A Course in Miracles Discourses

Democrats and Republicans' Valentine's Day Surrender

2012-01-30T07:57:00.000-08:00

Although it may be considered politically incorrect these days, there was a time when kids in school would exchange small St. Valentine's Day sayings, and for at least one February day of the year all the kids would be be invited to love.

Can you imagine what it would be like if that same spirit could permeate politics ... Democrats and Republicans sending each other little love messages?

"Valentine, my Valentine,
What gain is there in fight?
Let us join together,
And open to the light!"

But such a sentiment is not going to happen in a system where a majority can trample on a minority, right?

Actually, a system where a majority can trample on a minority is not right. A system in which any one can trample on any other is not right. The flag of the Tea Party movement, which reads "Don't Tread On Me!" implies a moral principle: we are all in this together, so nobody in their right mind should be justifying treading on anyone else.

Jesus Christ, in his 21st Century explanation of his teachings, A Course in Miracles, tells us we are missing the point that we are all in this together, or even more correctly, we are all one:

"THERE IS NOTHING OUTSIDE YOU. That is what you must ultimately learn, for it is in that realization that the Kingdom of Heaven is restored to you. Heaven is not a place nor a condition. It is merely an awareness of perfect Oneness, and the knowledge that there is nothing else. Minds ARE joined; bodies are not. Only by assigning to the mind the properties OF THE BODY, does separation SEEM to be possible." (Text Chap. 18)

In some respects, Democrats and Republicans do understand that we are all in this together. They recognize that some people live in poverty and sickness and say, "We feel your pain. If you are hurting, we are hurting. If you are struggling, your struggling affects us all."

So far so good. But then these politicians attempt to solve pain and suffering by forcibly redistributing people's rightful earnings. They don't trust that wealth will be redistributed voluntarily through churches and charities, through God's Voice reaching the minds of men and women, guiding them to give and share. Politicians think it necessary for themselves to take over God's job and accomplish redistribution of wealth by applying government pressure to those who are engaged in productive activity and demanding: "Hand over some of your earnings or there will be consequences!" [Non-voluntary taxation] Ironically, politicians believe they are doing good by methods which are evil.

"The Son of God [you and I, mankind] is free to save himself, given the Word of God to be his Guide. He is not led by force, but only love." (Lesson 125)

In attempting to do good by threat of force, politicians have forgotten we are all in this together. They have forgotten that if intimidation is used to motivate even one, then the opposite of love is unleashed on all, since all are one.

Then because the sense of separation produced by these "good doing" politicians leads to imagined justification for further sense of separation, it's not long before Republicans and Democrats, focusing only on what they think are the mistakes and hurtfulness of "the other side," believe they have reason to fight each other. And the battle is on.

What is the solution to this insanity? Jesus Christ would enjoy seeing us all (including all these politicians) studying his modern revelation, A Course in Miracles. Jesus gently and lovingly encourages us to look upon each other with a new kind of seeing, a vision with which Democrats can look upon Republicans and Republicans can look upon Democrats:

"Dream of your brother's kindnesses INSTEAD of dwelling in your dreams on his mistakes. Select his thoughtfulness to dream about, INSTEAD of counting up the hurts he gave. Forgive him his illusions, and give thanks to him for all the helpfulness he gave. And do not brush aside his many gifts, because he is not perfect in your dreams. Let all your brother's gifts be seen in light of charity and kindness offered you. And let no pain disturb your dream of deep appreciation for his gifts to you." (Text Chap. 27)

In the future world which God would have us create, there will be no politicians. Men and women will listen to their holy spirit and govern themselves. But until such a world can be manifested, let's visualize a different kind of politics. Let's see Democrats and Republicans looking upon each other with the same love with which we all hope to look upon each other. Let's imagine the halls of man-made governments being transformed with endearing little messages passed from one heart to another:

Valentine, Oh, Valentine,
We know only love,
Here on earth as it is...
In heaven above!

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdomLuke 17:21)

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2012: Year of Jesus Christ (and Ron Paul) in Politics?

2011-12-31T12:49:00.001-08:00

Happy 2012! Year of Jesus influencing politics!

There has been so much written about the world ending in 2012. Students of A Course in Miracles (modern day revelation from Jesus Christ) simply laugh, because they know the world will end only when they are ready for it to end.

But 2012 is an election year and maybe it is the world of politics and government as usual that is coming to an end. The Democratic and Republican Parties have been losing fans in droves. The Occupy Movement camps out for change. The Tea Party Movement works for change. More and more Americans are frustrated and increasingly furious about government schemes like ObamaCare. It certainly seems like 2012 might see a rapidly fading worship of government being replaced by libertarianism as the most vibrant new movement in American politics.

Americans are becoming increasingly sick and tired of government interfering in their lives in so many areas, annoyed by elitist "experts" who dream up Utopian schemes and use government to force productive citizens to pay for their experiments via taxation, inflation, and the obstruction of their own free will through government mandates.

In America, such meddling and controlling elitists are called "liberal progressives" probably because the European term "fascist" is too negatively emotionally charged. But called by either term, the principle is the same: men and women who wield government power truly believing they know what is best for everyone, and using government legislation and decree to force their will on those who might not make the same choices for themselves.

Americans exhausted and exasperated by such "know-it-all, control-it-all" elitists have been turning to the opposite philosophy: libertarianism, the protection of individual liberty. Libertarianism insists no force (or threat of force, or fraud) is to be used to advance political programs.

We see libertarianism gaining ascendancy in the still early achievements of the Campaign For Liberty or The Ron Paul Revolution as some have labeled it, revolution brought about by love, not force.

Which of these two mutually exclusive philosophies might Jesus Christ be aiding behind the scenes?

Connor Boyack, author of Latter Day Liberty: A Gospel Approach to Government and Politics would surely argue that the hand of God, so to speak, favors liberty. Although his book was written with a Mormon readership in mind, the principles he illustrates in the book are universal and can be taught in homilies and talks from pulpits everywhere.

But let's go further. Let's look at the actual words of Jesus Christ from A Course in Miracles, revelation for the 21st Century:

"This world will change through you. No other means can save it, for God’s plan is simply this: The Son of God is free to save himself, given the Word of God to be his Guide, forever in his mind and at his side to lead him surely to his Father’s house by his own will, forever free as God’s. He is not led by force, but only love. He is not judged, but only sanctified." (ACIM Lesson 125)

It's pretty clear where Jesus stands on the issue of achievements by means of love vs. attempted achievements by means of government force. The kind of change God plans for the world does not occur via government, but by the free will of each of us.

Besides teaching mankind to use love, not force, there are two other important points Jesus would emphasize:

(1) In this earth life, we learn lessons. We must be individually free to create the circumstances in our lives which will provide the lessons we need to learn. Elitists attempting to use government to save us from the difficulty of our lessons is contrary to God's plan for salvation.

“Only God’s plan for salvation will work.” (ACIM Lesson 71)

“I am under no laws but God’s.” (ACIM Lesson 76)

(2) Beyond learning our lessons, God's will for all of us is perfect happiness and prosperity, which we achieve by following God's guidance. When we are individually free to act upon the divine guidance we are hearing inside we lift up all of mankind's happiness and prosperity ... with no limits. One individual, free to follow guidance heard inside, can lift up hundreds of millions. Think Eli Whitney or Thomas Edison. By comparison, elitists attempting to use government to "redistribute wealth" and "safety net" everyone ... are actually seriously limiting, if not sabotaging, what is achievable.

“God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.” (Lesson 101)

“My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation.” (Lesson 100)

“God's Voice speaks to me all through the day.” (Lesson 49)

Americans say there is not much truth in politics any longer. But if truth be told, there are many ways in which Jesus is working for our spiritual, intellectual, emotional ... and political ... liberty. And there are many ways the presence of Jesus will be detected working beneath the surface appearances in American politics in 2012. So as we head into this new year, it's perfectly appropriate to feel the peace and joy that comes from pondering the following words of Jesus from A Course in Miracles:

"God's laws will keep your minds at peace, because peace IS His Will, and His laws are established to uphold it. His are the laws of freedom, but yours are the laws of bondage. Since freedom and bondage are irreconcilable, their laws CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD TOGETHER. The laws of God work only for your good, and there ARE no other laws beside His. Everything else is merely lawLESS, and therefore chaotic."

Happy New Year!

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

Tim Tebow, Chicago Cubs, and Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

2011-12-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

It has been over 103 years since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in major league baseball. Chicago and the Cubs have waited so long. Too long ... wouldn't you say? Maybe their winning the World Series is an impossible dream. Or maybe impossible is ... nothing.

"There is nothing you cannot accomplish if you put your mind to it."

This is a common rallying cry in the world of motivational dynamics and inspiration toward peak performance. But do motivational professionals realize how totally true such a concept really is?

Do they realize, for example, that Tim Tebow's intense desire to win can literally will the Denver Broncos to victory? Teams who believe they can win have a pretty good winning percentage, wouldn't you say?

In Presidential election years there is much talk about the "enthusiasm gap." Usually those who favor one party are more enthusiastic about their party's candidate than the level of enthusiasm evident on the other side. But do they realize "thoughts held in mind produce after their kind," and intense enthusiasm will actually move the minds of those not so adamant?

Do people realize that intense prayer rearranges the universe and creates miracles?

Do all of us deeply understand that what we really, really, really, really want (what God wants) comes into being "as if by magic," while what we imagine we want requires great effort to produce?

If it is God's desire, and therefore our truest deepest desire, no matter how impossible it might look ... it can be accomplished.

"For with God nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37)

But Jesus also tells us that we are one with God.

"I pray that all of these people continue to know unity in the way that you, Father, are in me and I am in you." (John 17:21)

Let's look at the logic:

First premise: We are capable of staying one with God
Second premise: With God, nothing is impossible
Conclusion: Nothing is impossible for us if we stay one with God

But just in case the Bible leaves room for ego-misinterpretation, Jesus does not leave us comfortless with confusion. He has given us modern revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles. In the Course, he mentions how we will experience "the impossible:"

Certainly peace seems to be impossible here [on earth]. Yet the Word of God promises other things that seem impossible, as well as this. His Word has promised peace. It has also promised that there is no death, that resurrection must occur, and that rebirth is man's inheritance. God's Word has promised that peace is possible here, and what He promises can hardly be impossible. (ACIM Manual for Teachers)

But Jesus goes much farther, explaining that it is our mind which makes our world:

Very few people appreciate the real power of the mind. Nobody remains fully aware of it all the time. This is inevitable in this world, because the human being has many things he must do, and cannot engage in constant thought watching. However, if he hopes to spare himself from fear, there are some things he must realize, and realize them fully, at least some of the time.

The mind is a very powerful creator, and it never loses its creative force. It never sleeps. Every instant it is creating, and ALWAYS as you will. Many of your ordinary expressions reflect this. For example, when you say, "don't give it a thought," you are implying that if you do not think about something, it will have no effect on you. This is true enough.

On the other hand, many other expressions are clear expressions of the prevailing LACK of awareness of thought-power. For example you say, "just an idle thought," and mean that the thought has no effect. You also speak of some actions as "thoughtless," implying that if the person HAD thought, he would not have behaved as he did. You also use phrases like "thought provoking," which is bland enough. But the term "a provoking thought" means something quite different.

