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Keep A True Lent
Chapter 1
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[Keep A True Lent]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
The Way to Perfection
Chapter 1
I AM GOD ALMIGHTY; walk before me, and be thou perfect."
In prayer we need to be deeply conscious that God is the
almighty One, the supreme Creator the ruler of the
universe, that He is infinite and eternal; we need to know
that God is the underlying, unchangeable Truth, "with whom
can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by
turning."
God as principle is the absolute good expressed in all
creation. When we know God and "worship him in spirit and
truth" we recognize Him as this great goodness, which is
omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, ready and willing to
guide, to bless, and to uplift.
To walk with almighty God is to walk with Truth and to
affirm the power of Spirit within mind and body as the
dominating mind force; it is to walk in the light and thus
to apply in our daily living the wisdom that is from above,
acknowledging the Father as the source of all our knowing,
as the mainspring of all our actions.
This leads us to the truth that our knowing God brings
peace, the serene abiding that never wearies, never
questions, never strains for results. He created and
controls the whole universe. In God "we live, and move, and
have our being."
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Mind is the common meeting ground between God and man, and
it is only through the most highly accelerated mind action,
as in prayer, that we can consciously make union with God,
the one and only Creator.
Prayer is the language of spirituality and improves the
quality of man's being. Prayer makes man master in the
realm of creative ideas. The inner silence of prayer is a
great source of spiritual power. There is no exception to
this rule in all the evidence of life. "Be still, and know
that I am God."
The living Word of God, the creative idea in Divine Mind,
may be expressed by man when he has fulfilled the law of
expression. To keep the Word is to revolve it in mind, to
go over it in all its aspects, to believe in it as Truth,
to treasure it as a saving balm in time of need, and above
all, to obey the law it sets forth.
The Christ is God's divine idea of man, the embodiment of
all divine ideas existing in the mind of Being. The Christ
is the "Messiah," the "anointed one." The Christ is the
living principle working in man. "Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God."
"Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" Under the direction of the
Christ a new body is constructed by the thinking faculty in
man. The materials entering into this superior structure
are spiritual substances, and the new creation is the body
of Spirit. It breathes
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an atmosphere and is thrilled with a life energy more real
than that of the manifest man. When we come into the
realization of our true Christ body we feel the stirring
within us of the indwelling Spirit. We know what Paul meant
when he said, "There is a natural body, and there is also a
spiritual body." The true temple in the "body" of Christ is
a state of consciousness. In the inmost center of every man
the indwelling Christ resides.
Would you meet your God in this sacred place? Then quietly
enter this holy of holies in the name and through the power
of Jesus Christ. Here reality reigns supreme. Neither doubt
nor fear can enter. You will be conscious only of the great
omnipresence of God, where the light, joy, peace, and
satisfaction of His Spirit abide, where Truth reigns
supreme.
In this inner realm you will find the spiritual ethers
heavily charged with ideas that turn to spiritual
substance. As your consciousness (awareness) expands, you
touch the everlasting truths and you find that every
blessing is abundantly added. What seems new is but the
unveiling of that which has been forever.
It is of this high realization of oneness with Spirit that
Paul wrote in II Cor. 12:4, when the man was "caught up
into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not
lawful for man to utter."
In this realm, attention is given to concentrating
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the mind on Truth; the I AM, or inner entity is focalized
on God's word until the inner meaning is realized and man
is aware of a definite spiritual uplift.
Persistent meditation on the Truth contained in the Word of
God opens the mind to a greater inflow of Spirit. Then all
words become quickening life and nourishing substance in
both mind and body. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly."
Your thinking Truth zealously and affirming it audibly will
dissolve error in consciousness and at the same time reveal
greater spiritual illumination. In this consciousness
appropriate words of Truth. "Eat them," so to speak.
Partake of that with which you form the spiritual substance
and which will manifest itself in the Christ, or perfect
body. Let "Christ be formed in you." Know that the Holy
Spirit is filling your being with its illuminating,
resurrecting power and that the all-knowing One shines in
you as it did in Jesus and that you manifest greater and
greater spiritual understanding.
When man praises the Spirit of wisdom within he expands and
deepens and enriches his consciousness. As the Christ
radiance lights man's mind, he sees with the inner eye and
he finds that Truth is a never-failing light that makes
straight his way.
In this high state of consciousness he knows that the
divine perfection that exists in the universal God-Mind is
brought into direct contact with its image and likeness,
the Christ Spirit that was implanted
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in him by the Creator from the beginning.
The resurrection of Jesus takes place in us each time we
rise to the realization of the perpetual in-dwelling life
that connects us with the Father. The graveclothes of
mortal sense, which are thoughts of limitation and
inevitable obedience to material laws, are left in the tomb
of matter.
True resurrection within us lifts up all the faculties of
mind until they conform to the absolute ideas of Divine
Mind. This mental renewal makes a complete transformation
of the body, so that every function works in divine order
and every cell becomes incorruptible and immortal.
For the perpetuation or the renewal of youth in mind and
body it is well to affirm often:
"Bless Jehovah, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless Jehovah, O my soul,
And forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
Who healeth all thy diseases:
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy desire with good things,
So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle."
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[Keep A True Lent]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
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