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"Abiding
in [God] means having no consciousness separate from [God's]
consciousness - nothing in our thought which denies the power and
presence of Spirit." - Ernest
Holmes , The Science of Mind
Most
of what we know about "consciousness" today, would have
created only confusion during the time in which the Bible was written.
As I have stated before, in the era in which the books of the Bible were
created, the people thought the Earth was flat and that you could
actually fall off it. When we read the statements of deep profound
Truth in the scriptures, we realize that even in that era, there were
people who knew deep within their souls that there was something far
much Greater than what was visible to the human eye. These people
had connected to "God" within them, and were open to being
taught by the Spirit, Infinite Intelligence.
But the great question
that they had to wrestle with was ... how do we explain this to people
who live in such a limited awareness of the Universe? And so they
did what Jesus became a Master at later ... they used allegories to
explain changeless and immutable Universal Laws to fairly simple people
effectively. When you read the word "soul" in the Bible,
it means consciousness. Consciousness being our awareness of our
dominion and authority that is gained as we become aware of Universal
Laws and how we can apply them individually.
The stories in the Bible are
wonderful ... and most of them have been expanded throughout the ages.
The baby born in a manger, arouses our sentimentality. And it is
an effective allegory to explain the birth of a "higher
consciousness" into the world, as embodied by the man, Jesus of
Nazareth. This simple story has been depicted throughout the ages
in art, religion, theatre and film, beautifully. However, the
story contains a great deal of embellishment from the original allegory.
If you don't think the stories in the
Bible were embellished ... think about it ... is anyone on Earth capable
of living a spiritual life 100% of the time? I don't think so.
These were people just like you and me; Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and
Paul ... all men, with the same mentality, emotionality, and physicality
as you and me. Each of them, just like you and me, had the
capability to actualize Truth in their experiences ... and they did ...
but not 100% of the time, I assure you.
The stories of Jesus'
birth along with many of the stories that we have learned so much from,
were not written to make us see Jesus as greater than us ... but to see
Jesus as the Great Potential within us all. He stated
emphatically, "these things I do and greater things still shall you
do." We will only linger asleep to the Truth, unless and
until we take His words to heart.
The
greatest gifts we can give ourselves this Holiday Season, is to
understand the great Bible stories that reveal "consciousness"
expanding ... to realize that the writers were filled with the Grace of
God .. inspired from a Higher Consciousness ... to give us a guide to
the unfolding of our very own consciousness into an experience of
"Heaven on Earth" ... right where we are ... without any
necessity for fairytales.
And
So It Is!
Letting
Love Use Me In Its Own Good Way,
Rev.
Bates
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