While expressions like "think big" give some recognition to the power of thought, they still come nowhere near the truth. You do not expect to grow when you say it, because you don't really believe it. It is hard to recognize that thought and belief combine into a power surge that can literally move mountains. (ACIM Text Chap. 2)

So it's all what we put our mind to. But we are told that the methodology for making dreams come true, for creating our truest deepest heart's desires, is prayer.

So what happens as we pray and meditate, as we learn to surrender and open to God's light and our light, as we give ourselves permission to "really go for it" spiritually?

What happens is we learn from experience that impossible is nothing.

What a strange coincidence that there happens to be a song of that very title by the Christian group Divine Heresy! The lyrics describe the process. It's a song the Chicago Cubs would do well to sing. It's a song all of us will sing someday for ourselves.

Impossibility is fading
Sky is open finally
We've been waiting too long
Oh we've been waiting too long
So shall I learn from experience
Forever as long as life endures

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

Touchdown Jesus

2011-10-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

There are so many great lessons to be learned during football season, wouldn't you say? Or maybe there is only one lesson: The lesson of ESPN (Ego Scores Painfully Nothing).

One of the prime conflicts in early Christianity, a conflict which has continued to this day, is the faith vs. works conflict. Does reaching the goal require works, or only faith?

The Apostle Paul argued that only faith is required. Paul wrote to the Romans: "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from [independent of] works of the Law." (Romans 3:28)

The brother of Jesus, James, the disciple who for years led the followers of the Way in Jerusalem, answered: "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone." (James 2:24)

As you might expect, theologians and scholars have attempted to reconcile these two viewpoints with all sorts of complicated intellectual spinning and twisting. But Jesus himself compares such mental efforts to children confusing themselves :

"We are not concerned with intellectual feats nor logical toys. We are dealing only in the very obvious, which has been overlooked in the clouds of complexity in which you think you think." (ACIM Lesson 39)

In his revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles, Jesus emphasizes again and again that there is nothing to do, and in fact your entire world of pain, sickness, suffering and death is created by doing.

"There is nothing you need do but wait ... and see what happens." We've repeated this guidance from our holy spirit so many times it's beginning to sound like a boring liturgy in danger of losing its meaning.

This is such a hard lesson to learn ... learning to do nothing ... isn't it? How many times have you asked our holy spirit, "What should I be doing? Should I be doing something?" Surely if you are clearly hearing your holy spirit you've heard the answer many times over: "Be at peace! You're right on schedule. There is nothing to do."

" 'I need do nothing' is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty. Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation." (ACIM Text Chap. 22)

But what do you do in a world of people who keep doing ... and screwing things up?

Oh that's right, you do nothing ... you wait ... and see what happens. If you try to do something to counteract those who are doing, you get yourself into do-do, wouldn't you say?

"But what if I quiet my mind, perish all thought of doing, wait peacefully ... and I hear to do something?"

That was the experience of Helen Schucman, wasn't it? Helen was peacefully resting one night and heard something like: "Get a pencil and paper, and take notes; this is a course in miracles." So did Helen initiate doing? Or was Jesus Christ the initiator, the doer through Helen?

As long as you still think of yourself as a human being on earth, it is well to become an instrument of God like Helen, as in the prayer of St. Francis: "Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace." We become an instrument of God when we heed our still, quiet spiritual voice saying, "Listen inside, and do as told."

But as an instrument of God, you are not the initiator of doing, are you? As an instrument of God, you would be like a football player taking a hand-off from Jesus and making a touchdown. You would then see the score as God sees it: Holy Spirit 7, Ego nothing.

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

Jesus Christ Does Not Teach Sacrifice

2011-10-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

Christians constantly talk about sacrifice as if it were the greatest of virtues. In many Christian circles it is taught that Jesus "made the ultimate sacrifice," so the highest Christian virtue for any of us is trying to be like Jesus by sacrificing for others in our lives.

But did Jesus really sacrifice? In modern day revelation, Jesus tells us that sacrifice is a meaningless term arising from mental error: "Never believe that you can sacrifice. There is no place for sacrifice in what has any value. If the thought occurs, its very presence proves that error has arisen, and correction must be made."

Sacrifice is typically defined as destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else. But the idea carries with it an implication of loss.

Is it possible to give up something of higher value for something of lower value? If it were, then the idea of sacrifice might not be meaningless. But wouldn't the giving up of a first value for a second value mean the second value is in our minds a higher value?

And it is not really a loss to give up something of lower value for something of higher value, is it?

If it is pointed out that Jesus gave up his earth life to return to life in heaven, then his giving up earth life was not much of a sacrifice, was it?

If it is argued that Jesus gave up heaven in the first place to come to earth for a while to teach us that death and taxes are totally unnecessary ego devices, then there are those who might be tempted to view his mission as a sacrifice.

On the other hand, if it is seen that the life of Jesus in heaven is not complete until we are all living in heaven, then his coming to earth makes a lot of sense without introducing the idea of sacrifice.

To gain real clarity on the issue of sacrifice, let's turn to the words of Jesus himself as given in his revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles:

"Although in truth the term sacrifice is altogether meaningless, it does have meaning in the world. It takes great learning both to realize and to accept the fact that the world has nothing to give. What can the sacrifice of nothing mean? It cannot mean that you have less because of it."

So if we are to be God's teachers, we must first learn deeply that the world as experienced by human ego consciousness offers nothing of value.

"God's teachers can have no regret on giving up the pleasures of the world. Is it a sacrifice to give up pain? Does an adult resent the giving up of children's toys? Does one whose vision has already glimpsed the face of Christ look back with longing on a slaughter house? No one who has escaped the world and all its ills looks back on it with condemnation. Yet he must rejoice that he is free of all the sacrifice its values would demand of him. To them he sacrifices all his peace. To them he sacrifices all his freedom. And to possess them must he sacrifice his hope of Heaven and remembrance of his Father's Love. Who in his sane mind chooses nothing as a substitute for everything?"

As God's teachers, we learn there is something much more important than the world we see, something which must not be sacrificed.

"You may believe this course requires sacrifice of all you really hold dear. In one sense this is true, for you hold dear the things that crucify God's Son, and it is the course's aim to set him free. But do not be mistaken about what sacrifice means. It always means the giving up of what you want. And what, O teacher of God, is it that you want? You have been called by God, and you have answered. Would you now sacrifice that Call? Few have heard it as yet, and they can but turn to you. There is no other hope in all the world that they can trust. There is no other voice in all the world that echoes God's. If you would sacrifice the truth, they stay in hell. And if they stay, you will remain with them."

We are being taught by Jesus to recognize clearly the difference between what we really want and the kinds of things our ego wants. And we are being guided to never sacrifice what we really want.

To aid us with our spiritual understanding, let us each day this month say many times over the following mantra from the Course's Lesson 343:

“I am not asked to make a sacrifice
To find the mercy and the peace of God.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

World Peace Guaranteed

2011-09-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

"Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."

These words to a popular spiritual song help us recognize where responsibility lies ... inside each of us ... not out in the world relying on American or foreign political leaders, or even the United Nations.

The egos of political leaders create war, and everytime war is started so-called "peaceniks" take to the streets screaming and shouting for peace, often becoming violent and destroying property or hurting those who try to keep the peace. Such peace demonstrators are at war inside themselves, experiencing conflict. And because we all teach what we are, "peaceniks" teach war to the world.

Meanwhile, somewhere in remote Kansas sitting on a front porch gently swaying in her rocking chair a little old lady gently places down her Bible and begins singing softly of God. There is no war or conflict inside of her. It is she who teaches peace to the world.

Here is how Jesus addresses peace demonstrators in his revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles:

"The first obstacle that peace must flow across is YOUR desire to get RID of it. For it cannot extend, UNLESS you keep it. YOU are the center from which it radiates outward, to call the others IN. You are its home; its tranquil dwelling-place, from which it gently reaches out, but NEVER leaving YOU. If it would spread across the whole creation, it MUST begin with you. And, FROM you, reach to everyone who calls, and bring him rest by JOINING you." (ACIM Chap. 19)

"If you WANT peace, you MUST give up the IDEA of conflict ENTIRELY, and for ALL TIME." (ACIM Chap. 7)

We know most political advocates for peace are well-meaning. And we know Jesus would not leave them comfortless. He teaches them if they really want peace, they must follow his advice.

"If God's Will for you is complete peace and joy, unless you experience only this you MUST be refusing to acknowledge His Will. His Will does not vacillate, being changeless forever. When you are not at peace, it can only be because you do not believe you are IN HIM. Yet He is all in all. His peace IS complete, and you must be included in it. His laws govern you because they govern everything." (ACIM Chap. 8)

"As you teach so will you learn. If that is true, and it is true indeed, you must never forget that what you teach is teaching YOU. Teach attack in any form, and YOU HAVE LEARNED IT AND IT WILL HURT YOU. The only way to HAVE peace is to TEACH peace." (ACIM Chap.6)

" 'I WANT THE PEACE OF GOD.' To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything. If you could but mean them for just an instant, there would be no further sorrow possible for you in any form; in any place or time. Heaven would be completely given back to full awareness, memory of God entirely restored, the resurrection of all creation fully recognized.

"No one can mean these words and not be healed. He cannot play with dreams, nor think he is himself a dream. He cannot make a hell and think it real. He wants the peace of God and it is given him. For that is all he wants, and that is all he will receive. Many have said these words. But few indeed have meant them. You have but to look upon the world you see around you to be sure how very few they are. The world would be completely changed should any two agree these words express the only thing they want." (ACIM Lesson 185)

Any peace activist who heeds the teaching of Jesus, who seriously chooses the peace of God, joins in spirit (some would say "mystically" joins) with the sweet peaceful old lady resting happily in her rocking chair. And Jesus shows them a vision:

"But see the mighty works that He will do through you, and you MUST be convinced you did them through Him. It is impossible to deny the Source of effects so powerful, they COULD not be of you. Leave room for Him, and you will find yourself so filled with power, that NOTHING will prevail against your peace. And this will be the test by which you recognize that you HAVE understood." (ACIM Chap. 14)

Finally, for any peace activist transformed into a peace creator, and for our serene little Kansas rocking chair lady, and for you and I if we are joined in committed dedication to peace, there is one more step as the vision expands into a brilliant flash of certainty:

"The peace of God is shining in you now, and from your heart extends around the world. It pauses to caress each living thing, and leave a blessing with it which remains forever and forever. What it gives must be eternal. It removes all thoughts of the ephemeral and valueless. It brings renewal to all tired hearts, and lights all vision as it passes by. All of its gifts are given everyone, and everyone unites in giving thanks to you who give and you who have received.

"The shining in your mind reminds the world of what it has forgotten, and the world restores the memory to you as well. From you salvation radiates with gifts beyond all measure, given and returned. To you, the giver of the gift, does God Himself give thanks. And in His blessing does the light in you shine brighter, adding to the gifts you have to offer to the world.

"The peace of God can never be contained. Who recognizes it within himself must give it. And the means for giving it are in his understanding. He forgives because he recognized the truth in him. The peace of God is shining in you now, and in all living things. In quietness is it acknowledged universally. For what your inward vision looks upon is your perception of the universe." (ACIM Lesson 188)

Now we no longer have to say it, or give thought to meaning it. We simply know it:

“The peace of God is shining in me now.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

August: Ideal Time To Get Sirius Bright!

2011-07-31T08:56:00.000-07:00

August days, especially in humid parts of the Northern Hemisphere, are lamented as “dog days,” hot sultry miserable days. But feeling miserable is a choice we don't have to make, right? What is the feeling we could choose and really want to choose?

