Post by WalksInSpirit on Feb 22, 2006 4:42:32 GMT -5
Search For God: Book One Study: 02-20-06
"Lesson 12: Love"
Love is giving out the best that is within us. Then, where slights, slurs, or even suspicions have been allowed to affect us, love cannot mean all that it should in our experience. The Master asks of us that we love Him, that we keep His commandments that He may abide with us, even as He abides with the Father. All of us believe, all know, and all understand that those things that hinder are caused by selfishness. This prevents even the dawn of the concept of what love should mean to us. Few of us have found the love that makes us free indeed, that keeps us from making unkind remarks, and prevents us from being disappointed in things, in people, and in conditions. How much are we willing to bear, to do, and to suffer that others may become aware of the love of the Father?
Love Is Giving: The law of love does not do away with other laws, but makes the law of recompense, the law of faith, the law of earth forces of effect ~~ not defective but effective. Love is that attribute of the soul that enables us to give, asking nothing in return. Christ exemplified this in His life, in His death, and in His parting promise after His resurrection, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (P.R. see Matt. 28.20.) If mankind could get the vision of what it means to love as He loves, what peace would come on earth!
Do we want the best for another before our own wants and desires are satisfied? Can we see some good in all whom we meet? This is the Christ way of showing love. Where we are weak, He is ready to sympathize, comfort, and supply strength. In His name there is power. If we call on His name, if we abide in His teachings, we will radiate such a glow of righteousness (right thinking and acting) that those who sit in darkness will see great light.
Let us take hold on things of the spirit, for they alone are eternal, “The children of Light are called even now into service that His day may be hastened, lest many faint.”
(P.R.) Do we not remember our years and years of service for our families and for our friends, in which every act was so prompted by love that there was never a thought of being weary? When our best years have been spent for them and we are no longer needed or seemingly appreciated, does sadness fill our hearts? Let us not forget that such service is never lost, for with love it has been woven into the souls of those for whom we worked. It will shine forth again and again in the lives of many yet unborn. Love never dies; it is eternal.
Divine Love Passes Understanding: Doubtless, the reason that mankind does not as a whole accept the way back to the Father, made perfect through the Christ, is that so great a love as the Father showed forth for His children passes understanding. God, the Father, the First Cause, in the manifestations of Self brought the world, as we observe it about us, into being through love. He gave to man, His creation, that ability to become one with Him. This way was shown through the Christ, the Mediator with the Father. Hence we realize that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that we through Him might have life ~~ God more abundant.
“He that knoweth Me, knoweth my Father also, for I am in Him. Ye in Me may know that love that maketh the life burn as an ember in a darkened and unregenerated world. For unto Me must come all that would find the way. I am the Way. Ye are My brethren. Ye have been begotten in the flesh through the love made manifest in the earth. Then, in the spirit and in the mind that have brought thee to that understanding and consciousness of His life made manifest, abide ye day by day.” (262-44.)
Personal Experience: “I was seeking to know and experience that love that passes understanding. I soon found that if I would love I must know Him who is the Author of Love. The way was pointed out to me: Commune the more often in the inner shrine, in the Holy of Holies. Meet the presence of the Father there; know the love of the Christ in action; experience and see the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“In meditation I found the peace that I had been seeking for months. It was not far away, but very near, even within my heart. I came to know that my Redeemer lives, that His presence may be experience, and that my body, mind, and soul may be one with Him.”
“In a trying experience I sought divine love. I realized more and more the consciousness of the presence of the Father and the consolation that I was being watched over by guardian angels. Peace filled my soul. ‘Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ “ (1 John 4.10.)
“I have found that in sending out thoughts of love to any person or thing the whole environment may be change. My child was very cross one night. She did not want to study or obey any of my request. I began to look at her and send her thoughts of love. She seemed to get them very quickly, for in a short while her face was wreathed in smiles, and without further trouble she came to the table and began to study. Instantly, her whole attitude changed to one of obedience. Not a word was said; love alone conquered.”
