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Atom-Smashing Power of Mind Chapter 12
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[Atom-Smashing Power of Mind]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
Contact with the Christ Mind
Chapter XII
WE MAY TAKE it for granted on the basis of many Scripture
passages that all of us who accept God as an associate in
life are consciously in intimate contact with the Holy
Spirit. However it will strengthen our faith and greatly
add to the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit in its work
with us if we understand its character and the law under
which it co-operates with us in the development of mind,
body, and affairs.
Theologians differ in their conceptions of the Holy Spirit.
Some define it as a principle, but the majority refer to it
as "He"; that is, as the third person of the Trinity. In
the Scriptures it is named variously. In Genesis 1:2 it is
spoken of as "the Spirit of God" moving upon the face of
the waters. We read in Job 33:4:
"The Spirit of God hath made me,
And the breath of the Almighty giveth me life."
Bible authorities (Scofield, for example) say that wherever
the name El Shaddai occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures it
should have been translated "Nourisher" or
"Strength-giver," which in Hebrew is the feminine name for
God. This verse may be read:
"The Spirit of God hath made me,
And the breath of the mother giveth me life."
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In Psalms 104:30 it is written, "Thou sendest forth thy
Spirit." The Spirit is omnipresent, as revealed in the
139th Psalm:
"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?"
Read all this psalm for a comprehension of the universality
of the Holy Spirit's work in the creation of man and his
evolution.
The Holy Spirit in Divine Mind corresponds to our thought
in our minds. God is Mind; God's idea of His creation is
His Son, and this Son (idea), executing the plans of God
(the original Mind) corresponds to our thinking in its work
of devising plans. We may ideate without restriction, but
when we come to the execution of our ideas we have to
respect certain laws, which we sometimes consider
restrictions. So we can ideate the unlimited Divine Mind,
but when this Mind is brought into our world or
consciousness it is limited to our conception of it.
With a clear understanding of the relation that ideas bear
to their manifestation, we can approach God with
confidence; then we have access to the real, unlimited
creative ideas, and we co-operate with the Holy Spirit and
get greater results. We can thus lay hold of a healing or a
prosperity thought and confidently affirm that in mind we
are quickened and made whole; that we are prospered, and
that we are successful in all our ways, because we are
working with and through the whole Spirit of God,
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the Holy Spirit of wisdom and love.
In Matthew Jesus asked the Pharisees, "What think ye of the
Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of
David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in the
Spirit call him Lord, saying,
"The Lord said unto my Lord,
Sit thou on my right hand,
Till I put thine enemies underneath thy feet?
"If David then calleth him Lord, how is he his son?"
This lesson, which Jesus gave to His disciples, brings out
clearly the relation that the universal or Jehovah-Mind
bears to the personal or Christ Mind. This also suggests
that David was not the forebear of Christ, but that the
Lord or Christ of David existed before the human person was
born. It follows that the Christ in Jesus existed before
the personality. This is true of all of us. Christ is the
spiritual mind in every individual, and the spiritual mind
is the offspring of the universal or Jehovah-Mind.
When Paul said, "Until Christ be formed in you," he
referred to the development in man of the super-mind.
All the divine perfection that exists in the universal
Jehovah-Mind can be brought into direct contact with its
image and likeness, the Christ, imprinted in the beginning
in each individual. As he develops spiritually man
releases, rounds out,
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and fully expresses that divine perfection which is
potentially in his soul.
The affirmation of any good statement of health puts us in
conscious contact with the Christ Mind universal and
quickens and releases the energy stored up in the
subconscious mind, and the process of rejuvenation begins
its work. This renewal of man's youth through the
recognition of Jehovah confirms Psalm 103:
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.
All those who in faith have persistently applied this law
of spiritual acknowledgment of the Christ have received
benefits that bear witness to the fact that man can
overcome sin, sickness, and old age and rise out of the
race belief in human limitation, and finally attain eternal
life as Jesus attained it.