The phrase "dog days" dates back at least to ancient Greece where Sirius, the star which in those days rose with the sun in August, was called the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (“greater dog”). Even farther back in history, the oldest monument in Egypt, the impossibly ancient Great Sphinx of Giza, is now known to have once had a dog head (not a lion or jackal as previously supposed) which faced Sirius during the centuries when this dog star rose over the horizon at sunrise at the summer solstice, the time when the Nile started flooding.

Other than our Sun, Sirius is the brightest star in earth’s sky, has always been associated with the month of August and originally with “blessings from above.” This might explain why the dictionary definition of “august” uses words like impressive, grand, majestic, and noble. But “as above, so below.” So maybe “august” refers to something inside of us.

Let’s suppose you feel dogged by the continued heat of August and you ask yourself: “What is it I really, really, really, really, really, really, really want?”

Of course the ego will answer very quickly: “I want this … or I want that … or this … or that ... start with air conditioning." But let’s suppose you went into the desert or the mountains for 40 days and 40 nights in an exercise to really identify your much, much deeper desires, and to really sort out what you thought you wanted but could actually do without. You might very well end up discovering something like: “I want love … and I want deep inner peace … and I want something inside myself that I know is missing, something I cannot identify, but feels like it will be impressive, grand, majestic, noble.

Ego desires are not the same as true deep heart and soul desires. How could they be? The ego’s hidden purpose is to cause us pain, suffering, and death. The purest depths of our heart and soul want us to be happy.

So if you are listening only to your deepest heart and soul, you'll be fine. But if you are listening at all to your ego, you will have conflicting desires in your mind.

A revelation from Jesus Christ for the twenty-first century, A Course in Miracles, addresses this issue:

“You will also recognize that many of your goals are contradictory, that you have no unified outcome in mind, and that you must experience disappointment in connection with some of your goals however the situation turns out. After covering the list of as many hoped-for goals as possible for each unresolved situation that crosses your mind, say to yourself: ‘I do not perceive my own best interests in this situation.’ ” (ACIM Lesson 24)

As Jesus hints in the above lesson, the first step in neutralizing the ego’s demands is to recognize that we don’t perceive our own best interests. This step leads to becoming less attached to goals that do not serve us:

“You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego goals. These goals have nothing to do with your own best interests, because the ego is not you. This false identification makes you incapable of understanding what anything is for. As a result, you are bound to misuse it. When you believe this, you will try to withdraw the goals you have assigned to the world, instead of attempting to reinforce them.”
(ACIM Lesson 25)

These two lessons from Jesus, lessons 24 and 25 of A Course in Miracles are very, very powerful lessons which take one a long way in the direction of experiencing one’s deepest and truest desires.

But what use is it to be in touch with one’s deepest and truest desires if the world reasserts its pull like a fiercely determined magnet that just won't give up? Well, although instant enlightenment is possible, spiritual opening is more often a process, so Jesus continues to address the same issue in many different ways:

“The world you see has nothing that you need to offer you; nothing that you can use in any way, nor anything at all that serves to give you joy. Believe this thought, and you are saved from years of misery, from countless disappointments, and from hopes that turn to bitter ashes of despair.” (ACIM Lesson 128)

“You cannot stop with the idea the world is worthless, for unless you see that there is something else to hope for you will only be depressed. Our emphasis is not on giving up the world, but on exchanging it for what is far more satisfying, filled with joy, and capable of offering you peace. Is it a loss to find a world instead where losing is impossible, where love endures forever, hate cannot exist, and vengeance has no meaning? Is it loss to find all things you really want and know they have no ending, and they will remain exactly as you want them throughout time?” (ACIM Lesson 129)

In reality the entire Course given by Jesus is a preparation device designed to open you to the experience of who you really are: an experience of your true nature as an impressive, grand, majestic, noble spiritual being ... a bright star to say the least.

Astrologers might say there couldn’t be a more perfect time than Sun in Leo to open to the majesty of who we really are. Fair enough, this month let's shoot for the highest level of brightness. Let's ask again and again for the brightest of the glowing star experiences, by always asking deeper and deeper: “What is it I really, really, really, really, really, really, really want?”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

End Of World In July?

2011-07-04T14:14:00.001-07:00

Trivia question: Could anyone ever have associated July with the end of times?

The End Time, End Times, or End of Days is a time period described in the eschatological writings in the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and in doomsday scenarios in various other non-Abrahamic religions.

We’ve heard of end times prophecy. Even Jesus Christ was one of the prophets:

And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24: 6-10)

Yet the fact that Jesus gave us A Course in Miracles for the 21st Century, and the fact that the Course opens people to totally amazing experiences of love, indicates that mankind’s consciousness has progressed in the last 2,000 years. We can say that never before in the history of history has there ever been so much love in earth as there is now.

But then some might be tempted to answer: “Well, I don’t see such immense love. It’s not evident to me.”

If these dear ones are hearing their intellect, which draws conclusions from surface appearances … wars, rumors of wars, plagues, pestilences, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, volcanoes, tidal waves, and the Obama administration … they might conclude we are near the end of the world.

But if you are hearing your spirit, the divine voice inside yourself which knows all things and has everyone’s best interest at heart … you might be hearing that the level of love in earth is “out of this world” … which also means this world is coming to an end.

Chaos indicating the end of time … and yet love pointing toward the end of time? Contradiction? Or two ways of seeing the same process? If you want a mental image, think of love as tremendous radiation from the sun reaching the earth, boiling the earth’s magma, and causing all kinds of disruptions … global heat exhaustion. The more intense the love, the more familiar old forms are broken up and torn apart.

But wait a minute. “As above, so below.” In other words if it is happening “out there” it is because it is happening “in here.” So we can look at the same process inside ourselves from a psychological perspective. When love becomes really strong, but not yet total, you would expect immense “final battle” ego resistance and thus the greatest upheavals. The ultimate experience of love, love far beyond all description and imagination, the Christ expression known as 777, must overcome the ego’s firmest resistance known as 666.

Life is so much fun … wouldn’t you say?

So the question becomes: How do we handle the increasing chaos, both out there in the world and inside ourselves, so the fullness of love can be experienced?

The answer is: we practice seeing past surface appearances. Over time we open spiritually and practice staying open until we eventually “know for certain” that the chaos is meaningless and the only thing to focus on is the love. It’s the old saying, “You can’t experience heaven by focusing on earth.” For a while, we might still recognize the chaos, but what we learn to see is only the love.

The Holy Spirit's third lesson is: "Be vigilant ONLY for God and HIS Kingdom." If you allow yourselves to HAVE in your minds only what God put there, you are acknowledging your mind as God created it. Therefore, you are accepting it AS IT IS. And since it IS whole, you are teaching peace BECAUSE you have believed in it. The final step will still be taken FOR you by God. But by the third step, the Holy Spirit has PREPARED you FOR God. (ACIM Chap. 6)

Maybe such "seeing past surface appearances" is reflected in the words of a country song, "It Ain't Pretty, (But It's Beautiful)."

When we finally master having no investment in surface appearances we will be living in total forgiveness. And total forgiveness is how the world will end:

The final lesson, which brings the ending of the world, cannot be grasped by those not yet prepared to leave the world and go beyond its tiny reach. The world will end in joy, because it is a place of sorrow. When joy has come, the purpose of the world has gone. The world will end in peace, because it is a place of war. When peace has come, what is the purpose of the world? The world will end in laughter, because it is a place of tears. Where there is laughter, who can longer weep? And only complete forgiveness brings all this to bless the world. (ACIM Manual For Teachers)

Trivia answer: The month of July was named after Julius Caesar, whose appointment as dictator in 44 B.C. signified for all those who had lived during the golden era of the Roman Republic ... the end of times.

Anyway, this July let's practice seeing beyond surface appearances. And any time you need a reminder of what is there to be seen below surface appearances, you can observe the below image is known as Magic Eye Roses.

(Magic Eye instruction: Take glasses off, hold nose close to picture, keep eyes extremely relaxed as you very slowly back away from picture.)

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

June Graduation? June Wedding? June Vacation? June Advice!

2011-06-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

June is a month of graduations, weddings, vacations and Presidential campaign announcements ... a month of new beginnings and fresh new atmospheres. It's a month when advice might well be needed, but in truth there is only one really valuable offering of advice anyone can give to anyone heading into an entirely new world:

Want nothing in the world you perceive,
Rely on heaven to provide what you need.

Throughout history, all sages and teachers of wisdom have always given the same advice. While he walked the earth Jesus Christ said it this way:

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6: 31-33)

This Biblical suggestion from Jesus would seem to refer only to material desires on earth. But in his modern day revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles, Jesus expands the principle beyond the ego-desire for material things to include any ego-desire for any earthly pursuit:

Each thing you value here is but a chain that binds you to the world, and it will serve no other end but this. For everything must serve the purpose you have given it until you see a different purpose there. The only purpose worthy of your mind this world contains is that you pass it by, without delaying to perceive some hope where there is none. Be you deceived no more. The world you see has nothing that you want. (ACIM Lesson 128)

But wait! Don't misinterpret this. You are not being asked to give up the world, but only to accept an infinitely more fulfilling version of the world.

You cannot stop with the idea the world is worthless, for unless you see that there is something else to hope for you will only be depressed. Our emphasis is not on giving up the world, but on exchanging it for what is far more satisfying, filled with joy, and capable of offering you peace. Is it a loss to find a world instead where losing is impossible, where love endures forever, hate cannot exist, and vengeance has no meaning? (ACIM Lesson 129)

Remember, if we really need something while on earth, if something would really aid our happiness without collateral damage, it will be provided. If we need relationship happiness, we will be provided with a tremendously more fulfilling relationship than we could have provided for ourselves. If we need satisfying work, a career path will be opened which is far more perfect than we might have been able to imagine. We are not asked to go without anything truly valuable. We are not asked to miss out on anything really beneficial to us. We are simply being taught how to achieve a happiness and prosperity we could never achieve with our own ego-desires.

But why does wanting nothing on earth actually bring us everything we could ever really need for total happiness? Why does it work?

It works because in our limited human consciousness we cannot know all the factors past, present, and future; here, there, and everywhere which contribute to our real fulfillment.

In no situation which arises do you realize the outcome that would make you happy. Therefore you have no guide to appropriate action, and no way of judging the results. What you do is determined by your perception of the situation, and that perception is wrong. (ACIM Lesson 24)

But there is a consciousness which is infinitely more than human, which does know all the causal components past, present, and future; here, there, and everywhere ... and which knows how to guide us to total happiness. But we can only hear such guidance if we get our ego-vested interests out of the way by wanting nothing. Our ego-vested interests create blocks to our hearing of the guiding voice which is heard inside of us in our spirit. Wanting nothing releases those blocks and allows us to hear what is really good for us.

If you realized that you do not perceive your own best interests, you could be taught what they are. But in the presence of your conviction that you do know what they are, you cannot learn. (ACIM Lesson 24)

So whether you are graduating, entering into marriage, embarking on a vacation or announcing your run for the Presidency ... or whether you might be giving advice to someone who is entering a new beginning of any kind ... you'll want to say to yourself the following over and over again until you really get it:

Want nothing in the world you perceive,
Rely on heaven to provide what you need.

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

Merry May: Mother's Day, Memorial Day ... and Mover's Day

2011-05-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

What do you really, really, really, really, really want?

