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Edna Lister’s Sermons, 1969
Edna Lister article, March 1969 issue British "Metaphysician", London, England; John 1:1-4
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”–John 1:1-4.
That Word became the Light of man. We are not only able to contact the Light, but we are the Light. Even our body, that outer sheath given to us as a covering for the soul so that it many become visible in an outer world, is condensed from this Light.
This Light is all the Mind, the Power, and the Substance from which all foundation principles are formed. God gave every soul three creative faculties to function as the Light, and since the spoken Word is still God, you must use your creative faculties, desire, thinking, and imagination to set the new transforming vibrations into action by speaking the Word.
All your problems and difficulties come from your inability to accept and assume full responsibility for every word you use in thinking and in speech. Every word you use creates after its own degree and kind. When you think or speak of illness or lack, you are creating more illness and more lack.
Your statements and declarations may be perfect, exactly what you want, but a few idle words, such as “Nothing works for me,” or “Maybe having it isn't right for me,” can cut down every line of Light your faith has established direct to the Source of All Light. Each time this happens, you must build up the lines of Light again. Idle words are the main cause of all delay.
Wherever you center your attention, joy and health will increase, if you focus your attention on them—or sorrow and weakness, if those are the objects of your mind's thoughts. Power follows wherever the mind fixes its attention. If it wanders around, it will create your soul substance into bits of this or that, but create it must.
Your creative faculties use Mind, Substance, and Power and faithfully follow what your desires, thinking, and imagination contemplate. When you center your vivid imagination, with steadfast thinking and burning, planning desire on creating from pure Light—which is divine and perfect before you speak the Word to set it into motion—your creations shall follow the original divine pattern.
You shall turn all weakness into strength in mind, heart, body, and affairs. All unlikeness of God shall then be melted, dissolved, and absorbed back into the Light. No darkness can exist when you speak the Word and say, “This is good! Let there be Light!”
When you live by that original Word “that was God in the beginning” and still is God as action, hour by hour, you reach that high point of Light where you become faith unconquerable, immovable, and untouchable. You may speak no idle words in the Light, for the Love of God moves as compassion for the whole world.
Love's tender, yearning, brooding quality takes over your soul while faith holds firm contact with the transforming Light, and you are transfigured. You become the “Word made Light,” strong, powerful and divine.
Edna Lister outline, March 2, 1969, Bournemouth, England; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”–2 Corinthians 3:17-18.
Today we live in a world of change. We live in overnight changes that almost shock us. We hear these fifty-year shocks and ask what they are. Time has been shortened. Time has sped up, accelerated. Those who can and do prophesy say that they know that all power is being stripped from evil rapidly.
The old world is gone. We used pastors and ministers as escalators into heaven, taking little or no personal responsibility for our thoughts, words, and actions. Yet each must now do something toward making the world over or join the ranks of the brainwashed. In the old world, many believed that everyone else or everything else is to blame. People in the past had a two-compartment mind, religion on one side and the world on the other.
The world and religion have become one. Two thousand years ago, earth suffered an invasion. Jesus the Christ came, and disrupted our selfishness. The cry of the world was that someone must do something. The rulers' complacency has been shattered forever. Jesus taught divine forgiveness and eternal life as gift, direct from God. Jesus called, and men followed. He is still calling us.
To allow yourself to become brainwashed to the world mind is to sell yourself into slavery. Anything on the outer that you permit to “hurt” you emotionally is your master, and you are enslaved to it. What propaganda are you buying?
You must apparently agree with any outer adversary, or you enslave yourself to them. When they criticize you, say, “I think you're wonderful, too.” Your apparent agreement will create confusion in them and put them to flight. Thus, you obey the law of “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.”–John 21:22.
Above you is a sun center of Light. All you need to do is move up in consciousness into it, saying, “This is good! Let there be Light!” You can tune into God consciousness, the mind that was in Christ Jesus, anytime and touch the Source of all Power. This Light and Power is your free gift from God.
Light in abundance is the miracle of all miracles. You may freely draw on the Source of All Life—anything, anywhere. Words of praise and rejoicing are your secret weapons. All things respond to the call of rejoicing. Idle words are thieves that steal your joy, vitality, and life.
Consider Daniel, who remained unscathed in the lions' den because he moved up in consciousness to dwell in the House of the Lord forever. The Lord is the Spirit of the law.
Your ultimate goal and prayer pattern must be to become the Light. You hold the seed of each new hour, tiny and precious. It is yours to mold and to create into form. When you declare, “Let it be Light!” the glory of the miracle of life fills your prayer mold. All old chains of slavery fall away, and you are free to live triumphantly.
You move on, into pure Light and glory, knowing that faith is your substance. You may use the substance of your faith to create, and that very faith is also the evidence of things not yet seen. You are being transformed into the image of the Lord, from glory to glory, just as promised, by the Spirit of the Lord.
Edna Lister outline, March 16, 1969, Unity of London, England; Genesis 1:1, John 1:1
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”–Genesis 1:1.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”–John 1:1.
We believe that every day, every hour is a new beginning. We believe in an everywhere evenly present and available God. We know that the Source is all Mind, all Substance, and all Power. We know that the original Light, from which all creation came, contained all Mind, all Substance, and all Power. The all-Mind is omniscient. The all-Substance is omnipresent. The all-Power is omnipotent.
You may accept that fact that you can, by the use of your creative tools, desire, thinking and, imagination, change any condition earth can form. You can call on Mind, Substance, and Power to recondition your life, to resurrect yourself from the old to live by the new. You can call on these great powers to change your grandmother's old patterns into new Christed patterns where life aids your soul into growing wings of glory.
Under the laws of nature, you can have new life and new growth. Where does this miracle of expansion and growth from “nothing” originate? It comes from the same hollows and mounds in which it has grown for hundreds of years.
Every spring you see the bright green shoots, glossy green leaves, new branches growing and trees becoming taller. All this is apparently growing from “nothing”—from the air, from the earth, reaching upward.
Nature is unconscious, but you are conscious. You draw the magnetic current up through your feet. You know that it is there, ready to explode into vitality.
Similarly, you reach up to this all-Mind Source and an explosion of illumination occurs, bringing new thoughts, ideas and plans for your body and affairs. You are made new.
This is your pearl of great price. To buy it you must sell self, illnesses, and lack of life. You may have life eternal right here and now. You can trade the old patterns for the new.
All you need to remember is to “Agree with your adversary, quickly,” to “Follow thou me,” and to declare, “This is good! Let there be Light!” With every slip that you make, discipline yourself to say, “This is good! Let there be Light!” ten times.
You must train the little self. To do so, you must decide who is taking which of you where. Is Christed “I AM” Oversoul consciousness taking you upward in ascension, or is the little self taking you the long way around?
Do you choose to let “little me” leave the Light, run away from divine Mind, or will you follow Oversoul “I AM” consciousness up, to gather your wings? Everyone knows the butterfly story, growing from worm to wings.
