God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
(155) I will step back and let Him lead the way.
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
(156) I walk with God in perfect holiness.
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
LESSON 174
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
(157) Into His Presence would I enter now.
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
(158) Today I learn to give as I receive.
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
The Following is Forwarded from Pathwaysoflight.org
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Lesson 173
Review: "God is but Love, and therefore so am I."
"I will step back and let Him lead the way.
I walk with God in perfect holiness."
In every moment I have a choice. Do I want to join with the ego like a rebellious teenager, stepping out on my own, rejecting God's Will and doing it my way? Or do I want to accept God's Will as my own, share His perfect holiness and thereby share His perfect happiness? The world I see with the body's eyes is the effect of choosing the first option. I receive Heaven with the second option.
The attraction of the first option is the belief that somehow it is possible to have more than Heaven. Put in these terms, the idea seems insane, and it is. But the wish for specialness, to be different and unique, to have something I can call my own, is the belief that it is possible to have more than everything, more than Heaven.
If I look honestly at all the times I feel defensive or vulnerable, it is always because I perceive some aspect of my specialness is threatened. If I take offense, if I resent, if I judge, it all comes from the wish to maintain specialness. Specialness comes with a high price. To maintain the illusion of specialness, I must deny God's Love for me. I must deny the happiness and holiness that are His gifts to me. I must deny His strength and thus I cannot experience His peace, for certainty is gone.
The more I can remember this high cost each time I judge, fear, resent or feel vulnerable in any way, then I can remind myself that there is another choice. I can accept God's gifts, long since given. I can claim His strength, His Love, His joy and peace. I need only step back, accept His Will as my own and let Him lead the way. When I accept His Will as mine, I do indeed walk with Him in perfect holiness. Here is peace and absolute certainty. Today let me remember I share God's Will for me and know His Love.
Everyone in this world who looks out through the body's eyes and sees a world of separate identities has lost sight of their one true Identity. They have lost sight of their Source, which is universal Love. The whole physical universe is an effect of losing sight of our Identity, our true nature as one in Love. We have lost sight of What we are and Where we are. We are living in a dream world that is the opposite in every way of our true Identity. The way out of this mistaken perception is to step back and ask the Holy Spirit to return to our awareness. The Holy Spirit is always there, but we often don't pay attention to It.
In order to hear the Holy Spirit, I must quiet my busy mind and leave an open space. I must be open and receptive to hearing Its Voice. I must not think that I already know. I must want to receive the Light of the Holy Spirit.
What the Holy Spirit brings is the opposite of the world of separation. It brings the truth of my Identity. It reminds me that behind the images of this world is formless universal Love. Nothing is broken into pieces here. There is only wholeness, oneness. Nothing is divided or different. Nothing is special and unique. All is one. All is Love. All is God. The Holy Spirit reminds me that this is my true Identity and it is everyone's true Identity. Everyone walks with God in perfect holiness because that is the only reality that is true. Anything else consists only of dreams that are not real and mean nothing. The only way for me to know this is to step back and let Him lead the way.
Today my practice is to step back and open my mind to the Holy Spirit again and again. It is only in this way that I will be led to the awareness of what is true always. God is but Love and therefore so am I. God is but Love and therefore so is everyone in this world. Let me step back today and remember the truth.
Lesson 174
Review: "God is but Love and therefore so am I."
"Into His Presence would I enter now.
Today I learn to give as I receive."
"Into His Presence would I enter now" is another way of saying I would accept His Presence now. We are completely surrounded by and in God's Love. It's only our denial of His Love that makes It seem like we need to enter into It.
Here we are, completely immersed in Love, yet we wander the world seeking for love. It is because, in our desire for specialness, we try to keep some love for ourselves alone. This is the insane wish to have more than everything. Because Love by its nature must be extended, to know we are in Love's Presence, we must give or share God's Love. Trying to keep God's Love for ourselves blocks our awareness of having and being It. That is why we need to learn to give as we receive.I enter into Love's Presence by giving Love. Giving Love shows me that I have Love and am Love. Love is never depleted by giving It away. It is only expanded. To experience God's Love flowing through me, I must remove the barriers to that flow. The barriers are judgment and guilt. Thus forgiveness is the means by which I enter into His Presence. In this world forgiveness is received by giving it. So forgiveness is Love's reflection in this world. It opens my mind to become aware of God's Presence.
Today I ask Holy Spirit's help to recognize the barriers I put up against Love and to let them go so that I may enter into His Presence and give as I receive.
Opening my mind to Love's Presence is what the Course is all about. Opening my mind to the truth is opening my mind to God's Love and my true Identity. I cannot open my mind and still have a closed mind. I cannot do both at the same time. It is either one or the other. Separation is the opposite of oneness. When I open my mind to seeing separation, my mind is closed to seeing Love's oneness. When I open my mind to Love's oneness, separation disappears. What I open my mind to is what I give.Today my practice is to open my mind to the truth, to Love's oneness, Love's peace, Love's kind and gentle ways. How willing am I to open to Love's oneness today? It is my decision moment by moment. What do I think I am? It is my decision moment by moment. Today my practice is to open to Love's Presence again and again until it becomes a consistent habit.
The world of separation seems so familiar that I find myself slipping back into separation's old and tired ways far too often. Thank goodness I have Holy Spirit right there in my mind to help me return to being aware of Love's Presence, Love's peace and Love's joy.
Today I would practice opening to the truth. Love's Presence is always there waiting for my willingness to return to the truth. Today I would give as I receive. I am determined to receive God's gifts and in the process of receiving, give them away.
Today I rejoice because I just realized that I'm finally beginning to accept the fact that I don't need to go wandering endlessly looking for something that I not only have, but that I am, which is love -- and that is everything.
We do have an insane wish to have more than everything, but our definition of everything is money, looks, material things, and an endless list of nothingness of which there is no guarantee.
Today I rejoice because I know in my heart my Heavenly Father's Love is guaranteed by my Heavenly Father Himself and that's all I want and need. Today I open myself to receive my Father's gift of Love and to give that Love to my brothers and sisters in abundance, the way it is given to me.
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for guiding me. Thank you, Jesus, for standing by me. Thank you, Father, for loving me, especially when I couldn't love myself. Amen
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