That is the question your holy spirit asks of you when you have gone astray from pursuing your deepest, truest heart's desire. It is also the question your holy spirit asks regularly to keep you on track.

What do you really, really, really, really, really want?

It is also the question which nags at anyone struggling through uncertainty and obstacles as they work to bring to earth new prosperity, a new invention or process, a new product or service. It is the question that keeps them going.

What do you really, really, really, really, really want?

Such was the question asked of hopelessly exhausted Hank Rearden every night for years as he calculated and formulated and tested, and then threw away all this papers and trials and started over again, perhaps hundreds of times over, before he perfected a metal which would immeasurably benefit the life of mankind on earth.

What do you really, really, really, really, really want?

This is a question which never once slipped out of the mind of Dagny Taggart as she raced around the country scrambling against horrendous odds to keep alive a transcontinental railroad system which she knew would be the nation's last and only lifeline.

While Hank Rearden and Dagny Taggart are fictional characters portrayed in the movie Atlas Shrugged, which is now playing in select theaters around the country, they represent all those who are doing the bidding of angels, the calling of guides and teachers from the heavenly realms, the work of bringing prosperity to earth, of lifting earthly existence to the fullness of life.

What do you really, really, really, really, really want?

But what of those who do not hear this question being asked inside themselves, those unwilling to hear it, those who only hear the ego asking something like, "What do you think you can get?"

Such lost souls are also portrayed in the movie Atlas Shrugged. Some are the other kind of businessmen, the ones who fail to create and become beggars and manipulators seeking government favors. Others are the worse kind of politicians, political pull peddlers. Then there are thugs who have burrowed into unions or state agencies so they can pretend they are doing good. And there are the freeloaders who demand of their creative brothers and sisters something for nothing. These are the servants of the ego, actual destroyers of prosperity.

Religious people might speculate that during the writing of her novel Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand must surely have sometimes heard her holy spirit and channeled spiritual wisdom. Jsu Garcia, who perused the novel Atlas Shrugged as preparation for playing the part of Francisco d'Anconia in the movie, stated that he was amazed to find out that Ayn Rand called herself and atheist because Atlas Shrugged is so spiritual.

If the novel Atlas Shrugged might in certain respects serve mankind as revelation for the 21st Century, clearly showing us what is wrong with the world today, it still does not help us gain the really in-depth understanding of ego vs. spirit which we need to find solutions. That task was saved for A Course in Miracles, which is very thorough teaching revealed recently by Jesus Christ.

In A Course in Miracles we are constantly asked what we really want. And perhaps nothing in the Course prepares us better than Lesson 24:

A few subjects, honestly and carefully considered in each of the five practice periods which should be undertaken today, will be more helpful than a more cursory examination of a large number....The emphasis should be on uncovering the outcome you want. You will quickly realize that you have a number of goals in mind as part of the desired outcome; and also that these goals are on different levels, and often conflict.

So it's not what we think we want, is it? Or what we think we can get. But what do we really, really, really, really, really want at the deepest level of spiritual guidance? For that is what will raise up ourselves and all the earth.

During this life-resurrecting month of May, when on Mother's Day we feel overwhelming gratitude deep inside for the love and care given by mothers, and when on Memorial Day we deeply appreciate the commitment of those who have given their lives for the ideal of political freedom, let us also celebrate Mover's Day by seeing the movie Atlas Shrugged and allowing ourselves to feel unending appreciation for those who have listened inside to the voice of their holy spirit pushing them forward, urging them on, moving them to be movers on earth, creating prosperity for us all. (If Atlas Shrugged is not playing near you, be sure to order the DVD when it becomes available.)

Okay, time for some fun! Are you ready for a May bee?

May be ... we will develop the habit of listening inside to our holy spirit and hearing the question that is always there being asked in that still small voice: What do you really, really, really, really, really want?

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

What Are The Blessings of Easter Angels?

2011-04-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there were 3 very sweet angels who loved human beings with overwhelming love. When they came to earth, the first angel said: “Hey, nobody down here is paying any attention.!” The second said, “Let’s start a whole new movement and get people all excited again.” The third, who occasionally liked to play devil's advocate said, “Lots of luck! Your new movement will just turn into a religion and give people another excuse to not pay attention.”

We know the third angel wasn't actually pessimistic, but might simply have been referring to people's tendency to use religion to keep themselves distracted, to keep their minds focused on religious theology and rules rather than focusing on what God is actually saying to them right here right now.

Luckily, the second angel had an answer: “Even if the new movement turns into a religion, it will be a religion which teaches listening inside to the voice of the Holy Spirit as one of its tenets and practices.”

“So why even bother with a new movement,” said the first angel. “Why not just influence everyone to listen inside every moment?”

“Because,” said the third angel, “people tend to pay more attention within movements. If others who they feel are associated with them are practicing inner hearing, they will be more likely to pay attention and join the practice. Their associates will be talking about it, reminding them, maybe even using the ego against itself in the form of peer group pressure. And certainly the practice will be in the psychic atmosphere exerting psychic pressure in their circles.”

“Let’s do it!” said the second angel.

How many times has this particular angelic mission taken place? With A Course in Miracles movement in the 20th and 21st centuries? With Joseph Smith’s Latter Day Saints (Mormons) in the 19th century? With the Cathars in the 11th century? With the original Jews for Jesus of the 1st century? How many inspired movements have emphasized to listen inside to one’s spiritual voice ... and do as told?

Jesus may have first said it this way: “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” (Matt. 10-20)

In Biblical stories Jesus often talks about listening and following guidance.

In the Mormon scriptures (19th Century), we find:

“Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart by the Holy Ghost…. Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation.” (Doctrine and Covenants 8:2-3)

“And now, verily, verily I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good.” (Doctrine and Covenants 11:12)

But the angels might say every century needs reminding and perhaps clarification. Jesus Christ, in his latest revelation addressing the 21st Century mind states it unmistakably:

“His Voice will direct you very specifically. You will be told all you need to know.” (ACIM Chap. 1 Page 1)

What further incentive do we need? We would have to actually crave suffering in order to not pay attention, wouldn’t we?

Throughout A Course in Miracles, Jesus clarifies the benefits of listening to divine guidance:

“I have promised to guide you OUT of problems, and will certainly not create them for you. But this means that you do not undertake to solve them yourselves.” (ACIM unedited version Chap. 2)

"The Holy Spirit offers you another promise, and one that will lead to joy. For HIS promise is always, ‘Seek and you WILL find,’ and under HIS guidance you cannot BE defeated. His is the journey to ACCOMPLISHMENT, and the goal HE sets before you He WILL GIVE YOU.” (ACIM unedited version CHAP. 11)

"Yet the Holy Spirit knows it FOR you, and He will guide you TO your home, because that is His Mission."(ACIM unedited version Chap. 11)

April is our month of Easter this year, the month we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But Jesus himself tells us every visible manifestation is also symbolic. In spiritual symbolic language “dead” means walking around on earth not feeling one’s spirit, not listening to one’s spirit, not paying attention. Being resurrected from the dead means coming alive again, starting to feel one’s spirit, starting to pay attention to the movement and flow of one’s spirit, and listening to one’s inner voice which leads one to the fullness of life.

This April, let’s rejoice that in the physical fact of Jesus rising from the dead He taught us to raise ourselves out of spiritual "deadness." Glory be! And let's rejoice that we can join with others in a movement which teaches that we are guided in every respect by our holy spirit … guided very specifically.

As many times as is needed to remind us to pay attention, let's repeat throughout our days in April, the words of Lesson 49 from A course in Miracles:

"God's Voice speaks to me all throughout the day."

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day Parades, and March Madness

2011-03-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

Total sanity must be nice! Can you imagine what it would be like to have a mind without contradictions, a life without pain, fear, or guilt? But what if it were necessary to first see madness?

The month of March is famous for Mardi Gras madness, madness regarding who can march in St. Patrick’s Day parades, and the elite college basketball tournament perfectly named ... March Madness.

Coincidence? Well, at least instances all coinciding with the March time period.

Accidents? Or are we being shown something?

Maybe there is a relationship with Easter, which conveniently never occurs before March 22 or later than April 25. Wouldn’t it be interesting if Easter is really symbolic of the resurrection of our mind out of a death-like shady insanity up into a blissful fully alive state of glowing bright reason?

How does Alcoholics Anonymous say it? You must “hit bottom” before you make a 100% unconditional choice for sobriety?

Maybe Mardi Gras is a way of quickly hitting bottom. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday" referring to the practice of insanely pigging out on rich, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.

Or maybe we are all vicariously "hitting bottom" when we watch the insane fight between gays and straights over who can "march" on St. Patrick's Day, or when we watch lunacy take over millions of basketball fans during March Madness.

Maybe there is something to the idea that individuals must recognize madness in the atmosphere (or in their minds) before “hitting bottom” and fully, completely, 100% unconditionally choosing reason and sanity.

“I said to myself, ‘Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.’ Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 1:16-17)

You might say, "Whoa! Is the writer of Ecclesiastes telling me nothing I see means anything, and I have given everything I see all the meaning it has for me?"

What if a still small voice were whispering (or shouting, but heard as a whisper) to Mardi Gras revelers, St.Patrick’s Day Parade crazies, and people losing sanity over basketball games:

As you look with open eyes upon your world, it must occur to you that you have withdrawn into insanity. For you see what is not there, and hear what is soundless. Your behavioral manifestations of emotions are the opposite of what the emotions are. You communicate with no one, and you are as isolated from reality, as if you were alone in all the universe. In your madness, you overlook reality completely, and you see only your split mind everywhere you look. God calls you and you do not hear, for you are preoccupied with your own voice. And the vision of Christ is not in your sight, for you look upon yourself alone. (ACIM Chap. 13)

Those of course are words of Jesus Christ. And Jesus does more than alert us to the problem. He teaches us of the solution, a bright and shining alternative state of mind:

Madness and reason see the same things, but it is certain that they look upon them differently. Madness is an attack on reason, that drives it out of mind, and takes its place. Reason does not attack, but takes the place of madness quietly, replacing madness if it be the will of the insane to listen to it.

Does Heaven seem to be a burden to you? In madness, yes; and yet what madness sees, must be dispelled by reason. Reason assures you Heaven is what you WANT, and ALL you want. Listen to Him Who speaks with reason, and brings your reason in line with His. Be willing to let reason be the means by which He would direct you how to leave insanity behind. Hide not behind insanity, in order to escape from reason. (ACIM Chap. 21)

Notice the word Jesus uses to refer to a new mind, a bright brilliantly glowing mind of perfect clarity: heaven.

Wouldn't it be a pleasant surprise if all the craziness of this world, all the nonsensical drunken partying, all the foolish fighting between special interest groups, all the ... madness in March (and any other time) served a sublime purpose: to influence us to finally make an irrevocable decision?

Lesson 138
“Heaven is the decision I must make.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

Jesus and Valentine's Day

2011-02-01T11:38:00.001-08:00

What does Jesus have to do with Valentine's Day? Other than the fact that St. Valentine was trying to "be like Jesus" in spreading love among all his early Christian compatriots? Other than the fact that Jesus taught us to always love our neighbors?

"To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (Mark 12:33)

But what is the full meaning of "love your neighbor as yourself?" To begin to understand the depth of this teaching we need to turn to modern day revelation from Jesus: A Course in Miracles.