You can make this a life of glory. The Light is rejoicing. Light is life. To live as the Light is to be triumphant.
Faith to Know, to Be, and to Do
Edna Lister speech outline, March 17, 1969, Caxton Hall, London, England; Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”–Hebrews 11:1.
Faith either can be conscious or unconscious. Faith is your only point of contact between outer time and space and infinite eternity. So many people live in time and space, focused in the past or the future letting the present slip by without even living it.
Eternity-consciousness lives now, and enfolds the past as you go. When you are eternity-conscious, you live each now as part of forever. You become the living evidence of Mind, Substance, and Power in form.
You must become and remain receptive, flexible and balanced to be acceptable for use by Mind, Substance, and Power, or become pigeon-holed as obsolete.
You must love God and all parts of Creation, each after its degree and kind. For example, you can lift cigarettes and smokers, onto a cloud continent of Light, declaring, “You are beautiful, wonderful right where you are. You are good! I cover you in Light in your place!” If The Elect would just lift everything up to the Son of the living God, we could end slavery on the outer. Everyone would be free.
You put on the breastplate of the Lord, its twelve stones releasing Light as Power. You hold the seed of this very hour, tiny and precious, in your hands. God's time is always now, and you are a triumphant conquering soul.
You may use these five laws to unfold the mysteries of life: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”–Matthew 6:33. “Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the ways with him.”–Matthew 5:25. “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”–1 Thessalonians 5:22. “What is that to thee? Follow thoume.”–John 21:22. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”–John 12:32.
These laws teach you the difference between self-control and soul conquering.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”–Matthew 6:33. You need only to seek the Light in the sun center above your head and step into it. Saying, “This is good! Let there be Light!” is not enough. Your imagination must be intrigued and involved.
“What is that to thee? Follow thou me.”–John 21:22. You may not interfere with others when they are chooosing, even if you think you can help them to a better choice. They have their debts to pay, as you have yours.
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.”–1 Thessalonians 5:22. Abstain from falling into a lower rate of vibration.
“I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”–John 12:32. You are lifted up into spiritual seeing and hearing. Your duty is to declare that evil and darkness are consumed.
Your illumination and comprehension form rays of repulsion that protect you from the cross vibrations of the world.
Edna Lister outline, May 11, 1969, Johannesburg, South Africa; Genesis 1:1, John 1:1
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”–Genesis 1:1.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”–John 1:1.
“Let there be Light!” are the first words to speak to begin anything. You must speak them whenever you need to go into action and open a new vibration.
If the Word was God in the beginning, the Word is still God. Your Word contains the seed of your miracles, for it is God as action.
To conform to law, you must then postulate a God over all, at the Head of Creation. Otherwise, you have no identity with the Source of All Life and Being.
In the beginning, God created by His Word, with the fiat, “Let there be Light!” If the Word is still God, then the original Word must have contained enough Substance and Power to last throughout an entire Day of Manifestation.
Therefore, this Word was, is, and shall ever be the Magna Carta of God, a vast vibration, unchangeable in its purpose. This is the Mind of God, holding the divine Plan for the opening, the day itself and all movement until Light again enfolds us into the divine Ascension. The Magna Carta is God in action as divine Mind.
To postulate a God is as simple as how mathematics reaches geometry. Use a dot and a dash. All the above is based on the little invisible dot, the dot that some avow “is not there.” So, your growth depends on your accepting the postulate of an invisible God.
From the creature to the creator, from instinctive desire and intelligence to conscious intelligence and desire, all beings postulate something greater than themselves to worship.
Repudiation is the curse of today. To repudiate and then to accept is not good enough. You accept that it might prove to be so, and you must accept with an open mind. Any form of repudiation creates mental blocks. This is your basis for knowing that divine Mind contains all you can ever need or desire.
We all moved out from eternity together into time and space. Our difficulties began when we reached for eternity without assuming full responsibility for our lives while dwelling in time and space.
This has created confusion among earth's families, especially between parents and children. Time and space never seem to meet for them. It may be the right time for the parent, but the wrong time for the child.
When you are full of self-centered desires, wise words of caution simply slide off your consciousness. You must wait for time and space to meet and blend as one, as eternity.
God has created you of Light. Therefore, you are as immortal right now as you can ever be. Do you accept or repudiate this? Where would you go for anything not made of Light? Your very body consists of atomic energy, which is the Light!
If you do not like your present rate of vibration of Light, you may raise it. You are Light, condensed and lowered in its rate of vibration.
Healing is an acceptance of your own immortality. This is good. Let there be Light! Both the Sermon on the Mount and science tells us that energy cannot be added to or taken from. You can only change it in state or rate of vibration.
Healing is your choice. The Light absorbs all darkness.
St. Paul stood as a challenge to the centuries just past, and conquered. The Light and Power are greater today than they were 2,000 years ago. You are the world's challenge today. You and I are the challenge to the centuries yet to come.
Let there be Light! Let your immortality show to the world. They will follow. The ancients had a definition for the word “enthusiasm” 1 —one possessed by the immortal gods.
Remember, the Word is still God now, doing business as He has from the beginning, and God created from the Light. We stand in that Light, right here and right now.
Where could you go to get away from God as divine Mind in action? Divine Mind controls the Light. You are immortal now. Let there be Light!
Faith to Know, to Be, and to Do
Edna Lister outline, May 11, 1969, Johannesburg, South Africa; Hebrews 11:1-4, 1 John 3:1-2
“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. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”–Hebrews 11:1-4.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 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.”–1 John 3:1-2.
Faith is your only private line of communication to the Father. Faith is your direct contact with eternity, and your one sure escalator to your Source.
Faith's speed is faster than light, which is the physical manifestation of the transcendent Light! The Light of faith is a vibration above the pulsars. 2 Last autumn, astronomers discovered the pulsars, farther away and beyond anything we have ever contacted before. They listened and held great discussions as to whether these were signals from other people seeking to contact us.
Finally they discovered that the impulses were more rhythmically perfect than any ever noted. One observer named it the “clock of the universe,” and others have admitted that it is faster than the speed of light. There is a possibility of a spectrum beyond the speed of light.
Hear me: You may lift your eyes and send your call of faith over and beyond the Light vibration to touch a Source of Light. Before you can finish speaking the Words of healing, your vibration returns over your line of contact, and healing results.
This is the virtue in the principle of faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for,” but what about the second half of that verse? What is “the evidence of things not seen”? I have asked that question for decades and had to wait eighty-four years to “see” the answer. It was not hidden, but sitting in the open all that time.
Faith and its unfaltering, unwavering expression is “the evidence of things not seen.” You are the evidence of God's Mind, Substance, and Power in form. To reach this place, you must love all creation. You may ask, “Does this mean everything, when so much is dark?” What about a person who seeks to give up cigarettes, but lives with a person who curses every cigarette they light? Does that help them to kick the habit? No.
