfully, creates complete balance and fulfillment in becoming like the little Christ child.
Jovan, a poor shepherd, heard an angelic voice proclaim the royal birth, and he, too, went to worship the king. Other shepherds and the wise men had already arrived. People, rich and poor, crowded the cave. Jovan had no gift to offer, so he left and returned to his flock. A week later, he visited the cave again, and found that Joseph needed help in leaving for Egypt because of Herod’s persecution. Jovan gave Joseph his sandals and a wool robe to pad the donkey’s back for Mary. The legend of Jovan illustrates year-round giving.
Again we hear rumors of a new Messiah, perhaps a woman who will unite all religions to worship of the one God. To comprehend the spirit of Christmas is to have the glory of the Christ Spirit consciousness fill your heart. The Christmas glory of the Christ Star can flow through you all year, if you open yourself to be filled and possessed by it. All souls use the Christ Light to create. We need year-round giving in the Spirit of Christ, freely as a little child, the great “little child” of Christ. The outstanding Christmas Day Message is to become as a little joyful child, create and give.
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Edna Miriam Lister
1884–1971
The original Christian Pioneering Mystic,
Platonist philosopher, American Idealist, Founder, Society of the Universal Living Christ, minister, teacher, author, wife, and mother.
References
The Oxford English Dictionary: Compact Edition, 2 vols. Oxford University Press, 1971.
The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV).
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 3rd ed. Springfield, Massachusetts, G. & C. Merriam Co., 1929.