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Dynamics for Living
Living Faith
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[Dynamics for Living]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
IF WE are wise, we shall cultivate faith in and
understanding of omnipresent life. The man who is grounded
in faith does not measure his thoughts or his acts by the
world's standard of facts. Those who are in spiritual
understanding know that faith has open eyes. Certain things
do exist in Spirit and become substantial and real to the
one who dwells and thinks and lives in faith. Such a one
knows.
Concentrate on Faith
Faith is the foundation of all that man does. We should
concentrate faith on the invisible, the real things, the
things of Spirit.
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How wonderful would be our demonstrations! How effective we
should become in using the mighty power of Spirit!
We must raise our faith to the very highest in us and rest
in the "assurance" or substance of its reality. Spiritual
understanding reveals the universality of all things.
The word, the imagination, and faith work together. You
must not only practice an idea; you must also give it form
by infusing into it the substance of your living faith.
If you want to do the works of God, you must follow Christ.
If you want to elevate yourself out of the physical, you
must have faith in God and cultivate that faith through
affirmation of your spiritual power and faith. The Lord's
Prayer is continual affirmation from beginning to end.
Our Relation to God
We must have the understanding that our relation to God is
that of a son to his father; that we exist in the one Mind
as superman, even Christ. Man is the offspring of the
Almighty. If the earthly child resembles its parents, how
much more should the heavenly child resemble its Parent.
The truth that God is the Father of man does away with the
presumption that it is impossible for the finite to
understand the Infinite.
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A sense of logic is a fundamental constituent of man's
being. The science that is here set forth is founded upon
Spirit. It does not conform to intellectual standards.
Nevertheless, it is scientific.
Demonstration
There are three steps in every demonstration: the
recognition of Truth as it is in principle; holding the
idea; and acknowledging fulfillment. Pray believing that
you have received, and you shall receive.
God is our resource. All things are provided for us by our
Father. It is necessary to cultivate these ideas by
considering them daily in all that we do. By prayer and
meditation on words of Truth in the silence we may so open
our consciousness to the inner divine presence that the
necessary understanding, love, and power may be given us to
enable us to bring forth in our own life the good results
that we wish to see manifest. This is much better than
waiting to see the demonstrations of others before
believing and before attempting to bring forth
demonstrations of our own. With the growth of faith in the
mind of the individual there comes a quickening of all his
thoughts by the influx of Truth. True faith in God
separates itself from all negative beliefs.
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God is never absent from you. He is constantly taking form
in your life according to the exact pattern of your words,
thoughts, and actions. Just as soon as you really bring
your words and your expectations up to the measure of God's
love for you, you will demonstrate.
Thoughts Are Seeds
Thoughts are seeds that, when dropped or planted in the
subconscious mind, germinate, grow, and bring forth their
fruit in due season. The more clearly we understand this
truth the greater will be our ability to plant the seeds
that bring forth desirable fruits. After sowing the plants
must be tended. After using the law we must hold to its
fulfillment. This is our part. God gives the increase. You
must work in divine order and not expect the harvest before
the soil has been prepared or the seed sown. You have now
the fruits of previous sowings. Change your thought seeds
and reap what you desire. Some bring forth very quickly,
others more slowly, but all in divine order.
God does not do things in us against our will, as will acts
in both the conscious and subconscious realms of mind.
However much it may appear that the word is thwarted in its
original intent, this is never true. It goes on and it
enters where reception is given it.
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Theory to Life
Each one of us must not only see the image of his desires
as a theory, but he must also form it into a living,
breathing thing through every motive and act of his life.
If we have an idea, we must act just as if it were part of
our life.
No man ever demonstrated his God-given powers in even a
small way who did not help many others to do likewise.
Preaching is good. Practice is better.
There is work for everyone who will listen to and obey the
Spirit. That work is important, because it is eternal and
brings results eternal in their nature. If you have heard
the voice of the Lord and are obedient to it at any cost,
you are chosen.
The kingdom of God is now existing right here in our midst.
It is being externalized little by little. Whoever has a
high, pure thought and affirms his allegiance to it as a
part of his daily life is adding to the externality of that
kingdom among men. Whoever affirms his allegiance to the
good, regardless of all appearance of evil, and in dealing
with his brother declares by word and act that only the
good exists, is building white spires to the one and only
true God.
We are the temples of God, of good. Through us is the light
to shine, which is so bright as to dim the rays of those
shining orbs
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of the night and the day.
We are all the chosen of the Lord. We make the covenant
that carries us into His visible presence by laying down
the personal man and taking up the universal man. He it is
that thunders in the depths of our soul.
The Faith Faculty
The idea that faith is something that has to do only with
one's religious experience is incorrect. Faith is a faculty
of the mind that finds its most perfect expression in the
spiritual nature. In order to bring out one's whole
character it should be developed in all its phases. That it
is a power is self-evident. People who have faith in
themselves achieve far more than those who do not believe
in their own ability. We call this self-faith innate
confidence. Confidence is a form of faith. Belief is
another of the expressions of faith.
In Spirit, faith is related to omnipresent substance or
assurance. By meditation man lights up the inner mind, and
he receives more than he can put into words. Faith can be
extended in consciousness in every direction. It will
accomplish wonderful things if quickened and allowed free
expression in its native realm. Where faith is centered in
outer things, the results are not worthy of mention. Men
have
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named them luck, accident, chance, and the like. Such
charms seem to work for a little while, then suddenly
change, so it is evident that they are not under any
enduring law.