The law tells us that everything is good according to its degree and kind. So, both the smoker and his detractor should hold the cigarette up in the eye of imagination, on a cloud of Light, and declare, “You are a beautiful cigarette. You are good, and I love you.” You can have miracles this way. To the person, say, “Darling, you are wonderful!”
Stay on your own cloud continent of Light to be happy where you are. You can form endless little clouds of pink, blue, and, yellow, and “see” your worst favorites on them. Pink will energize them, blue will heal, and yellow adds wisdom.
Say, “I cover you with a cloud of Light so I cannot see you.” This is how you prepare a table in the presence of your own loved ones, who are not enemies. When you change the pattern you've operated by, you find that you have no enemies. Have you freed your family of you, of your self? Self judges what the other says and does, putting you both in bondage. You must free everyone else of you, consciously and deliberately.
Now, let us ignore all other principles for a time. The principle of faith can manifest as the one Mind, the one Substance, and the one Power. Faith is in all things, conscious or unconscious.
God created us with a computer mind built in. Dr. John Pfieffer in his book, The Human Brain, gives us the size of it. To build a computer with the capacity of your brain would require an area the size of the San Francisco Cow Palace [158,400 sq ft], the height of the Empire State Building [1,250 ft tall], and the power of Niagara Falls [6m cu ft per minute; generates 4.9m kilowatts, enough to power 3.8m homes]. Two scientists now say that he did not give large enough dimensions.
This computer mind is yours to use every day, to rule with your creative tools of desire, thinking, and imagination. When you fail to breathe new life every hour, you allow your outer physical sheath to lack enough life. Some even try to run on last week's worn-out supply. Your individual computer mind, as the instrument of the divine Mind, can contact all the potential powers of the divine. You nay be transfiguread just as Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration.
You approach God though the principle of faith. You must ascend, but to do so, you must live by a more and more plan. To forget is to descend into a less and less plan for living. Your line of contact is a strong cable, a “live wire” to your Source of being. Ascension is raising your overall rate of vibration to a higher state of consciousness. Love of God is your balance point. Praise for God is the premium you pay on your annuity of Power.
Principle is the base on which you stand. Faith travels through the Love-substance of universal Spirit. Faith uses no other specific principle, but is enfolded in the substance of Love. Faith is always active when you declare everything good. Faith forms the conducting rod of God's Power and life into your body and life of affairs.
Think! You communicate with only nine digits and 26 letters—on so small a basis. Yet they combine to unfold all Mind, all Substance, and all Power. Thus, your ability is immeasurable.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”–1 John 3:1-2
Edna Lister speech outline, May 19, 1969, Johannesburg, South Africa; 1 John 3:1-3, Romans 8:35-39
emsp; “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 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. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”–1 John 3:1-3.
“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 8:35-39.
All growth comes under three great principles of expansion, explosion, and expression. Their operation depends on what manner of love you express and invest in them. The length of your love, how long does it last? The breadth of your love, how far does it extend into sacrifice of self? Is your love as wide as life? The depth of your love, is it only skin-deep? Is your love deeper than self? Does the height of your love reach into the white Light of the Christ? Is your love as high as God?
Love can recondition anything and anyone. Love can overcome every obstacle. Love can change your life, mind, heart, body, and affairs. The length, breadth, depth and height of your love determine your application of the three principles of expansion, explosion and expression.
Do you believe that these truths are your divine inheritance? Do you know that you really are created in the image and likeness of God? God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is deathless, ageless, and abiding eternal youth. Youth is an inner spirit of joy, a hopefulness and looking forward.
You have no time to waste on doubts or fears, on forming opinions or prejudices. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1 expresses the spirit of youth.
You are as immortal now as you can accept that immortality.
Nature obeys the laws of the seasons, and so must you obey them for perfect results. Each year nature expands into countless tons of verdure, food, flowers, and trees. This growth occurs annually in the same amount of soil. This grows comes from the same invisible source as does your growth, under the three great principles of expansion, explosion, and expression.
Accept your birthright as sons and daughters of God. Through divine Mind, you appropriate all the ideas of Mind, the Substance, and the Power you need for your expansion and your growth. You may draw upon limitless strength, joy, and love.
Nature obeys the call of spring and appropriates food from the earth, water and air, and expands on the same Mind, Substance, and Power in its lowered outer form. You can breathe this invisible spiritual substance. Bulb, seed, and root swell and burst in an explosion of expansion. You can increase your brain capacity and explode with illumination, love, and joy. And, of course, nature is free.
It may take more time to expand and explode, since you must gain the consent of your mental and emotional life to expand. Yet you are not bound by seasons. You can expand anytime. Your own Oversoul is always saying, “Come.” Divine inspiration is always urging you upward in consciousness in some manner.
Three faculties are essential to expand and grow: A burning desire, dynamic thinking, and vivid imagination. Love expands easily because “perfect love casteth out fear.”–1 John 4:18.
You must expand beyond the love for God into the love of God. The love of God explodes as your faith. A story will illustrates this. One evening, after attending a Bible study I had taught on Psalm 91, a woman had to pass through a small downtown park to get to the garage where she had parked. Two robbers accosted her and demanded her purse. She was so shocked that all she could remember was “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust,” so she began screaming “Feathers! Feathers! God, send Your feathers!” The robbers must have though she was violently crazy because they immediately turned and ran away! Her faith had exploded and saved her.
What manner of love do you have? Does your love become tired and begin to ache at 3:00 p.m.? Is your love ready to collapse as soon as you open the door at home, after work?
Why would you settle for this less and less plan of living when you can inhale the Power of God and be refreshed? You can recondition your life into a new pattern when you inhale atomic energy and inflate your atomic body. Your physical energy comes from the inflated atoms of the energy you burn.
Home is the place to come alive when you open the front door. You can stretch out on the floor and revive, or die in an overstuffed chair. Never go to dinner with a dead stomach. Breathe deeply.
Move up in consciousness, into the Garden of Eden before going to bed. In the morning, reach for the stars and open your brain cells to be expanded by the Power of God, which is waiting for you. It has not yet been revealed how great you can be.
“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 8:35-39.”
Declare, “I seek the Light first. I stand firm on the declaration that God is alive. I hold fast to my line of destiny.”
Edna Lister outline, June 8, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; Matthew 16:24-27, Matthew 17:1-9
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”–Matthew 16:24-27.
“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.”–Matthew 17:1-9.
We must consider four crosses once we move from our fate line onto our Path of Destiny: The cross of sacrifice (x), the cross of service (+), the cross of crucifixion, and the cross of ascension (which has two cross-bars).
The cross did not become the supreme emblem of Christianity until the 4th Century, when the Roman Church adopted the double cross-barred cross of Lorraine, which relates to Genesis 1:2 and the second day of creation. Yet the custom of making the sign of the cross over one's head had become common by 110 AD. We must open our vibration with the Gospel of Matthew 16:17-19:
“Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”–Matthew 16:17-19.