Jesus warned us not to lay up treasure in a material way
but to be "rich toward God," as taught in the 12th chapter
of Luke. Jesus was rich toward God in that He knew how to
release the creative substance implanted in Him from the
beginning.
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This same substance is within every one of us; when
released, it makes contact with the universal substance,
and invisible currents of supply begin to carry their
riches to us. It is not necessary that we understand
scientifically all the activities of the pent-up substance
in our minds, although we shall eventually understand every
step of the way.
A simple word of blessing poured out upon that which we
have or that which we can conceive as possible for us as
sons of the all-providing God will at least begin to
release the superabundance of Spirit substance, and we
shall have an inner confidence and faith in the providence
of our Father.
Jesus warned us not to be anxious about temporal needs but
to pray, believing, and to bless and give thanks; then
right in the face of seeming insufficiency we should be
enabled to demonstrate plenty. Jesus illustrated this when
He showed how giving thanks in a devout consciousness for
this inner substance would multiply the apparently
insignificant resources (the five loaves and two fishes)
until they became sufficient to meet the hunger of more
than five thousand persons.
A textbook on the redemption or reconstruction of man
should cover every phase of human character. Human egotism
should be repressed; man's spiritual identity exalted.
Remedies for the greatest evils of humanity should be given
plentifully, and the lesser
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evils minimized.
Our Scriptures, plus the guidance of "the Spirit of truth"
recommended by Jesus, form such a textbook for Christians.
In this combination is found instruction fitted to the
needs of the multitude. The timid and fearful read, "Have
not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not
affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for Jehovah thy God
is with thee whithersoever thou goest."
How an inflated personal ego usurps and finally destroys
the spirituality of one who once was anointed king of
Israel is illustrated in the life of Saul. The stimulation
of the spiritual ego is forcefully taught and demonstrated
by prophets and great religious leaders. It is written in
the Psalms:
"I said, Ye are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High."
Jesus reiterated this and was denounced by the Pharisees
because He declared, "I and the Father are one."
Christian metaphysicians have discovered that man can
greatly accelerate the growth in himself of the Christ Mind
by using affirmations that identify him with the Christ.
These affirmations often are so far beyond the present
attainment of the novice as to seem ridiculous, but when it
is understood that the statements are grouped about an
ideal to be attained, they seem fair and reasonable.
The spiritual man is clothed by the aspirations,
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the thoughts, and the acts of the natural or physical man.
It is here, in this realm of so-called matter, that
character is formed. By faith, prayer, meditation, and
inward resolutions man identifies himself with the
spiritual man and forms in both mind and body the things
affirmed. There was no visible evidence of Jesus' unity
with the Father when He affirmed, "I and the Father are
one." His disciples said, "Lord, show us the Father, and it
sufficeth us." So we find that we must be true to our
ideas, and clothe them with an assumption of their
tangibility even before they have appeared. We must pray,
believing that we have received and we shall receive.
States of mind established in the consciousness gather to
themselves vitamins, cells, nerves, muscles, the flesh
itself. To see oneself in mind spiritually courageous,
strong, and healthy will instill health in the primal
elements of the organism, which in due season will work to
the surface in a perfect body.
We must all learn to look to the mental man for causes. For
example, no one but a metaphysician knows the origin of
disease germs. The physician takes it for granted that
disease germs exist as an integral part of the natural
world; the metaphysician sees disease germs as the
manifested results of anger, revenge, jealousy, fear,
impurity, and many other mind activities. A change of mind
will change the character of a germ. Love, courage, peace,
strength, and good will form good character and build bodily
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structures of a nature like these qualities of mind.
The same general law is carried out in everything with
which man has to do. Financial success or failure depends
on the attitude of mind active in both those who achieve
success and those who fall under the negations of failure.
To attain prosperity, think about prosperity, industry, and
efficiency. Fill your mind to overflowing with thoughts of
success; realize that the fullness of all good belongs to
you by divine right. To this add a feeling of happiness and
joy and you have the recipe for abundant and lasting
prosperity.
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