Intellectual people do no miracles through faith. They
limit its scope to what the intellect says is law. It is
when faith is exercised deep in spiritual consciousness
that it finds its right place, and under divine law,
without variation or disappointment, it brings results that
seemingly are miraculous. Perseverance is required in our
use of faith until we make connection with the higher
realms of consciousness.
Though our faith be as small as the smallest of seeds, it
will spring forth and demonstrate its power to carry out
every desire into which we infuse it.
Faith Seeing
The power to see in Spirit is peculiar to faith. In its
outer expression this power is sight; interiorly it is that
which perceives the reality of the substance of Spirit.
Mental seeing is knowing; we mentally discern.
Have faith in what you do. After it is done do not condemn
yourself. We are all seeking happiness, contentment, and we
know by experience that we are happy when we are in tune
with our environment. There is a great variety
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of ideas that cause us inharmony. We think that if we have
money and friends we can be happy; but things do not make
happiness. It is our mental attitude toward things that
fixes our relation to them. The better we understand the
innate substance of the world about us, the more do we
appreciate it.
Faith Ability
Faith is ever active. It should be made the truth substance
of every idea. We should have faith in our own power,
capacity, and ability. If we are to have this faith our
thoughts must be centered in the great universal Mind.
Success lies in God. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Whatsoever is of faith is not sin. Sin is a missing of the
mark. We miss the mark by not having faith.
A very little faith often produces surprising results. The
invisible forces are much closer than we think. When we
turn our attention in their direction the response is
usually so pronounced and so swift that we cannot but feel
that a miracle has been performed. A more intimate
acquaintance with the divine law convinces us that under it
all things are possible if we only believe, and if we at
the same time conform our thoughts to its principle.
We are constantly making conditions through our thoughts.
In all our experience we
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should condemn nothing that comes to us and nothing that we
do. We know the law. Let us keep it and not set up any
adverse conditions by our thoughts of condemnation.
Whatever you are doing, be happy in it. You are getting the
results of your acts, according to your faith. Be wise;
pronounce nothing evil, and only good will come.
Have faith in the innate goodness of all men and all
conditions. Do not condemn, no matter how great the
provocation. What you think, you create in your own
consciousness. Enlarge your range of vision, and you may
see good in what now seems evil. God is good and God is
all, hence there can be no real condition but the good. Why
should we waste our time fighting evil?
Faith-thinking
The most important power of man is the original
faith-thinking faculty. We all have the thinking faculty
located in the head, from which we send forth thoughts,
good, bad, and indifferent. If we are educated and molded
after the ordinary pattern of the human family, we may live
an average lifetime and never have an original thought. The
thinking faculty in the head is supplied with the
secondhand beliefs of our ancestors, the dominant beliefs
of the race, or
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the threadbare stock of the ordinary social whirl. This is
not faith-thinking. Faith-thinking is done only by one who
has caught sight of the inner truths of Being, and who
feeds his thinking faculty upon images generated in the
heart.
Faith-thinking is not merely an intellectual process, based
upon reasoning. The faith-thinker does not compare,
analyze, or draw conclusions from known premises. He does
not take appearances into consideration. He is not biased
by precedent. His thinking gives form, without cavil or
question, to ideas that come straight from the eternal
fount of wisdom. His perception impinges upon the spiritual
and he knows.
When there has been an aspiration and a reaching out for
the spiritual life, the faith faculty becomes active in
consciousness. Spiritual faith includes unfailing assurance
and immediate response. Faith in the reality of the
invisible builds a real, abiding substance in the mind and
in body. All kinds of ideas grow quickly when planted in
this rich substance of the mind.
There is but one real faith. The avenue of expression
determines the character and power of faith. Trust is a
cheaper brand of faith, but trust is better than mistrust.
People who merely trust in the Lord do not understand all
the law. If they had understanding they would affirm the
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presence and power of God until the very substance of
Spirit would appear in consciousness.
Faith Words
Faith words should be expressed both silently and audibly.
The power of the spoken word is but slightly understood.
The word is the creative idea in Divine Mind, which may be
expressed by man when he has fulfilled the law of
expression. All words are formative but not all words are
creative. The creative word lays hold of Spirit substance
and power.
The word of faith has an inner force. This force rushes
forth and produces remarkable transformations in the
phenomenal. It is not necessary that the one who touches
faith shall understand all the intricate machinery with
which he makes contact. Affirming the activity of this
super-power will quicken it in consciousness.
Believing
If a man sanely believes he can do a thing he will
eventually find a way to do it. The mind generates an
energy that contacts the universal energy, and causes
circumstances and events to fall into line for the
attainment of the latent ideal. Tap this inner reservoir of
faith, and you can do what Jesus did.
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Belief is closely related to faith. It is an inner
acceptance of an idea as true. Belief functions both
consciously and subconsciously. Many false individual and
race beliefs are very active below the conscious level. To
erase these hidden error beliefs, a comprehensive program
of denial is necessary.
Jesus' Faith
Jesus did not claim an exclusive supernatural power, which
we usually accredit to Him. He had explored spiritual
substance, which He called the "kingdom of the heavens."
His understanding was beyond that of the average man.
However, He knew and said that other men could do what He
did if they would only have faith.
He encouraged His followers to take Him as a pattern for
faith and to use the power of thought and word. Divine
healing is due to the application of the same law that
Jesus used. In most instances, He demanded faith on the
part of those He healed. With this faith as a point of
mental and spiritual contact, He released the latent energy
in the atomic structure of the one in need of healing, and
that one was restored to life and health.
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