This passage has special meaning in light of the fact that Jesus was preparing himself and his disciples, Peter, James and John, for the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter represents the power to surrender. James signifies the strength to endure. John symbolizes love and compassion. You must sacrifice self before you may fully open the higher creative center to be used by the Light. You could do this in six days as Peter, James and John did. Will you sell your self or your soul? And for what price?
To transfigure is defined as “to change personality or character, appearance.” Peter surrendered to become the servant of all Power, not part, not sometimes, but all Power, all the time. Remember, it took all three witnesses to see behind the veil. James had the strength to endure, to hold unwaveringly. Only John had the love that can melt and dissolve the veil, or swing the gate wide.
All three men witnessed Jesus' Transfiguration. Peter, who represented the Power, thought he'd given up all self. To be an objective witness on the inner while you are conscious in the world requires that you can remember what you are seeing while you listen to the voice the one who is speaking. Awe made them fall down in reverence as Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” Fear can swiftly close the gate, as it did with the disciples who then saw Jesus alone.
Jesus knew that he had to prepare them for seeing him on the cross of crucifixion. As they descended from the mountain, Jesus cautioned them not to tell anyone the vision “until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.” If they talked indiscriminately, the scoffers and doubters would take away their joy.
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”—James 1:2-4. “Count it all joy” and permit no wavering of the self. Remain in devotion to your soul's Source and hold to your identity with God through forgiveness, even of those who betray you.
All it takes are the three steps in foriveness: I forgive them. Father, You forgive them. Father, forgive me for having done anything to cause my brother to stumble. Then declare, “I am become that Light, I AM. I AM crowned with the Light of the Living God!”
Edna Lister outline, June 15, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; James 1:2-13, Revelation 2:8-11
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.”–James 1:2-13.
“And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”–Revelation 2:8-11.
The crown refers to the top of our head, and the highest point of rulership. To crown something is to apply the finishing touches. Each point of a crown of twelve stars represents twelve virtues of soul. To receive a crown is proof of having conquered.
As souls, God has given us three phases of divine Mind. On the intellectual level, we call these the subconscious, conscious and super-conscious phases of mind. Mystically, we refer to them as the creature soul (self), the rational conscious soul, and the Oversoul. We all belong to the same divine Mind, use the same principles and the same creative faculties.
We may operate at different levels of the same Christ consciousness, as the same Holy Ghost, Holy Breath and Holy Spirit. We touch the same Source, whether we only tap it or move into it. At the intellectual level, self says, “I know,” and “I think.” At the mystical level soul says, “I am” and “I have become.” I AM THAT I AM is the Word equation that illustrates our relation to the Source of our being, and THAT is the crown.
Jesus came as a common man, though he knew all about the beyond. He taught love in a world filled with hate, and he taught forgiveness of sins. His religion is immortal. He lived, he lives now and shall live forever. Faith is not an intellectual reflection or practice, not even a mystical meditation. Faith is the “works” of forgiveness.
What is this crown of life? The spinal cord extends from the brain to the base of the spine, at the sacrum. Through the crown of the head, we draw life from the Source, which flows through our “silver cord,” down the spine, unless blocked. We draw the vitality-giving magnetic currents of earth up through our feet. They flow up to the sacrum plexus, then up the spine to terminate in the brain. These magnetic currents meet and mingle with the etheric currents of life from the Source, exploding into life within us.
We create our own crown of life as the nerves within our cellular physical brain awaken, causing the petals of the atomic mental body lotus flower to open and unfold. What we know outside time, we know by faith. We live to prove it.
Edna Listeroutline, June 22, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; John 12:23-36, Malachi 3:17-18, Malachi 4:1-3
“They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves Him not.”–Malachi 3:17-18.
“For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. “— Malachi 4:1-3.
“Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit. He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.–John 12:23-36.
To glorify means to lift above an ordinary level, to give a thing an ideal and romantic attraction, above the everyday meaning. To give an object wings is to lift it above the low vibrations of earth. So, wings of glory should lift my imagination about the ordinary away from the binding, sordid, grieving, hurting elements of earth.
What we need now, more than anything else, is the assurance that the mess that the world is in will be resolved soon. We have heard from our prophets that history repeats itself, and that what applied in past centuries applies right now, only more so. This is true because everything is more powerful, speedier than in any historical century we have passed through. So, Malachi’s prophecies apply now, today, especially since we have been told that evil is being lifted from earth.
How do you convince yourself of this? It will not be difficult if you have been disciplining your self during the past ten years. If your self-training has been sporadic, sometimes working, interspersed with periods of neglect, it will be a task, often causing tears of frustration. In that case, cry up, not in self-pity.
“For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”–Malachi 4:1. Do you believe this prophecy? Hatred turns on itself eventually, and consumes itself in the end.
In the Gospel of John, the twelfth chapter, Jesus has come almost to the end of his ministry. He is seeking to prepare the disciples for his crucifixion and death without actually speaking about it. He wanted them to continue his work, to surrender to the truth of reality—that life is eternal. Already he was grieving about leaving them so unprepared for the burden of responsibility.
New people had come to meet him, to hear his words of instruction. “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name.”–John 12:26-28.
Jesus wanted to glorify the Father. Some heard only Jesus’ thunder, not his message. Yet he had to carry on, whether his audience understood him or not. Then the angel spoke! The Voice that came did so not to glorify Jesus, but to assure his disciples and listeners. Then he hid from them. He had shown them the fourth dimension kingdom before he disappeared.
A living Christ is now disturbing the whole world. The agnostics' and atheists' movement to take the deity from Jesus nearly lost us the world. We must restore the deity of Jesus. We need a deified Jesus to worship, to adore and to follow. To become like him is adequate and soul-satisfying. Religion, as merely a social practice, consumes the soul.
The New Testament is a recital of our future fourth kingdom. Life accelerates when we are delivered from slavery to self. All we need is one God, one Christ defied. We can appropriate everything we need from the one Mind, Substance and Power.
Jesus, as deity, gives us wings of glory. We soar into greater vision, in a rapture of love. The living Christ elevates the altitude of our orbit of conquering. He lifts us above all modern problems, in an untouched and untouchable ecstasy of soul. Our Christed wings are our soul’s triumph.
Illumination and Comprehension
Edna Lister outline, June 29, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; Ephesians 4:1-13, Revelation 8:1-4
“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.”–Ephesians 4:1-13.
“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.”–Revelation 8:1-4.
Illumination means to make light, to cause something to stand out. Comprehension means to comprehend all facts gathered and compared. Everything in the world of appearances must fit together as one in reality.
“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.”–Ephesians 4:9-10. What ascended must have first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He that descended is he who ascended far above all things. These verses are referring to the great universe, to which there is no end. Spiritual substance fills a vast abyss that serves as a storehouse of soul substance to fill all things with life.
Christ took our captivity with him. He proved to us that we can lift and lead the lower mind of self up, to become captive to life. We draw self in, sublimate it and lift it into soul.