First of all, in the Course Jesus starts out by indicating that we are love, and the purpose of the Course is not to teach us how to love more fully but to remove the blocks to the awareness of the overwhelming love we already are:

The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. (ACIM Introduction)

So when we read the Course, absorb the Course, and do the lessons of the Course we do not really become more loving (although that's what it seems like), we actually merely more and more allow our resistance to fall away and allow who we really are to shine forth.

But then Jesus offers an even deeper understanding in the Course. He explains that in reality there is only one being, one mind beneath all surface appearances. So although it appears that you and your neighbor are separate, in reality your neighbor is you. "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Do you think you would love your neighbor more fully if you fully understood that your neighbor is actually you appearing in different form? Could you really afford to attack your neighbor or judge your neighbor if you really knew with certainty that your neighbor is you? In Lesson 181 “I trust my brothers, who are one with me,” Jesus states:

When you attack a brother, you proclaim that he is limited by what you have perceived in him. You do not look beyond his errors. Rather, they are magnified, becoming blocks to your awareness of the Self that lies beyond your own mistakes, and past his seeming sins as well as yours.

If a brother’s sins occur to us, our narrowed focus will restrict our sight and turn our eyes upon our own mistakes, which we will magnify and call our “sins.” So without regard to past or future, should such blocks arise, we will transcend them with instructions to our
minds to change their focus, as we say:

“It is not this that I would look upon.
I trust my brothers, who are one with me.”

Our love for everyone we look upon attests to our remembrance of the holy Self Which knows no sin, and never could conceive of anything without Its sinlessness. (ACIM Lesson 181)

What if Valentine's Day is not what we've always been taught to imagine? What if it's really a holiday, a holy day, because it celebrates in advance the day when we no longer have any blocks whatsoever to the experience of love's presence, the day when our heart is so fully open that a mere glance from us brings change of heart to the cruelest dictator, or healing to the most severely depressed, or courage to one who is fear-ridden, or blessed release to the guilty?

But wait! Why not practice the feeling even now? Why not make a habit of experiencing when waking up from each restful sleep the feeling we can imagine Jesus could have felt when awakening even though he didn't have our modern words:

"Oh God, I love your Way!
Another loving Valentine's Day!"

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

Happy New Year 2011! Opening to Heaven?

2011-01-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't it be amazing if "2011" in spiritual symbolic language meant "year of enlightenment?"

Most of the world believes this is the eleventh year of the second millennium of Jesus Christ, and it was in his twelfth year that the boy Jesus was found in the temple discoursing with spiritual teachers:

After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. (Luke 2: 46-47)

If this temple blossoming was early in his twelfth year, the eleventh year of Jesus must have been one of increasingly feeling his openness and enlightenment, wouldn't you say?

Certainly now, entering the eleventh year of the 21st Century, many are feeling an increasing feeling of openness and enlightenment facilitated by a major revelation which Jesus Christ has given for this day and age: A Course in Miracles.

The main goal of A Course in Miracles, according to Jesus, is to teach us to live in love.

"The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance." (ACIM Introduction)

A little clarifying substitution might be helpful. The human ego thinks it knows what love is, naturally associating love with an energy center called "heart" even though there is nowhere where love is not, so love would properly be associated with all energy centers, with one's entire being. To guard against mis-association, a more useful statement of the Course's goal in more advanced stages is: to teach you to live in light, to remove the blocks to the awareness of the presence of light ("light" being another spiritual word for love).

"'Light" may not always feel like what the human ego calls "love." Light can be experienced in energy centers human beings call "solar plexus," "crown," "third eye," "sexual center," "throat" ... anywhere ... or everywhere at once. So although spiritual teachers (and religions) often begin by teaching love, they usually evolve to referring to light. Spiritual teachers speak of "going to light," and "light sessions."

But even with the above clarification, "light" doesn't necessarily mean what the human ego refers to as light. Those experiencing light in the sexual center, the solar plexus center, the heart center, the throat center, even the crown center, feel it as "radiance" or "radiant energy." If during a light session a spiritual teacher extends radiance from his solar plexus center and this energy happens to literally push a student five steps backward, the student may not be used to being knocked backward by light and may not at first think of the radiance as love ... even though all radiant energy is love.

Enlightenment is not, as human beings have been taught to imagine, wisdom absorbed into oneself by observing surface appearances outside oneself. Enlightenment is actually the experience of radiance from within, which brings with it an understanding of what is really going on. Enlightenment is not "studied for," it is "allowed."

In mankind's definitions "The Age of Enlightenment" was the age when reason replaced dogma in mankind's reverence, and scientific observation became the basis of reasoning. It was the 18th Century mind influenced by Isaac Newton, giving us Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, passing on to us the newly invented political system of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson: America

In our holy spirit's definitions maybe a new "Age of Enlightenment" is only this year becoming evident: an age when vast majorities of people begin to feel the unmistakable radiance of their own inner light and find themselves understanding in ways they never could have imagined. And maybe this new enlightenment being experienced is just in time for 2012 when we will see "the end of the world as we know it."

Well, who knows? Oh that's right ... you know, by listening to your own inner radiance.

So let's enjoy 2011, ever smiling because at least eleven rhymes with heaven.

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

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Your Greatest Christmas Gift: Holy Relationships

2010-11-26T18:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Before we turn to joy, let's remind ourselves that police departments report that the greatest source of violence during the Christmas season is domestic conflict. In fact, psychologists say the number one reason human beings suffer pain, fear, or guilt is conflict inside themselves regarding their relationships with other human beings ... conflict which often hurts most during holiday seasons.

With so much misery arising in relationships, those truly wanting to experience the Peace of God promised at Christmas time have good reason to ask: "What is the difference between a human relationship and a holy relationship?"

The technical answer is: a holy relationship is any relationship in which one's awareness is expanded beyond ego-vested perception. But such an awareness might be more easily understood in street language by the common expression: "out of this world."

To give you an idea of how a holy relationship feels, maybe an example from a story would help ... for those who have ears to hear.

Once upon a long ago Christmas season, a damsel was in the habit of viewing the scenery from the window of her castle. Her "world" was inside the castle. In her entire life, she had never stepped outside the castle's protective walls.

One day a troubadour appeared outside her window and noticed her watching. After a reverent bow, he raised his arm to salute her. Then he unshouldered his lute and began playing a sweet tune for her. In a melodic voice, he sang of joining, of feeling oneness, of love unimaginable.

The damsel allowed herself be carried away by the troubadour's poetry. Carried where? Away from her world inside the castle. It felt so good to her to be "out of this world," so to speak.

The troubadour returned each afternoon and with each new appearance sang a new and beautiful poem just for her. She would feel so much love so completely, as if the troubadour were not outside her world, but right inside of her.

Meanwhile, she experienced many other relationships within the castle. But her relationships in her world inside the castle felt different. Within the castle, her mind was pulled down into body awareness. She was drawn to giving attention to eating, drinking, sleeping, toilet, and other day to day concerns. Castle people and castle things seemed not inside her, not part of her, but separate from her.

Her relationship with the troubadour was a holy relationship. Her relationships with those within her world in the castle were more like what we would think of as unenlightened human relationships.

You might say: "No mystery in this story. She wants nothing from the troubadour, so with him she feels only love."

Exactly. Have you ever tried being aware of others but wanting nothing from them, nothing of them, nothing by them whatsoever?

Here is what Jesus Christ in His revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles, would remind our story's damsel if she were to lapse into body awareness and forget the feeling of holiness she felt with the troubadour:

"He will remain when you forget and the body's activities return to occupy your conscious mind. But there will always be this place of rest to which you can return. And you will be more aware of the quiet center of the storm than all its raging activity. This quiet center, IN WHICH YOU DO NOTHING, will remain with you giving you rest in the midst of every busy doing on which you are sent." (ACIM Text Chap. 22)

"But could she have changed all her in-castle relationships to holy relationships?"

Absolutely! Anyone can learn to want nothing, of ourselves do nothing, and flow with the flow that is always present beneath surface appearances.

"So holy relationships happen without us trying when we allow ourselves to see more than just bodies, and live without wanting anything from anyone?"

Precisely.

Jesus would answer, "A holy relationship is created to give you the experience of heaven. But never yourself try to do anything to make heaven happen. Let it be."

"A HOLY RELATIONSHIP IS A MEANS OF SAVING TIME. One instant spent TOGETHER restores the universe to BOTH of you. You ARE prepared. Now you need but remember YOU NEED DO NOTHING. It would be FAR more profitable now merely to concentrate on this, than to consider what you SHOULD do." (ACIM Text Chap. 22)

Can you step back and want nothing, do nothing ... let it be ... let all your relationships be holy this Christmas season? If so, you will experience the greatest Christmas gift offered by the Prince of Peace.

Once again, Merry Christmas to all!

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

How Serving God Corrects America's Political Course

2010-10-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

As above, so below. As in your mind, so in the world you see. In what way do you, as a servant of God, bring an oppressive earth life back to heaven?

"The public’s real anxiety is about values, not economics: the gnawing sense that Americans have become debt-addicted and self-indulgent; the sense that government undermines individual responsibility; the observation that people who work hard get shafted while people who play influence games get the gravy. Obama will have to propose policies that re-establish the link between effort and reward." -New York Times Columnist David Brooks writing about the failure of President Obama's liberalism and the American electorate's resounding vote for a change of course.

"Re-establish the link between effort and reward." What does Jesus teach about effort and reward? Let's look at his parable of the three servants, as presented in Matthew 25:14-29 of the "New Living Translation" of the Bible:

14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away."

Quiz time!. This teaching of Jesus is all about President Obama's ideal of redistribution of wealth, taking from those who have earned it and giving to those who have not earned it ... true or false? Listen inside.

You already know the answer on a worldly level, but the parable also has broader meaning. Remember, as above, so below. If there is a teaching in this parable related to success on earth, there is also a teaching related to success experiencing heaven.

The deeper meaning is that our life on earth is as if we are servants of heaven. We each find ourselves with a certain degree of openness to heaven, a particular "amount," so to speak, of the heavenly power of love and joy which is available to use as far as we can see. As we extend this heavenly love and joy, our giving is like making an investment and earning interest ... earning even more love and joy, earning even more of the experience of heaven.

The more we give of what we've been given, the more we are given to give, so to speak.

Jesus Christ's revelation for the 21st century, A Course In Miracles, says it this way:

Nothing you give is lost to you or anyone, but cherished and preserved for you in Heaven, where all the treasures given to God's Son are kept for him, and offered anyone who but holds out his hand in willingness they be received. Nor is the treasure LESS as it is given out. Each gift received but ADDS to the supply. For God IS fair. (ACIM Text Chap.25).

What then is the goal of a servant of God? What is the final outcome of the servant's endeavor? What is the final experience on earth which merges into the ultimate experience of heaven?

Freedom.

The Holy Spirit is the home of minds that seek for freedom. In Him they find what they have sought. The body’s purpose now is unambiguous. And it becomes perfect in the ability to serve an undivided goal. In conflict-free and unequivocal response to mind with but the thought of freedom as its goal, the body serves, and serves its purpose well. Without the power to enslave, it is a worthy servant of the freedom which the mind within the Holy Spirit seeks. (ACIM Workbook Lesson 199)

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

A Course In Miracles Offers Answer To Every Problem

2010-10-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

Feel Kristen's certainty. Feel her joy. Feel her inner peace. Does her happy spiritual state of being come from doing something, from studying, from watching her ego mind? Or does it come from simply experiencing the truth of her prayer: "Father, you stand before me and behind, beside me, in the place I see myself, and everywhere I go."

