FROM THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS
By Ernest Holmes
When We Are
Strong (John 5:19)
““The Son can do nothing of himself.”
We are strong only as we are in unity with good, which is God. But the Father showeth the Son, that is, it
is revealed to us, through the innermost parts of our being, that there is a
complete unity, a perfect wholeness. As
this concept of unity takes place, it brings with it great authority. The Father quickens the Son, the Son quickens
whom he will.
Here is a lesson in the practical application of the Science of
Mind. As the subjective state of thought
becomes unified with goodness and love, it automatically reflects these in
whatsoever direction the thought goes.
The tendency of this inner thought sets the tendency of the outward life.
Let us make this plain. IF ONE
IS NOT ATTRACTING GOOD INTO HIS LIFE, THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIS
UNCONSCIOUS THINKING. The subjective
state of his thought is wrong. As the
subjective state of his thought constitutes the sum total of his belief, it is
his habitual attitude toward life and living.
This inner thought content is the sole medium between the Absolute and
the relative, between causes and condition.
When this inner thought is clarified, that is, when it knows the truth,
it will reinstate the outer man in peace, poise, health and happiness. This inner thought becomes clarified as we
unify with good; this is the inner quickening.
Following this is the outer quickening – the outward sign of the inner
belief.
The Word of
Power (John 5:26)
As the Father has life, so the son has life. Again we have the teaching that there is but
One Life, Mind or Spirit. This Life is now
our life, and manifests through us as we believe in It. When our word is spoken in this consciousness
of life, power and action, then our word IS life, power and action.
THE word has power only as it is one with power. The word is a mold which decides what form
the thought is to take as it assumes shape and becomes a part of our
conditions. Mental treatment is for the
purpose of forming the word into such shapes and designs as are desirable for
experience.
The word gives form to the unformed.
The greater the consciousness behind the word, the more power it will
have. Just words, without conviction,
have no power, and just conviction without words, will never stir up latent
energy. There must be a combination of
the two to make a complete thing.
We are surrounded by a spiritual consciousness and a mental law. From combinations of these two, all things
are made. We unify with the spiritual
consciousness as we become aware of it, we speak it into form as we believe in
the power of our own word. In treatment,
there should be first a realization of power then a spoken word. One generates, the other distributes.
The Meat Which
Perisheth (John 6:27)
“Labour not for the meat which perisheth.” Jesus knew that we need food to eat while in
the flesh, so he could not be referring to literal food, but rather to that
inner substance which is spiritual.
Starvation takes place on more than one plane. More people are starved spiritually and
intellectually than physically. A full
stomach will never appease an appetite for learning, nor can a loaf of bread
satisfy the inner craving for reality.
The whole being needs to be fed – bread and meat for the body, knowledge
and wisdom for the soul, atmosphere and consciousness for the Spirit.
We live on three planes at the same time. To attempt to desert any one of these, to the
cost of the others, is abnormal. To live
only on the physical plane is to become a brute. To live on the intellectual plane alone,
might produce a learned and a scientific man, but he would lack true
perception. To live only on the
spiritual plane, might cause one to become a dreamer without any practical way
of making his dreams come true.
The Three
Planes of Life
Man is a threefold principle of life and action; he is spirit, soul and
body. From the Spirit he receives
inspiration and guidance; in the soul he finds a perfect Law of life; and
through the body he proves that he is a real individualization of the Invisible
Principle.
Man’s mind should swing from inspiration to action, from contemplation
to accomplishment, from prayer to performance.
This would be a well-balanced existence.
The Spirit fires the soul with energy and understanding; the soul, which
is the subjective mentality, vitalizes the body and animates all that we do.
No greater mistake could be made than to think we must separate life
from what it does. We must unify and not
divide. The spirit must go forth into
creation through law and action. Life
must enter living, and God must flow through man, if there is to be a real
representation of the Divine through the human.
Let us feel that our purposes are animated and inspired from on high
and then let us go forth and make our dream come true in human experience. With an invisible
Intelligence to guide, and an immutable Law to direct, let us take our place in
any legitimate activity, and thus cause our dreams to come to full fruition.”