“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 long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”–Ephesians 4:1. “The prisoner of the Lord” refers to the sphere of Light we create to contain the self, from which self cannot escape. We must walk worthy to fulfill our heavenly vocation.
We are immortal now in one body, one faith and one baptism of the same soul substance. All are equal in the one breath and one baptism, which is the descent of Spirit as soul substance. The one God is the one Father of all, above all, through all and in all. Our method of attaining all this is acceptance that our vocation is to become all the soul virtues. How great our acceptance is depends four factors, which are soul qualities, lowliness, meekness, long-suffering and forbearing.
First is lowliness, in which is no self. Meekness means to become Light. Long-suffering enables us to forgive 490 times. Finally, we must be forbearing, which is enduring, holding and standing. To do this, we must strike a balance between the image and likeness of God and to walk worthy in respect for the Source, while being the least in the kingdom, just a form and an instrument for God's use. We are lowly according to the measure of our sacrifices of self to be filled and used, to become the Light, or to be meek. God then grants us grace according to the measure of our gift of the sacrifice of self.
Then we put our desire into action. Through our words and actions, we shout and declare the deity of Jesus the Christ, the Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man. As we ascend, we put on the breastplate of the Lord. Its twelve stones represent the twelve soul virtues, which represent the stature of the Christ. The breastplate provides us with protection and power controls. The lights from the jewels rotate to shine on others and make them prisoners of the Light. My secret weapon is joy. Joy releases all Power, converts all darkness into Light, breaks barriers, triumphs over slavery to earth, and delivers me from the lower self. With joy, I live in the Light.
“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.”–Revelation 8:1-4. The smoke of the incense represents the prayers of the Elect that God as the Heavenly Councils use to change darkness into Light.
Edna Lister outline, July 6, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; John 1:1-18, Isaiah 45:2-3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”–John 1:1-18.
“I will go before thee, 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 thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.”–Isaiah 45:2-3.
Each soul has its own Path of Destiny, which is also one’s “soul mission” while on earth. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”–John 1:1-5. Light is the life of God. These verses tell of the descent of God’s Son and his reception below at a time when it was almost as ungodly as it is now. The scoffers and intellectuals repudiated and reviled him.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”–John 1:12-13. These verses refer to the descended creators, the begotten of God, who accept Jesus the Christ as the only Begotten Son of God, who holds the scepter of Power. They grant his deity and see his glory. John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way and to announce him to the world. John came to bear witness to the one who “was before me.” We have all received of his fullness of Power and “grace for grace.” What does this grace include? First is good manners. The law, as given by Moses, was rigid. Yet the essence of good manners is consideration, which is of the grace and truth that came by Jesus the Christ.
We, today, are the begotten creators, living under a special code of life given to us by our Lord Jesus the Christ. Its keynote and name is nonresistance. It includes every law we need for soul conquering. Is nonresistance weak? No. It is the strongest principle at the Source, and is part of all three supreme principles, Mind, Substance and Power. Nonresistance contains all principles.
The first law to heed and obey is to “Become as perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect.” Can I become perfect? Yes; it is your choice whether to do so or not. Anything else is an attempt to escape from responsibility as s begotten creator god. Everything on the outer can be shrinking, yet under our Christed code of life, you can expand to become like the Father, which means to be possessed by Light.
“My yoke is easy and my burden in Light” under nonresistance. I become a master switch. Touch me and every potential power of God goes into action. Anything from the world touching me sinks into a cloud of absorbing substance and is made into nothing. Any hate sent to me becomes the power of all love. My code of life becomes a firm conviction, a compelling expectancy, an overwhelming dimension of glory and potential Power. Every breath is a new incarnation. How young we are. Our mission is to bring Shekinah glory back to the altars of earth, to bring angels’ wings over them, to open the mysteries of life, to become a miracle.
A miracle is faith in action. A miracle is Light as energy. A miracle is resurrection. To reach the miracle stage of a physical healing, you must stop taking your emotional temperature. Indulge no fever of self. A miracle healing is a place where time and space meet, overlap and become eternity. Healing is a raised state of consciousness. From a lesser vibration, you ascend in consciousness. Your statements, your beliefs, your declarations, your goal and decrees now partake of new action.
We are now doing according to Isaiah 45:2-3: “I will go before thee, 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 thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” Declare, “I bring the Light into all dark places!”
Edna Lister article, Prayer Circle newsletter, October 3, 1969, Washington, D.C.; James 1:17
“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.
Meditation: “Unwaveringly I stand and hold as I am filled anew with the Christ Light from above.”
James 1:17 tells us 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.” All the available potential powers of God work through you as Light from above. Light moves forth as substance to become the form of whatever you speak the Word to state, decree, declare or pray for. Light moves forth on your Word.
Under law, a vibration accelerates when you speak the Word from a deeply held inner conviction so firm that no outer vibration can touch or disturb you. The world calls the result a miracle. Yet one moment’s wavering or turning to the shadows of earth can cut your new vibration, puncturing your prayer mold, allowing the substance, being lowered into visibility, to dissolve again into pure Light from which you were forming it. Until you learn the lesson of obedience to this one law of constancy and steadfastness, you will be redoing your work repeatedly.
“Under law, a vibration accelerates when you speak the Word from a deeply held inner conviction so firm that no outer vibration can touch or disturb you.
The world calls the result a miracle.”–Edna Lister
When you are unwavering in your work, you take advantage of the Light substance now being released from the new Star of Bethlehem, which is reaching its arms of glory down to earth to lift all people and nations back to their Source. We are all creators, endowed from the beginning with three creative tools waiting for us to use under law on invisible substance: Desire, thinking and imagination. You may freely use these tools to bring all the desires of your heart and mind into condensed form—new positions, new friends, and everything needed for your daily expression.
As Light fill your creations, it also forms a shield, an aura, around your body, a sphere of Light made of that same Light that formed the chariot of fire in which Elijah was caught up into heaven. The Light becomes a chariot of fire for you if you so declare it, and lifts you into your new heaven or Mount of Transfiguration. When you step into your chariot of fire as a creator with both direction and control, you harness your creative tools, the powers ready to draw your chariot, with thinking on the left, imagination in the center, and desire on the right. Thus, with divine Mind as your guardian and protector, earth can produce or build no barriers against you that can prevail.
Confusion and delay in your plans come only when you forget that you must constantly stand and hold fast to your goal. As a begotten son or daughter of God, created of Light by divine Mind, dwelling in this physical body-form, you establish yourself under divine law to obey the laws of the creator constantly.
Under Light from above filling you as divine Mind, you gather up the lines of your creative tools, vivid imagination, steadfast thinking and a flaming, burning desire, while you stand firm in your chariot of fire, holding unwaveringly and with no shadow of turning. Let us now partake of the full glory of the Christmas love and giving sent from above to earth at this season as rays of pure Christ Light!