A Course in Miracles, modern day revelation from Jesus Christ, teaches us that doing something, doing anything, is an ego device to keep us from the relief of all pain, fear, and guilt; and from the solution to every problem. A Course in Miracles invites us to give away all our doing ... and see what happens. Here are words of Jesus:

"When peace comes at last to those who wrestle with temptation, and fight against giving in to sin; when the light comes at last into the mind given to contemplation, or when the goal is finally achieved by anyone, it ALWAYS comes with just ONE happy realization, - "I need do nothing." Here is the ultimate release that everyone will one day find in his own way, at his own time. We do not need this time. Time has been SAVED for you, because you are together. This is the special means this course is using, to save you time.

"You are not making use of the course if you insist on using means that have served others well, neglecting what was made for YOU. Save time for me by only this one preparation, and practice doing NOTHING ELSE. "I need do nothing" is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty. Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation." (ACIM Unedited Version Text Chap. 22)

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

Jon McNaughton Unveils New Spirit-Guided Painting

2010-09-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

The painting shown above was controversial enough, based on the truth that great American founders and leaders have unhesitatingly admitted the experience of God in their lives. Now the painter believes his new work will be even more controversial. Despite obvious fear of repercussions, Jon McNaughton has been willing to serve the voice of his holy spirit. On August 8, he wrote on his Facebook page:

"Last night I finished a painting I have been working on for the last five months. It was the most intense painting I have ever done and I prayed daily for the Lord’s guidance. It is a political painting to do with what is happening in our country today. We will be releasing it in about three weeks. I believe that the message in this painting will shake the country. Please pray for me and my family."

Sept. 8 Update: Jon's new painting has been unveiled. His website is: McNaughton Fine Art
Below are videos illustrating his recent paintings.

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

Ayn Rand, 20th Century Prophetess

2010-03-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

Ever since President Obama was elected, sales of Ayn Rand's decades-old prophetic novel Atlas Shrugged have shifted into warp drive, more than 500,000 copies sold in 2009 alone, over 7 million copies since first published. Millions of people have been asking, "Where is Obama taking us? Are we going to end up a depressed and disheartened nation ruled by thugs?" Ayn Rand, writing over 50 years ago, showed us a clear picture of the future which is now unfolding. Dr. Yaron Brook says, “People are discovering the prescience of Ayn Rand’s writing. They’re seeing the policies of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ villains Wesley Mouch and Cuffy Meigs acted out by our government officials today."

Atlas Shrugged tells the story of an American future in which redistribution of wealth (government-forced sacrifice of some for the good of all) has become the moral ideal. Men and women of talent, skill, common sense and heroic spirit are increasingly punished (taxed, regulated, burdened) because they have produced more than others. Tricksters and morally corrupt individuals are rewarded by the system. America is deteriorating into dark and miserable cultural and economic chaos.

Ayn Rand showed clearly the cause of all this destruction: the morality of self-sacrifice.

Those who have read Atlas Shrugged are under no illusions as to where Obama and his philosophy are leading us. They can already see deterioration of society setting in everywhere they look ... and they know it will get much worse.

Rand's desperate attempt to offer an answer resulted in her modern philosophy which renounces sacrifice. But the rejection of a man-made moral code which teaches living for others at the expense of oneself is not new to Ayn Rand. The refusal of such an ethic is logical, psychologically healthy, natural, and (despite centuries of misinterpretation) the true teaching of Jesus Christ.

Not long after the publication of Atlas Shrugged another New York woman of Jewish lineage, who became known not so much as a prophetess but as a scribe for 21st Century Christianity, began jotting down words dictated to her from Jesus Christ. After substantial gentle and loving prodding from Jesus, Helen Schucman eventually surrendered to writing the lessons she was hearing, which Jesus described as his true and corrected teaching, much different in some important ways from popularly understood "Christian dogma."

Especially important to any discussion of the cultural and economic deterioration of modern America, Jesus Christ, in his modern-day revelation which has become known as A Course in Miracles, joins with Ayn Rand. Whereas Ayn attempts to teach us that sacrifice is immoral, Jesus goes much farther, showing us that sacrifice is meaningless, an ego-mechanism which we use to blind ourselves, a device for denial of truth.

What is the real meaning of sacrifice? It is the cost of believing in illusions. It is the price that must be paid for the denial of truth. There is no pleasure of the world that does not demand this, for otherwise the pleasure would be seen as pain, and no one asks for pain if he recognizes it. It is the idea of sacrifice that makes him blind. (ACIM Manual For Teachers)

In A Course in Miracles, Jesus devotes entire chapters to correcting the corrupted worship of sacrifice found in Christianity and elsewhere. In one particular chapter entitled, The End of Sacrifice, he states:

Fear not to recognize as SOLELY OF YOUR MAKING the whole idea of sacrifice.

You who believe that sacrifice IS love, must learn that sacrifice is separation FROM love. For sacrifice brings guilt, as surely as love brings peace. Guilt is the CONDITION of sacrifice, as peace is the condition for the awareness of your relationship with God.

Jesus makes it very clear that he never sacrificed himself for others, nor would he ever. His actions and circumstances have for centuries been misinterpreted by minds which never understood. In his chapter entitled, Atonement without Sacrifice, Jesus states:

There is one more point which must be perfectly clear before any residual fear which may still be associated with miracles becomes entirely groundless. The Crucifixion did NOT establish the Atonement. The Resurrection did. This is a point which many very sincere Christians have misunderstood.

If the Crucifixion is seen from an upside down point of view, it certainly does appear AS IF God permitted, and even encouraged, one of his Sons to suffer BECAUSE he was good. Many very devoted ministers preach this every day. This particularly unfortunate interpretation, which actually arose out of the combined misprojection of a large number of my own would-be followers, has led many people to be bitterly afraid of God.

Sacrifice is a notion totally unknown to God. Sacrificing others in any way is a clear-cut violation of God's own injunction that man should be merciful even as His Father in heaven is merciful.

For the salvation of mankind, the thought that sacrifice is somehow a moral ideal has to disappear. This idea was incorrect when it first started to spread among mankind, but its destructive effects became painfully obvious when it was picked up and championed as a societal ideal by Auguste Comte and Karl Marx. It has been an idea responsible for never-ending suffering and death, and can only bring about the ruin of America and Western freedoms ... unless we refuse it.

In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand's fictional hero John Galt makes this declaration on an ethical level: “I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”

Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles drives home the point on an even more fundamental metaphysical level: "The lesson I was born to teach, and still would teach to all my brothers, is that sacrifice is nowhere and love is everywhere."

Often a prophet or prophetess is a forerunner, signaling disaster about to come ... and offering at least a hint as to the solution. Ayn Rand was a great 20th Century prophetess. Freedoms known in the Western world will be saved if everyone you know reads her novels. And yet her inner hearing was not in every instance 100% clear. The clearest inner hearing had to wait for the humility of Helen Schucman and the voice of Jesus Christ:

The thought of sacrifice gives rise to all the forms that suffering appears to take. And sacrifice is an idea so mad that sanity dismisses it at once. Never believe that you can sacrifice. There is no place for sacrifice in what has any value. If the thought occurs, its very presence proves that error has arisen, and correction must be made.

And, as you would expect, Jesus in his Lesson 187 gives us the thought which corrects:

"I bless the world
because I bless
....myself!”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Christianity: Myth vs. Reality

2010-03-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen a picture frame so elaborate and ornate that it was difficult to give attention to the picture?

In the very early years, most could remember their teacher, his words, and his light. But before very long the cult of Jesus followers was outlawed. The Jesus cult was sometimes in some places tolerated, but was more often in most places banned and followers persecuted.

Eventually something had to be done to make their Jesus-based religion acceptable.

During the centuries before and after Jesus, the Roman Empire ruled. Since the most widely venerated God throughout the Roman Empire was the imported Persian God, Mithra, who had been worshipped by the Roman Army any many other Roman citizens since at least 75 BC., why not make Christianity acceptable by identifying Jesus as Mithra? It would merely take a few embellishments to the Jesus story.

Mithra was a Persian savior. Worship of Mithra became common throughout the Roman Empire, particularly among the Roman civil service and military. Their god was believed to have been born on December 25. His birth was witnessed by shepherds and by gift-carrying Magi. This was celebrated as the "Dies Natalis Solic Invite," The "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun." Some followers believed that he was born of a virgin. During his life, he performed many miracles, cured many illnesses, and cast out devils. He celebrated a Last Supper with his 12 disciples. He ascended to heaven at the time of the spring equinox, about March 21. -B.G. Walker, "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets," Harper & Row, (1983)

Incidentally, the New Testament provides no information regarding the date of the birth of Jesus. But long before missionary-minded Christians perceived the convenience of choosing December 25, converts from Judaism sought to calculate the date of Jesus' birth based on the idea that Old Testament prophets died either on an anniversary of their birth or their conception. January 6 was their favorite choice. Converts in Greek or Egyptian regions often chose other dates, April 19 and May 20 being among the most used dates. (With a slight stretch, a revelation by Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith could be interpreted to hint Jesus was born April 6.) But Mithra's birthday of December 25 certainly served best in the power and influence center of Rome.

In the Zoroastrian religion of ancient Persia, Mithra was called “the Heavenly Light.” He came to the earth to teach humanity His commandments and begin Mysteries and Rites which would help people remember His acts on the behalf of human beings. Because of His actions, we can choose only good, leaving evil with no power (although evil's influence can still seem powerful if we forget). Because of His teachings, we know that the purpose of human lives is service in the name of Mithra. The followers of Mithra refer to Him as the "Light of the World."

So Christianity framed itself well, but Jesus asks us to look at the picture within the frame. "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." (John 7:24)

The mythologized surface appearance of Christianity is not where the truth is. Truth is true, and nothing else is true. The truth of Christianity is in the experience, long ago purposely set within an attractive ornate frame, but still available as the content within the frame. Christianity is not about worshipping Jesus or any God outside one's self. It's about worshipping our own divine nature, who we are really. Here are the words of Jesus Christ from his revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles:

There is nothing about me that you cannot attain. I have nothing that does not come from God. The main difference between us as yet is that I have NOTHING ELSE. This leaves me in a state of true holiness, which is only a POTENTIAL in you.

"No man cometh to the Father but by me" is among the most misunderstood statements in the Bible. It DOES NOT mean that I am in any way separate (or different) from you, EXCEPT IN TIME. Now, we know that time does not exist. Actually, the statement is much more meaningful if it is considered on a vertical rather than a horizontal axis. Regarded along the vertical, man stands below me, and I stand below God. In the process of "rising up", I AM higher. This is because without me the distance between God and man is too great for man to encompass. I bridge the distance as an Elder Brother to man, on the one hand, and a Son of God on the other. My devotion to my brothers has placed me in charge of the Sonship, which I can render complete only to the extent I can SHARE it.

Jesus tells us he has nothing that does not come from God. He insists we too can experience only God by wanting only God. In A Course in Miracles, Jesus tells us that the world we see offers us nothing we really want. He reminds us everything in our earthly world can only satisfy temporarily, to be lost once again. But the God experience is truly valuable, and the everlasting God experience lacking any temptation to earthly pleasure or pain is all we really, deep down, absolutely truly want. He tells us only the time we choose to lose or gain is voluntary.

