Lesson 323

I gladly make the "sacrifice" of fear.

Here is the only "sacrifice" You ask of Your beloved Son; You ask him to give up all suffering, all sense of loss and sadness, all anxiety and doubt, and freely let Your Love come streaming in to his awareness, healing him of pain, and giving him Your Own eternal joy. Such is the "sacrifice" You ask of me, and one I gladly make; the only "cost" of restoration of Your memory to me, for the salvation of the world.

And as we pay the debt we owe to truth,–a debt that merely is the letting go of self-deceptions and of images we worshipped falsely–truth returns to us in wholeness and in joy. We are deceived no longer. Love has now returned to our awareness. And we are at peace again, for fear has gone and only love remains.

(Course In Miracles Lesson 323 http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?daily_lesson=323) 

Here is a bit of work from others that I really enjoyed, the theme to a degree is how Christ is apart of us and the way we carries ourselves as representatives of Him (2Corinthians 5:20)

Our Source of Strength

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

— Philippians 4:13

Sheep are timid, fearful creatures. Because of their very makeup, it's almost impossible for them to lie down unless they are free from all fear. An entire flock can go stampeding off into nowhere because a rabbit jumped out of a bush.

Yet how like sheep we are! We can be afraid of so many things: afraid of losing our health . . . afraid of losing our wealth . . . afraid of losing our loved ones. In fact, sometimes it seems we can be afraid of life itself.

Certainly there are a lot of frightening things out there in the world today. Violent crime is at epidemic levels. We wonder,Will I get on a plane and have it blown up by terrorists? Will I keep my job? Will I be robbed walking down the street? Will I contract a terminal disease?

Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, will protect you and stands as your representative before the throne of God. Jesus Christ, who paid the price for your salvation, stands as your righteousness, giving you access into the presence of God. As the Scripture says, Jesus is the One "in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him" (Ephesians 3:12).

As believers, we can have boldness and authority, not because of who we are, but because of whose we are. Jesus is our strength. He is the one who gives us boldness. That's one more reason why we never want to stray from His side! Instead, we want to stay as close to Him as possible.- Greg Laurie www.harvest.org

My Grandfather James Van Pelt wrote this and shared it with me

The difference between one whose spiritual progress has put them on the Path, and one whose spiritual state is located well prior to that, is indistinguishable when either of them is acting from compassion—devoting energy, attention, and resources to the well-being of those whose needs they are in a position to alleviate. However lowly your spiritual state may be, however unworthy your life and actions, 'When you do this [act from care and kindness] to the least of these, you do it unto Me' (Matthew 25:40), and in so doing you render yourself indistinguishable in that act, in that moment, from the most spiritually advanced being, and indistinguishable in fact from Christ Himself; you become imago Christi ministering to imago Christi. In that moment you are more authentically yourself than in any other moment of your life, and if there is time for reflection you will sense that.

Hebrews 13 says

Hebrews 13

Concluding Exhortations

13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. ² Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.³ Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Message to ISIS 

Dear ISIS, 

How dare you claim to serve a God. 

No matter the name of the God you serve, there is no justification for the atrocities you have done to your own people! Part of the reason that religion gets a bad wrap is because people use God to justify their own causes and ambitions,

Is this a familiar phrase?

" Killing a man is acceptable because he believes in a different God than I do."

God is not a tool to justify your means, God is not a path of war and destruction which takes countless lives because of a different view than you. Both Islam AND Christianity serve one God. Aren't they the same God then? How can you kill God's people, strip them of their lives when to God, life is the most sacred thing in the universe. 

I imagine that there is a lot of pain in the path you all are choosing because you are blinded by your hatred to the point of needing to harm anyone that does not conform to your path. And this is a path that breeds self destruction, God does not need to raise a finger to watch you crumble from within. And you will crumble because this path is against human nature. People are meant to love, God is Love, he is not a weapon that controls people, he is not hatred; and the hatred he bears is not anger but distaste to what is not of him.  His tool is a tool of freedom, meant to change lives and heal the wounds of the past. And his son, Jesus is the light of the world; which shines so brightly through the darkness; the Christians who are lost because of your war against your own brothers brought them into their Fathers arms.. May the warriors of Jihad, soon become lovers of Jesus Christ, and their judgement be not from man, but at the throne in Heaven. Any opinions on the content of this blog I'll be thankful for.. 

Avery Mezzanotte

May I rest in the Arms of my Father

May I seek now, the way to God. 

For I have been through a world where all investment is in tatters, 

where all my efforts to live for myself leave me sad with who I am, 

frustrated at the world outside, hurt and broken by the distractions of the world,

May I now turn to a God who loves me, he who shows me a way that does not lead to death,

Shows me healing in his love and peace in his presence. 

I find wisdom in his word and truth comes out of the pages and touches my soul, 

where one day I will stand at the throne and my choices in life will directly affect my life evermore. 

Now I am confused, for I see two paths which I could follow. But one is the destruction of my soul, and another is the rebuilding of who I am. I struggle with both because such destruction is easy, but rebuilding the foundation of who I am is a trial I sometimes cannot bear to face. If I am lost, then certainly, my God would redirect me, complete trust in his plan for me and his role for me... One I hope to follow but feel I must sacrifice for. And there is one who sacrificed everything for us all, who sat and faced persecution despite his innocence, who knew God would not forsake him so he said it so we would never feel the same. 

I confess him every day, his name and my graciousness for his mercy, his fearlessness never ceases to amaze me. May I rest in the arms of my Father one day, as Jesus is now.