Edna Lister outline, October 26, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; James 1:6, James 1:12-17, 2 Kings 2:1, 2 Kings 2:8-14
“Ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”–James 1:6.
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. 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 1:12-17.
“And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.”–2 Kings 2:1.
“Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.”–2 Kings 2:8-14.
The story of Elijah and Elisha is beautiful. It is both a history and the record of a soul’s ascension. We need to understand the events that set the stage for this. In the first chapter of the second Book of Kings, Ahaziah, king of Judah in Samaria fell ill and enquired of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether he would recover. This represents the worldly intellect consorting with false gods.
An angel of the Lord ordered Elijah to tell the king’s messengers, “Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.”–2 Kings 1:3-4.
When Ahaziah, symbolizing intellect, learned that Elijah had sent the message, he sent a captain of fifty and fifty men to fetch him. This fifty represents the misused Substance of words, which was consumed by the fire of Elijah's Oversoul. Ahaziah sent another captain of fifty with his fifty men, and again, the fire of heaven descended and destroyed them. This second fifty represents the misuse of Power. Again, Ahaziah sent a third captain and his fifty men. This captain fell on his knees before Elijah and begged for his life and the lives of his men. The angel of the Lord told Elijah not to fear, but to go down to the king.
The Lord's message to Ahaziah was the same as before: “Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.”–2 Kings 1:16. Intellect shrivels before the Power of God and devotion. Imagination lifting thinking and desire represents the three temptations on the misuse of divine Mind, Substance and Power.
The first fifty represent the five senses gathering from outer trash, using the ability to hear on the outer. To pass the first temptation on the misuse of Substance, you must lift all negative emotions and idle words into a sphere of Light to be consumed. The second fifty represents wandering intellectual thinking. Thoughts are things, and you must gather them to be absorbed in a sphere of Light. The third fifty represents imagination, which bows down before the world when used by the self for credits to the self. Devotion to God consumes the last of this self-worship.
Then comes the Ascension. Desire has been mated with will to become the Oversoul I AM consciousness. Imagination is ruling as the Oversoul, Elijah. Yet Elisha, who represents the embodied rational soul, may remain in the body if it tarries on earth. Elijah, as the Oversoul, offers Elisha three opportunities to choose. Each time, Elisha responded, saying, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.”–2 Kings 2:4.
Elisha's third choice at the Jordan River, took him to the Paradise Source with Elijah, who asked what he soul do for him. “And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.”–2 Kings 2:9. Elijah said, “Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.–2 Kings 2:10. Elisha did see Elijah's ascent in the fiery chariot.
Elisha's soul vision is proof that he had burned away the strands of his silver cord to be replaced by the golden cord that binds the embodied rational soul to the Oversoul. This story is the Romance of the Soul's Ascension. Light forms our vehicle of life and its protection. James gives us the key. We must harness, desire, thinking and imagination with imagination in the center, flanked by thinking on the left and desire on the right.
With our mind ascended to divine Mind, Oversoul is in control. Standing under the Light, we gather up our lines of Light, using our creative tools of desire, thinking and imagination. Standing in the Light, unwavering, enduring as joy, count every temptation, everything from the world as a glory. This is your fiery chariot. Your miracles fail only when you forget it. You must feel your chariot of fire, Light and life. Keep it on your path of destiny!
Edna Lister outline, November 2, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; Exodus 3:1-8, Acts 7:29-33, Revelation 21:1-8
“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And He said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”–Exodus 3:1-8.
“Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.”–Acts 7:29-33.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”–Revelation 21:1-8.
Moses had accidentally killed an Egyptian overseer who was beating a Hebrew slave. When he discovered that his deed was known, he fled to the desert, where he remained for forty years, a symbolic number. He married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, a priest of Midian, and they had sons.
Under Joseph, the children of Israel had waxed strong and multiplied. In Egypt, they had prospered after the famine of Joseph's time. They had plenty of food, had become satisfied and were not ready to be saved. Then the lenient Pharaoh died, the next one made slaves of them. The new king did not know Joseph, and was a tyrant. He was afraid of the Hebrew's power. The children of Israel under priests prayed for deliverance and were ready to heed the law.
Moses, in the meantime, sought wisdom and took his father-in-law's flocks to Mount Horeb, on the back side, away from the desert. An angel of the Lord appeared to him as a flame of fire from the midst of a burning bush. The burning bush represents an awakened creative fire, arising from the sacrum plexus. The flame ascended, and a voice called from the crown. Then the Lord said to him, “Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place thou standest is holy ground.” It is holy ground whenever we commune with the Lord. To take off your shoes means that you remove all mental blocks, and all distractions of the world. I AM THAT I AM. Forty years represent the awakening of Moses’ pineal body, until he could see and hear spiritually.
When the Sanhedrin sought to silence Stephen, he told the whole story to the people gathered, among them the newly converted Christians. Moses' story serves as training for ascension.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”–Revelation 21:1-8.
At the time the seventh seal is broken, the eighth angel represents the Begotten Son ruling. Method of our lifting evil from the earth, transforming dark into Light.
At the time the seventh seal is broken, the eighth angel represents the Begotten Son ruling. Method of our lifting evil from the earth, transforming dark into Light. The second death is when death and hell cast into the lake of fire, revealing that Power is being taken from evil!
Today we watch, stand and obey. We have the keys of the kingdom in our hands. God has created us as His begotten creator sons and daughters with perfect equipment. We are in charge of its upkeep, and it must be renewed. A new heaven and a new earth describes the raising of the vibration of life sparks, absorbing the old, drawing it from outer to be refined as star dust.
Early on, in the 17th and 18th Centuries, a chief metaphysical idea was that we would become immune to earth. Yet we now know that the higher we ascend, the greater our sensitivity, the greater our reaction to even a very small idle word.
We must learn to be “perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect” now! We must stand still and know that God is. Be still, live on the fifth degree of breath to wipe away all tears. We cannot be hurt or touched. This is how we multiply our Shangri-la, where we comprehend. The burning bush is every vital center whirling clockwise until the sun centers of the fire body are flaming in victory, triumphant.
Edna Lister outline, November 9, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; Daniel 6:10-12, Daniel 6:16-23; Malachi 3:10, Romans 10:1-13
Coming soon.
The Secret Place of the Most High
Edna Lister outline, November 16, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; Psalm 91, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-23
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust. Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”–Psalm 91.
“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophecies. Prove all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. Now may the very God of peace Him sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”–1 Thessalonians 5:16-23.
You have and every embodied soul has only one “secret place of the most high.” The Psalm reads “most high,” not low or in-between. “Most High” refers to your impenetrable Oversoul Star, which no one can touch, tune in on, or read if you dwell there consistently —not part time or when driven by evil or hurt feelings. The text is emphatic when it says “He that dwelleth.”
Following after “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust,” are fourteen verses of rich promises for dwelling in this “high place.” Fourteen is the number that represents choice and separation from a low vibration to ascend higher. When you read the promises contained in Psalm 91, you can decide whether they appeal to you as being appropriate for today.