“The law that brought worlds into existence is the same law that makes us friends with all of God’s creatures. My children were great lovers of pets and were ready to adopt any they found homeless or friendless. My experience deals with a homeless cat which made frequent visits to our back yard. She was so wild that she would run if she saw or heard anyone approach. We would leave food for her, but she was so filled with fear that she did not dare let us see her eat it.
“By our constant kindness in caring for her and showing our love, for we had come to love and pity her, she finally dropped her fear and would let us pet her. And if permitted would even come into the house. It took two years to accomplish this, but we succeeded. Truly, ‘Love casteth out fear.’ “ (See 1 John 4.18.)
The power of love may work in the lives of individuals in material ways as well as spiritual, as indicated in the following experience.
“Someone that I dearly loved was in need of financial help. One morning when it seemed I had on me all I could bear, from a material standpoint, he came to me and asked for a lone of a hundred dollars. I felt that he was asking for my all, as I had only a little more in the bank from which I could draw and did not know when I would be able to get more. It seemed as if I were a child and some one had asked for my last penny, which I wanted very much.
“In my dilemma, the thought came to me that I could not reject my friend, but should go to the bank and let him have it, for his mental distress outweighed my desire for self-preservation. There followed many constructive as well as conflicting thoughts. Should I take almost all I had and give to another? Was I called on to make such a sacrifice? Finally, there came to me a realization of the great sacrifice made for me, and the love of the Heavenly Father for His children,. My conflicting thoughts vanished and I had peace. For had He not promised, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee’? (Heb. 13.5.)
“The power of love is slowly molding the lives of us all. I know this because of its influence in helping me day by day to show forth His love and to live in the way that He may be glorified through my service to others.”
Conclusion: “Come, My Children, ye have been called unto that way which would show to thy neighbor, thy brethren, that the Father loveth His children. Who are His children? They that keep His commandments day by day. Unto Him that is faithful and true is given the crown of life. The harvest is ripe; the laborers are few. Be not weary because there has been that which has seemed to trouble thee, for the ways are being opened to those that show themselves faithful and true. Faint not, for the day of the Lord is near at hand.” (262-47.)
Our Father, through the love that Thou hast manifest in the world through Thy Son, the Christ, make us more aware of “God is Love.” (262-43.)
GOD IS LOVE: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, asketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrightousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away, whether there by tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part: but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I have been know. But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13.) (R.V.)
Love Is Giving: The law of love does not do away with other laws, but makes the law of recompense, the law of faith, the law of earth forces of effect ~~ not defective but effective. Love is that attribute of the soul that enables us to give, asking nothing in return. Christ exemplified this in His life, in His death, and in His parting promise after His resurrection, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (P.R. see Matt. 28.20.) If mankind could get the vision of what it means to love as He loves, what peace would come on earth!
Do we want the best for another before our own wants and desires are satisfied? Can we see some good in all whom we meet? This is the Christ way of showing love. Where we are weak, He is ready to sympathize, comfort, and supply strength. In His name there is power. If we call on His name, if we abide in His teachings, we will radiate such a glow of righteousness (right thinking and acting) that those who sit in darkness will see great light.
Let us take hold on things of the spirit, for they alone are eternal, “The children of Light are called even now into service that His day may be hastened, lest many faint.”
(P.R.) Do we not remember our years and years of service for our families and for our friends, in which every act was so prompted by love that there was never a thought of being weary? When our best years have been spent for them and we are no longer needed or seemingly appreciated, does sadness fill our hearts? Let us not forget that such service is never lost, for with love it has been woven into the souls of those for whom we worked. It will shine forth again and again in the lives of many yet unborn. Love never dies; it is eternal.
Divine Love Passes Understanding: Doubtless, the reason that mankind does not as a whole accept the way back to the Father, made perfect through the Christ, is that so great a love as the Father showed forth for His children passes understanding. God, the Father, the First Cause, in the manifestations of Self brought the world, as we observe it about us, into being through love. He gave to man, His creation, that ability to become one with Him. This way was shown through the Christ, the Mediator with the Father. Hence we realize that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that we through Him might have life ~~ God more abundant.