A Course in Miracles reminds us that every instant can be experienced as a holy instant. This is the real picture inside the frame, whether it be taught by Mithra or Jesus Christ:

The Holy instant is a miniature of Heaven,
sent to you FROM Heaven.
It is a picture, too, set in a frame.
But if you accept THIS gift,
you will NOT see the frame at all,
because the gift can only BE accepted
through your willingness to focus ALL your attention
ON THE PICTURE.

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Happy New Year! Beautiful New World!

2009-12-27T12:32:00.001-08:00

It seems appropriate as we head into a new year that millions of people are drawn to the movie "Avatar." In this amazing film, director James Cameron shows us a whole new world. Certainly nothing is more needed at this time in human history than a new world, wouldn't you say?

In the movie story, human beings are out of touch with reality. They work for a corporation which doesn't understand the Holy Spirit will always provide for their true "bottom line." But the lesson of the story could as easily have been taught if the film's human beings had worked not for a corporation but for a government which feels the need to force people to live certain ways because its leaders refuse to understand the Holy Spirit will provide for every citizen's true welfare if political "do gooders" get out of the way.

In any truly meaningful dictionary, being out of touch with reality could be said to be "corruption."

In American culture today, so-called "liberals" or "progressives" are likely to believe most corporations are corrupt, while by some unknown miracle government can be trusted to do good. Conservatives, on the other hand, see governments as rampantly corrupt while corporations have at least a market incentive to be honest. Our libertarian friends, innately uncomfortable with corruption from any quarter, often choose to dream of a new kind of world with ultimately very little man-made "government" and maybe no corporations at all.

Is this imagined libertarian world an impossible dream? The Na'vi in the movie "Avatar" do not need either government (as we know it) or corporations. What they really need, and the movie shows this powerfully, is their awareness of their oneness with reality, their awareness of their spiritual nature.

Perhaps our new world would be of a different form than the world of the Na'vi, but the lesson is the same. We must learn to be consistently and always aware of our true spiritual nature. (See the blog Tsahaylu, which means "oneness" in Na'vi.) This is exactly what Jesus Christ teaches in his modern day revelation, A Course in Miracles:

You see the flesh or recognize the Spirit. There is no compromise between the two. On this one choice does all your world depend, for here have you established what you are, as flesh or Spirit in your own belief. If you choose flesh, you never will escape the body as your own reality, for you have chosen that you want it so. But choose the Spirit, and all Heaven bends to touch your eyes, and bless your holy sight, that you may see the world of flesh no more except to heal and comfort and to bless. (ACIM Text Chap 31)

Some might experience the movie "Avatar" and imagine they could more easily establish themselves in spiritual seeing the way the Na'vi see if they could revert to the Na'vi level of tribal existence. But that would be missing the point altogether. Jesus teaches it is not the form a world or a culture takes. It is how we see ourselves and how we see others. Tell your libertarian friends they do not have to altogether do away with government and corporations. They only need to pray with all their heart and soul for spiritual seeing.

It is only necessary to establish one self in spiritual seeing. Then one's entire world is free of corruption. Governments and corporations would rearrange themselves. Jesus guarantees it:

Are you a Spirit, deathless, and without the promise of corruption and the stain of sin upon you? So the world is seen as stable, fully worthy of your trust; a happy place to rest in for a while, where nothing need be feared but only loved. (ACIM Text Chap. 31)

Having learned to see anew our gratitude is boundless. The song from "Avatar" has been our song:

"You teach me how to see
All that’s beautiful
My senses touch your world I never pictured
Now I give my hope to you
I surrender
I pray in my heart that this world never ends !”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

"Doing Good" vs. "Being Good"

2009-11-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

We all know the Christmas song, "Santa Claus is coming to town."

"He sees you when you are sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!"

Is this simply a seasonal ditty to encourage little children to mind their parents? Perhaps.

Or is it a disguised spiritual teaching rhyme devised to subliminally teach everyone that God wants them to be good? Maybe not.

Nonetheless, the above lyrics do vaguely reflect the age-old belief that only those who are good will know God.

But what if the truth is actually 180 degrees opposite of such a belief? What if only by knowing God does one really become aware of goodness?

Jesus Christ, in A Course in Miracles, gives us a hint:

The ego sees SOME good, but never ONLY good. That is WHY its perceptions are so variable. It does not reject goodness entirely, for this you could not accept, but it always ADDS something that is NOT real TO the real, thus CONFUSING ILLUSION AND REALITY. (Text Chap. 11)

The conclusion is implied: If we could see as the Holy Spirit sees, free of ego perception, we would see only good. Why? Because only good is what is really there. All else is illusion.

The next question is begged: If our perception is faulty, how would we ever be able to know whether we were doing good?

Jesus in the Bible gives an answer:

And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:29-30)

In this passage, doing good vs. doing evil is directly connected to stepping back from ego and seeking only the will of the Father. Jesus elaborates in A Course in Miracles:

To say "of myself I can do nothing" is to gain all power. As god created you, you HAVE all power. The image you made of yourself has none.

Who assumes a power that he does not possess is deceiving himself. Yet to accept the power given him by God is but to acknowledge his Creator and accept His Gifts. And His gifts have no limit. (ACIM Manual for Teachers)

But wait! Jesus speaks as if he does not do good, but rather lets himself be out of the way ... and good is. In A Course in Miracles, he reinforces this idea:

When peace comes at last to those who wrestle with temptation, and fight against giving in to sin; when the light comes at last into the mind given to contemplation, or when the goal is finally achieved by anyone, it ALWAYS comes with just ONE happy realization, - "I need do nothing." Here is the ultimate release that everyone will one day find in his own way, at his own time. (Text Chap. 22)

"Oh, do you mean I never had to fight against evil?" That's what Jesus says. "Do you mean my very attempt to live sinlessly was in and of itself a separation from good? All I had to do all along was quit trying and let God be all?" Now Jesus is smiling ... because now you are beginning to get the idea. You are good. You are a child of God and just as God is good so are his offspring. Here is how Jesus states it:

Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. Over and over this must be repeated, until it is accepted. It is true. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. Nothing can touch it, nor can change what God created as eternal. The self you made, evil and full of sin, is meaningless. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God, and light and joy and peace abide in you.

Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought; you are as God created you, not what you made of yourself. Whatever evil you may think you did, you are as God created you. Whatever mistakes you made, the truth about you is unchanged. Creation is eternal and unalterable. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. You are and will forever be exactly as you were created. Light and joy and peace abide in you because God put them there. (ACIM Lesson 93)

Does this mean the only thing little children have to do for Santa Claus to come is be themselves? Does it mean that in reality Santa loves every little child and automatically forgives their behavior and gives his gifts regardless?

Jesus is smiling again. He doesn't want you watching yourself and worrying about sin; he wants you watching outside of yourself for God. He doesn't want you crying; he wants you choosing happiness. He doesn't want you pouting; he wants you experiencing joy. Here, listen:

"Oh! You better watch ... out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Prayer and Political Activism

2009-09-11T19:19:00.001-07:00

President Barack Obama and his allies are committed to passing certain utopian government programs which they possibly believe will help people. Since many are in great opposition to being forced into programs which they have not voluntarily chosen for themselves, Democrats seemingly have felt the need to ratchet up the force; using trickery, bullying, and thug tactics as if the end is so holy it justifies any means. These “progressives” may or may not see themselves as dictators. If they do, they do not seem to care. But what if there was an even better way to accomplish their goals?

Meanwhile, freedom lovers, those who don’t want to be forced into such pie-in-the-sky programs, and don’t want their income stolen (taxation) to pay for such programs can be seen wringing their hands, screaming at town hall meetings and 9-12 Project rallies, threatening political genocide, and even entertaining ideas of seceding from the Union or armed revolution. But what if there was a better way to assure their freedom?

What if both sides, the dictators and the freedom lovers, could find a better way?

What if a better way is taught by Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ teaches that earth is not what it seems, and earth can be changed by spiritual power. “….for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matt. 17:20)

In his modern day revelation to earth, A Course in Miracles, Jesus teaches us to think of our world (and everything in the earthly realm) as a dream. The dream changes constantly as our mind changes. There is nothing in earth that cannot be changed by changing our mind. Miracles are possible because changing our mind is possible.

“Miracles are thoughts. Thoughts can represent the lower or bodily level of experience, or the higher or spiritual level of experience. One makes the physical, and the other creates the spiritual.” (ACIM Chap. 1)

What if it is not necessary to use force, trickery, bullying, thug tactics, majority rule dictatorship, demagoguery, screaming in streets, threats, or armed revolution to achieve what you want to achieve on earth?

What if the most efficient way to change the world is prayer?

“Prayer is the medium of miracles. It is a means of communication of the created with the Creator.” (ACIM Chap. 1)

“The Bible emphasizes that all prayer is answered, and this is indeed true. The very fact that the Holy Spirit has been asked for anything will ensure a response.” (ACIM Chap. 9)

But isn’t political activism a form of prayer?

Technically, yes. There is no question political activists desire certain outcomes, and we’ve emphasized in past articles that all desire is prayer … the stronger the desire, the stronger the prayer. Yet activism springing from desire alone is certainly not the most efficient form of prayer.

Is there a more powerful prayer?

Desire is one thing. But desire in accord with the power of Jesus Christ is quite another. This may require some explanation.

Obviously when prayer is directed toward affecting earthly outcomes there are two possibilities for the source of such prayer:

1) the urge to pray comes from one’s ego and the prayer is directed toward gaining an ego-vested interest;

or,

2) the prayer is guided by our Holy Spirit and serves the interests of all.

Ego prayer contains correction

It is a saving grace of the human condition (ego) that as human beings we cannot summon the full power of God to bring about ego-vested interests on earth … and those ego-vested interests which we are able to bring about cannot be long maintained. You might say that prayer which is not fully from God cannot be full of God.

Since the ego is like an airplane flying off course, there will always be a portion of the prayer’s answer which is our Holy Spirit working for course correction. Because of this (some would say “luckily”) it does no permanent damage to pray for ego-vested interests because the complete answer to such prayer contains the seeds of ego-sabotaging correction. For example, you might get your “prosperity” (as defined by you), but you’ll get the “taxation” (pain, sickness, and suffering) that you need to nudge you back on course.

Spiritually guided prayer is 100% creative

As differentiated from ego-vested prayer, any prayer which is guided by our Holy Spirit (and therefore uses the power of Jesus Christ) serves everyone’s highest interest (although this is not always apparent to ego) and can conceivably reach immediate creativity if the mind has been cleansed of ego-vested interests. Therefore all true spiritual teachers teach a very important initial lesson: want nothing in particular on earth and ask only, “Holy Spirit, what would you have me pray for?” Or to put words in the mouth of Jesus, “Even if I had an ego-vested preference (which I don't) … nevertheless thy will be done.”

The real winner is always God

This leads us to a second important lesson which all true spiritual teachers emphasize, a lesson which recognizes the end result of the saving grace mentioned above: ultimately God wins. Or stated another way, although we may be guided to act, and even act powerfully like George Washington, there is never any reason to worry, fear, or even give thought to outcomes because … God is in charge.

Then why pray at all?

We want to pray about everything, base our life on prayer, because prayer, whatever form it may take, is communication with God; or communion with God. It is the medium of miracles, which means that prayer itself, irrespective of possible outcomes, allows expanded love, greater joy, deeper peace … opens darkness into light, lifts earth to heaven. Prayer helps our Holy Spirit shorten the time of ego-lesson learning and makes more immediate the achievement of divine goals. Prayer speeds up the ultimate experience of everlasting happiness for all.