(1) You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, (2) nor of the arrow that flies by day, (3) nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, (4) nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but (5) it shall not come near you. (6) Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, (7) no evil shall befall you, (8) nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for (9) He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. (10) In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. (11) You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore (12) I will deliver him; (13) I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, (14) and (15) I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; (16) I will deliver him and honor him. (17) With long life I will satisfy him, (18) and show him My salvation.”–Psalm 91.
First Thessalonians 5:16-23 offers us eight rules to follow to bring us to and hold us in the most high vibration.
“(1) Rejoice always. (2) Pray without ceasing. In everything (3) give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (4) Quench not the Spirit. (5) Despise not prophecies. (6) Prove all things; (7) hold fast what is good. (8) Abstain from all appearance of evil. Now may the very God of peace Him sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”–1 Thessalonians 5:16-23.
First, move into secret place of the most high. To remain strong enough to stay there, rejoice and smile a thousand times an hour. Consider this: It takes sixty-five facial muscles to pull your face into a frown, but only seventeen to lift it up into a smile! Gratitude and rejoicing operate a switch board for seventeen main virtues. “Dis-position” operates the sixty-five muscles used to frown, and each one has a name: self-pity, blame, resentment, rebellion, ingratitude, loneliness, fear, doubt, opinions, prejudices, pride and the little-self’s refrain, “I want.”
Pray and praise using statements, decrees, and declarations to move your dis-position unto a good position. If you want a change in your life, you must first change yourself to move from wherever you are into the place or state of mind you want to occupy.
So, next you must “give thanks.” The difference between praying, praising, and giving thanks lies in your state of devotion. Standing is what you do while you are “waiting for God” to create a miracle of change. Quench not the spirit of what? The blithe spirit of joy and laughter. You must take three steps to obtain a blithe spirit: rejoice, pray without ceasing, and give thanks for everything that comes your way.
Despise nothing, but look for the grain of truth in everything life presents. After all, it’s for your growth and improvement. Be open-minded, lay your need on a shelf of Light and wait upon the Lord to do the work. “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17). Every promise that God will provide or will do something good is a prophecy, so do not despise any of them; God will make good every prophecy ever given.
No matter what happens to you, if you call on God in your time of need “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge.” A woman who had attended a talk I had given in downtown Tacoma was accosted by robbers as she walked through a small park to her car. I had used Psalm 91 as my text, but all she could remember was this passage about “His feathers,” so she began shouting “Feathers! Feathers!” and the thieves ran away! Your faith forms the “feathers” that are your refuge.
“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”–Psalm 23: 5-6. The house of the Lord is “in the secret place of the Most High” Power! There you shall dwell in the ecstasy, rapture, and triumph of your soul conquering the self!
Edna Lister transcript, Elizabeth Barnes, Ruth Johnson, Florence Waldorf, Ross Whitehead, scribes, November 23, 1969 Cleveland, Ohio; 1 Kings 3:1-14, Mark 12:28-33
“Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord, until those days. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before Thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with Thee; and Thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that Thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, Thou hast made Thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And Thy servant is in the midst of Thy people which Thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this Thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. And if thou wilt walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.”–1 Kings 3:1-14.
“One of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.”–Mark 12:28-34.
More than one hundred verses in the Bible mention burnt offerings. Many religions in ancient times contacted God through sacrifice, but sacrificing animals is greatly different from making burnt offerings of incense.
Solomon had been having quite a difficult time before he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices to the Lord; he offered thousand burnt offerings of incense and asked for understanding as a ruler. The Lord was pleased because Solomon had asked for help selflessly. Solomon's father, King David, had married an alien princess and raised two sons under false gods. The older son had gone to Bathsheba, who had listened to his petition of complaint against Solomon. He was eldest, but did not live under Mosaic law.
Instead, the Israelites chose Solomon, who was raised in the tradition of Israel. He became king under a vibration of devotion and sacrifice for David, to help pay his debts. Solomon had nothing to do with keeping his elder brother off the throne. They did not treat traitors softly as we do today, so they killed Solomon’s heathen brother; Solomon was unhappy about his death.
The goal of the burnt offerings is for fire to consume evil, and the offerings serve to burn away 1,000 days of spiritual dross. Religion has largely lost its way because it has discarded sacrifice, not of animals or physical appetites, but of the self, its wants and urges. Judaism had practiced prayer and fasting from physical appetite, but dropped the sacrifice of self's appetites as being "too hard." Christianity includes only the 40 days' light fasting from food during Lent. Yet sacrifice contains all the lesser initiations, laws, and the giving up of self. When you add sacrifice of self back into your religion, you will find God.
The 1,000 burnt offerings are a thousand days of being untouchable, immovable and perfect before God. Under God's law, you open a thousand days of burnt offerings in thirty-seven lunar months. Have you been perfect thirty-seven hours? Thirty-seven days? If you do not love God with your whole being, you have no pattern or plan for beginning your thousand days of burnt offerings, and so may wander in the wilderness of unforgiveness during your thousand days. You face outer tests when you obey the law of sacrifice as everyone bands together to hinder you with endless phone calls, delays, and so on. When I was in my twenties, I had completed thirteen months when I got a severe case of “brother-in-law-itis.” I stuck my nose into his dirty laundry, and had to begin again, besides paying his debts. Yet you do gain new strength from each day you complete. Even when you fall on your face, you have gained that much stamina.
Beware of pride when you finish your thousand days. At the end of a thousand burnt offerings, ask for good judgment, which gives you the ability to make a truly just appraisal. You are supposed to see, recognize and lift the other fellow's wrongdoing. Do not ask what you should do with it. Consider the facts, and lift it up to God. Then look at the results—such a just appraisal is not disobedience to law, providing you put the offender on a cloud of Light and do not dare to think he owes you anything. While doing this, you may be given to know where he is on the Path, what his weaknesses are. Declare him good where he is! Declare that God is ascending him, but do not involve yourself with his weaknesses.
Do not put your trust in a person who is too weak to be worthy of it. If someone disappoints you, it is your error for expecting too much from him. You will likely wander in the wilderness of blame during your thousand days of burnt offerings. Most people think they are forgiving, but in the same breath will tell you what they have forgiven, proving they have not forgiven anything. As long as you hold a memory in your subconscious mind, you have not forgiven. When law goes forth through you as Light, it consumes remaining taints until you can no longer remember what you needed to forgive. The offense is wiped clean when you are law without needing to think about it. Examine yourself when you declare a person imperfect.
Have you really forgiven? When you are hurt or resent, you do not forgive. When you say, “He put me on a spot,” you are really saying that the imagined offender stepped on your dry rot and punched a hole in your facade. If you dilute your prayers with some hidden selfishnes or soul taint, how can you ascend and complete your thousand days? You must judge yourself. How long will you linger in the wilderness of blame? To forgive is to forget. You must wipe out this wilderness, and you can—the healing will spread because the love of God is contagious.