“He that knoweth Me, knoweth my Father also, for I am in Him. Ye in Me may know that love that maketh the life burn as an ember in a darkened and unregenerated world. For unto Me must come all that would find the way. I am the Way. Ye are My brethren. Ye have been begotten in the flesh through the love made manifest in the earth. Then, in the spirit and in the mind that have brought thee to that understanding and consciousness of His life made manifest, abide ye day by day.” (262-44.)
Personal Experience: “I was seeking to know and experience that love that passes understanding. I soon found that if I would love I must know Him who is the Author of Love. The way was pointed out to me: Commune the more often in the inner shrine, in the Holy of Holies. Meet the presence of the Father there; know the love of the Christ in action; experience and see the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“In meditation I found the peace that I had been seeking for months. It was not far away, but very near, even within my heart. I came to know that my Redeemer lives, that His presence may be experience, and that my body, mind, and soul may be one with Him.”
“In a trying experience I sought divine love. I realized more and more the consciousness of the presence of the Father and the consolation that I was being watched over by guardian angels. Peace filled my soul. ‘Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ “ (1 John 4.10.)
“I have found that in sending out thoughts of love to any person or thing the whole environment may be change. My child was very cross one night. She did not want to study or obey any of my request. I began to look at her and send her thoughts of love. She seemed to get them very quickly, for in a short while her face was wreathed in smiles, and without further trouble she came to the table and began to study. Instantly, her whole attitude changed to one of obedience. Not a word was said; love alone conquered.”
“The law that brought worlds into existence is the same law that makes us friends with all of God’s creatures. My children were great lovers of pets and were ready to adopt any they found homeless or friendless. My experience deals with a homeless cat which made frequent visits to our back yard. She was so wild that she would run if she saw or heard anyone approach. We would leave food for her, but she was so filled with fear that she did not dare let us see her eat it.
“By our constant kindness in caring for her and showing our love, for we had come to love and pity her, she finally dropped her fear and would let us pet her. And if permitted would even come into the house. It took two years to accomplish this, but we succeeded. Truly, ‘Love casteth out fear.’ “ (See 1 John 4.18.)
The power of love may work in the lives of individuals in material ways as well as spiritual, as indicated in the following experience.
“Someone that I dearly loved was in need of financial help. One morning when it seemed I had on me all I could bear, from a material standpoint, he came to me and asked for a lone of a hundred dollars. I felt that he was asking for my all, as I had only a little more in the bank from which I could draw and did not know when I would be able to get more. It seemed as if I were a child and some one had asked for my last penny, which I wanted very much.
“In my dilemma, the thought came to me that I could not reject my friend, but should go to the bank and let him have it, for his mental distress outweighed my desire for self-preservation. There followed many constructive as well as conflicting thoughts. Should I take almost all I had and give to another? Was I called on to make such a sacrifice? Finally, there came to me a realization of the great sacrifice made for me, and the love of the Heavenly Father for His children,. My conflicting thoughts vanished and I had peace. For had He not promised, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee’? (Heb. 13.5.)
“The power of love is slowly molding the lives of us all. I know this because of its influence in helping me day by day to show forth His love and to live in the way that He may be glorified through my service to others.”
Conclusion: “Come, My Children, ye have been called unto that way which would show to thy neighbor, thy brethren, that the Father loveth His children. Who are His children? They that keep His commandments day by day. Unto Him that is faithful and true is given the crown of life. The harvest is ripe; the laborers are few. Be not weary because there has been that which has seemed to trouble thee, for the ways are being opened to those that show themselves faithful and true. Faint not, for the day of the Lord is near at hand.” (262-47.)
Our Father, through the love that Thou hast manifest in the world through Thy Son, the Christ, make us more aware of “God is Love.” (262-43.)
GOD IS LOVE: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, asketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrightousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away, whether there by tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part: but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I have been know. But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13.) (R.V.)