In Mark's Gospel, Jesus says that the first commandment is, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God.” Love Him with all the strength of your heart, mind and soul as the one God. If you do not love Him with your whole being, you have no pattern or plan for beginning your thousand days of burnt offerings. Remember, you gain new strength from each of the thousand days you do complete. The Gates of the White City of Forgiveness open and Light practically shoves you through. Live in the ever present now where no past exists. Forget self and lay it on the altar, where you do not resent yourself or others' offenses and failings. Burnt offerings open you to the Power of Almighty God. When you think, “I wonder if I’m worthy,” you fall back into the wilderness. But if you declare, “God loves me. His Power works through me and with me,” you ascend on your way.
“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.”–Proverbs 22:4. Solomon really asked for common sense, good judgment, and the ability to make a just appraisal. When you do this, you obey the laws of justice and please God. You cannot achieve humility without burnt offerings. Humility is knowing how much you do not know. Otherwise, little self is shouting for the crown it believe is its due.
You face many outer tests when you obey the law of sacrifice. You receive no help from the outer to make your thousand burnt offerings. The goal is complete compassionate comprehension of others without any self involved. The beauty and glory of stepping through the Gates is that you become immovable in the Light; you no longer see nothing of self to cling to or to stand on. Humility is the ability to stand and hold in faith and love. Then it is hard to see the blunders of others and condemn them. You only want to lift them higher and closer to God, so you obey the laws of God as you lift.
You can touch anything in divine Mind, if you have faith. You live in obedience to the law because you love God. God gave Solomon riches and honor because he asked for good judgment, but you must earn long life. Make up your mind on this—“If I disobey one law, I disobey all laws.” You regress as many levels as the extent of your disobedience. Your vibration dies down and you develop physical ailments. So, you earn long life by standing, holding and enduring. Do not allow anything to demote you.
You are qualified to work with the same laws that hold the planets in orbit. Be as perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Enter the White City of Forgiveness. Stand! Even if you stumble, climb higher, and the laws of the Eternal will sustain you.
Edna Lister Vespers outline, November 30, 1969, Baltimore, Maryland; Hebrews 11:1, 1 John 3:1-2, James 1:17
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”–Hebrews 11:1
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 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.”–1 John 3:1-2.
“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.
Religion needs to do two things in the world today. First, is to restore the deity of Jesus the Christ, and second, to give man his identity with his Source. To do this, we first need faith, then sacrifice, consisting of burnt offerings, not of animals, but of the “little self.”
To return to our original pattern and design, which is the image and likeness of God, our Oversoul, rational soul and creature soul must become one with God through faith in God. “Faith is the substance of things hoped and the evidence of things not seen.”–Hebrews 11:1. How can we be unless we are one? I believe to “see.” God is doing business as He always has and always will. God knows His business. He shall finish this Day of Manifestation on time.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 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.”–1 John 3:1-2. Our security comes from our identity with God as our Source. God gave us our bodies, yet it is our responsibility to maintain them properly.
To attain to the good and perfect gifts, you must stand unwaveringly on your rock of knowing faith. Gone are the days when you could blame and say, “It took the heart out of me!” “He really put me on a spot!” The offense is when you think you know you've been offended. You do not know. When you offend or imagine you’ve been offended, you can forgive by declaring, “It never happened.” This wipes out any debt of blame.
Forgiveness is the soul's triumph and victory. Rejoice and be grateful. Give thanks in devotion to God.
Edna Lister outline, Prayer Circle, December 1, 1969, Washington, D.C.; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-23, Acts 1-5, Acts 2:1-4
“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”–1 Thessalonians 5:16-23.
“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”–Acts 1:1-11.
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”–Acts 2:1-4.
Last year’s science news was quasars; this year it’s “pulsars.” Following six months or more of research, two scientists finally came out and said, “If there could be a vibration higher than Light then this is proof.” This goes a long way to explain instantaneous healing.
Faith can extend a line of Light up to the Source of all Light in less than an instant and return to us as a healing ray! To do this, you must be an instrument and stand in the Light unwavering. And to do that, you must ascend from time and space into eternity, the eternal now, which is perfection.
We were all begotten or created in the image and likeness of God, with three working phases of soul—Oversoul, rational soul, and appetitive soul. When your Oversoul, rational soul, and apetitive soul become one, you become a Christed One dwelling in a body, and embodied soul. Then you must reach up—to be empowered, to be the given the open creative faculties, to be harnessed to the chariot of the Christ Mind, and to touch the potentials of God, with whom nothing is impossible!
To reach your Godlike potentials you must follow six rules: Rejoice, pray without ceasing, give thanks, quench not the Spirit, hold fast to the good, and abstain from all appearance of evil.
Rejoicing includes smiling a thousand times an hour. You use only seventeen facial muscles to turn the corners of your mouth into a smile, but it takes sixty-five muscles to pull your face down into a frown. Think of the wasted effort! All your face muscles drop if you send out a negative vibration or display a dis-position. Each occasion of self-pity, blame, rejection, loneliness, repulsion, opinion, prejudice, and tears of self-pity creates a veil of illusion that hides a Gate of Light. One heartfelt, joyful smile can lift all those veils of illusion from your path.
Pray using statements, declarations and decrees. Give thanks in devotion to God that stands, endures and hold so immovably that nothing touches you. Hold onto the good hiding in every experience and person. Declare everything good. Finally, abstain from using idle words. Be like the three monkeys—see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.
Edna Lister outline, December 7, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; Daniel 3:15-28, Colossians 1:9-18
“Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hose, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.”–Daniel 3:16-28.
“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence.”–Colossians 1:9-18.
Coming soon.
He Neither Slumbers Nor Sleeps
Edna Lister outline, December 14, 1969, Cleveland, Ohio; Acts 27:20-36, Acts 27:41-44
“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. And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.”–Acts 27:20-36.
“And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hind part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.”–Acts 27:41-44.
Coming soon.
Endnotes
1^ Greek enthousiasmos "divine inspiration," from enthousiazein "to be inspired or possessed by a god, to be rapt, to be in ecstasy," from entheos "divinely inspired, possessed by a god," from en- "in" + theos "god."
2^ A pulsar is a neutron star with a magnetic field about a trillion times stronger than Earth's own field. A single cubic meter of the magnetic field in the Crab pulsar contains more energy than humans have been able to generate, to date.
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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
"Enthusiasm," from Etymology Online.
The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV). This work is in the Public Domain.
NASA. "Pulsar," Imagine the Universe, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. [Accessed May 28, 2021.]
The Oxford English Dictionary: Compact Ed., 2 vols. E.S.C. Weiner, ed., Oxford University Press, 1971.
Pfeiffer, Dr. John E. The Human Brain, Golancz, London, 1955.
"Religion." Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 2nd ed. G. & C. Merriam Co., 1956.