But what if both sides politically are praying?

If everybody is praying, everybody wins.

When 9-12 protesters pray for "the survival of the republic" and President Obama's allies are praying for "change and a totally new foundation", the truth is God is ultimately in control and the answer to both prayers is always above and beyond what what is being imagined.

Nonetheless, let’s rephrase the words of Jesus so the lesson becomes clear for those who feel the need to engage in political activism:

“….for verily I say unto you,
If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed,
ye shall say unto this government,
move hence;
and it shall move;
and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

"Doing" Good or "Being" Good?

2009-07-13T17:07:00.000-07:00

We all know the Christmas song, "Santa Claus is coming to town."

"He sees you when you are sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!"

Is this simply a seasonal ditty to encourage little children to mind their parents? Perhaps.

Or is it a disguised spiritual teaching rhyme devised to subliminally teach everyone that God wants them to be good? Maybe not.

Nonetheless, the above lyrics do vaguely reflect the age-old belief that only those who are good will know God.

But what if the truth is actually 180 degrees opposite such a belief? What if only by knowing God does one really become aware of goodness?

Jesus Christ, in A Course in Miracles, gives us a hint:

The ego sees SOME good, but never ONLY good. That is WHY its perceptions are so variable. It does not reject goodness entirely, for this you could not accept, but it always ADDS something that is NOT real TO the real, thus CONFUSING ILLUSION AND REALITY. (Text Chap. 11)

The conclusion is implied: If we could see as the Holy Spirit sees, free of ego perception, we would see only good. Why? Because only good is what is really there. All else is illusion.

The next question is begged: If our perception is faulty, how would we ever be able to know whether we were doing good?

Jesus in the Bible gives an answer:

And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:29-30)

In this passage, doing good vs. doing evil is directly connected to stepping back from ego and seeking only the will of the Father. Jesus elaborates in A Course in Miracles:

To say "of myself I can do nothing" is to gain all power. As god created you, you HAVE all power. The image you made of yourself has none.

Who assumes a power that he does not possess is deceiving himself. Yet to accept the power given him by God is but to acknowledge his Creator and accept His Gifts. And His gifts have no limit. (ACIM Manual for Teachers)

But wait! Jesus speaks as if he does not do good, but rather lets himself be out of the way ... and good is. In A Course in Miracles, he reinforces this idea:

When peace comes at last to those who wrestle with temptation, and fight against giving in to sin; when the light comes at last into the mind given to contemplation, or when the goal is finally achieved by anyone, it ALWAYS comes with just ONE happy realization, - "I need do nothing." Here is the ultimate release that everyone will one day find in his own way, at his own time. (Text Chap. 22)

"Oh, do you mean I never had to fight against evil?" That's what Jesus says. "Do you mean my very attempt to live sinlessly was in and of itself a separation from good? All I had to do all along was quit trying and let God be all?" Now Jesus is smiling ... because now you are beginning to get the idea. You are good. You are a child of God and just as God is good so are his offspring. Here is how Jesus states it:

Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. Over and over this must be repeated, until it is accepted. It is true. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. Nothing can touch it, nor can change what God created as eternal. The self you made, evil and full of sin, is meaningless. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God, and light and joy and peace abide in you.

Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought; you are as God created you, not what you made of yourself. Whatever evil you may think you did, you are as God created you. Whatever mistakes you made, the truth about you is unchanged. Creation is eternal and unalterable. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. You are and will forever be exactly as you were created. Light and joy and peace abide in you because God put them there. (ACIM Lesson 93)

Does this mean the only thing little children have to do for Santa Claus to come is be themselves? Does it mean that in reality Santa loves every little child and automatically forgives their behavior and gives his gifts regardless?

Jesus is smiling again. He doesn't want you watching yourself and worrying about sin, he wants you watching outside of yourself for God. He doesn't want you crying, he wants you choosing happiness. He doesn't want you pouting, he wants you experiencing joy. Here, listen:

"Oh! You better watch ... out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Prayer and Our Constitution

2009-06-30T09:53:00.001-07:00

Many religious conservatives are worried that President Obama will pack the U.S. Supreme Court with so-called "progressives" and a decision would eventually be handed down that prayer is unconstitutional. Having learned a few tricks from former President Clinton, defenders of such a decision could answer, "It depends on your definition of 'constitution'."

Actually, if scientists could look deeply into the subatomic levels of our being (which they cannot given the primitive nature of today's science) they would find that prayer is our very constitution. Jesus Christ would say, "Look deep enough and there is nothing but prayer."

It is a moot question to pray or not to pray, because we are prayer. The question is how can we assure that we will see the answers to our prayers rapidly and easily?

Certainly asking for help from a prayer ministry greatly enhances our prayers, but it might be good to know how prayer ministries are evolving and what kind of help is available in this day and age.

Religious Christianity

The prayer methods and wording of prayers used by historically established religions are usually determined by the founders of the religion and by custom over time. Most religions pray for the well-being of their adherents and for world conditions in general.

Prayer ministries in the older religious traditions have no hesitation about mentioning the unwanted conditions which the prayers are designed to overturn. For example they will pray "Please help Mr. Smith's terrible condition disappear!" and the prayer will be answered, the condition changing for the better if not disappearing.

In fact, traditional Christian prayer ministries pray with unbelievably strong faith for the needs and desires of petitioners, as well as for outcomes which the ministry leaders have deemed desirable for their culture or for the world in general, and they see remarkable, often even miraculous results. Prayer for particular results works wonderfully.

New Age and Metaphysical Christianity

The prayer methods and wording of prayers used by metaphysicians and New Agers are also determined pretty much by founders and customary usage, but in these 19th & 20th century views of Christianity there is more than a little hesitation to mention unwanted conditions, and many prayer workers feel an uncomfortable internal conflict about praying for results.

Those of the metaphysical or New Age persuasion might say, "Don't pray for particular results because in doing so you'd be telling your mind you don't already have those results." For example they would say, "Don't pray for healing because your mind will think you're not already healed."

Do you see the contradiction in this? You must have already convinced your mind in the first place that you don't already have a result ... or you would already have it, everyone would see it, and you wouldn't even be considering the possibility of prayer.

It's okay for the Metaphysical or New Age Christian to say that the purpose of prayer is to convince your mind of the opposite of what it already believes, but honesty requires admitting that underlying all the positive affirmations, positive visualizations, and prayers of gratitude is the desire for a particular result. That desire is in and of itself a prayer.

Jesus teaches us in A Course in Miracles (which is read at least intellectually by some New Age and Metaphysical Christians) that our minds are full of contradictory desires which split our focus into many watered down prayers working against each other. Therefore throughout A Course in Miracles, Jesus teaches us to look inside and find our truest desires because when the contradictions of lesser desires are swept aside and the true desire is desired wholly ... it immediately comes into existence.

One of the leaders of our Utah light group once spent an entire year praying for people in the most successful prayer ministry of Metaphysical Christianity, known as Silent Unity. Every day he watched Silent Unity handle mountains of positive feedback mail from countless thousands of happy people attesting to their prayer requests being answered, sometimes in very miraculous ways. Prayer most certainly brings results!

Enlightened Christianity

The new 21st century understanding of Christianity, 100% influenced by the original teachings of Jesus as revealed in A Course in Miracles, relies for prayer instruction not on founders or tradition or customary usage, but on here and now listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

For example, with each prayer request received by our group, we ask the Holy Spirit for unique instruction.

We may hear from the Holy Spirit to pray for a particular request over a long period of time, during a shorter period of time, or very briefly as if we were being guided to help only with "finishing touches." In this last instance the Holy Spirit might be saying in essence something like, "The recipient has already made progress accepting these blessings. It's just about a done deal!"

The Holy Spirit may tell us to pray for a particular request using our entire group during our light sessions, or using a smaller gathering of two or three in a special prayer session, or using a single highly tuned-in prayer worker in some manner.

We may be told by the Holy Spirit to prepare for prayer by chanting, or by deep meditation, or by merging into oneness with the petitioner, or by some complex esoteric exercise, or by some combination of these.

The Holy Spirit may guide us put our entire heart and soul into a prayer, or to use specific visualizations, or to use exact wording, or to address the prayer to some particular spiritual level, or to put together some sequence of these or other methods and contents.

The Holy Spirit does not hesitate to guide us to pray for specific earthly results, because the Holy Spirit knows that it's not what we are asking for that's important, but that we are in touch with a meaningful desire. Prayers which some might call "little" prayers the Holy Spirit sees as equally valuable steps which eventually lead us to awareness of what we really, really, really, really want ... the experience of who we really are.

With the Holy Spirit specifically guiding prayers, each prayer is very unique. We cannot even remember a time when the Holy Spirit gave us the same approach, the same method, the same content, or the same wording for two different prayer requests.

The Holy Spirit knows that even though people's situations can be similar, each situation has it's own unique character. The Holy Spirit is the expert in cutting through all contradictions in human desires and instructing us to pray for what we really need and with the wording and method that really works for our true best interests and in fact every one's highest good, which are one and the same.

Praying only as the Holy Spirit directs has clear and wonderful advantages, true or false?

Finally, the modern enlightened Christian is well aware that the ultimate prayer deep inside everyone, toward which every prayer request eventually leads, is what might be called a "turn me inside out" kind of prayer, a "let me be broken, let me be undone" kind of prayer, for rising above the human condition to an experience of constant unspeakable joy, love, peace, and spiritual knowing.

The modern enlightened Christian laughs at the antics of so-called "progressives" in man-made government, knowing the only movement which can truly be called "progressive" derives from staying in touch with our constitution. And our constitution rejoices in one certain knowledge which we can repeat over and over again as a pledge of allegiance:

"My every prayer is answered
more wonderfully
than I could ever imagine!"

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

June Is Bustin' Out All Over!

2009-05-30T07:48:00.001-07:00

“June is bustin' out all over
The feelin' is gettin' so intense,
That the young Virginia creepers
Hev been huggin' the bejeepers
Outa all the mornin' glories on the fence!
Because it's June...
June, June, June
Just because it's June, June, June!”

Hell raising, spiritually opening lyrics from Carousel by Oscar Hammerstein II, wouldn’t you say?

If you’ve seen Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, you've felt your heart opening … your soul opening … your crown opening … every part of your being opening as you were lifted into a swirling whirling rendition of this song. Wow! It felt good!

How in the world could you have felt so great just listening to a song? Answer: you weren’t in your world. You “busted out,” allowed yourself to be taken out of your world.

"But how did I do that? What did I do to do that?"

Nothing.

While listening to this song, you simply quit all your doing … and did nothing. The “bustin’ out” was done for you.

"But doesn’t everyone do nothing while listening to any song?"

We wish it were so. People listening to songs may be doing all sorts of things. They may be relating, crying, laughing, emoting, picturing, analyzing, judging, thinking, purposely moving with the music … anything but doing nothing with their mind.

The difference is this song is about bustin’ out all over. And bustin’ out all over is what happens when we let go of all our ego's doing, when we disengage our mind altogether and no longer think, picture, emote, or relate … but literally do nothing with our mind.

“But you just wrote the bustin’ out was done for you. Who is the doer?"

Wouldn't it be a fun trickery of the gods if it were June? Or Juno?

Our month of June was named after the ancient Roman goddess, Juno, daughter of Saturn; sister and wife of Jupiter, mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno’s other name, Lucina, literally means: “she who brings children into light.” Beyond all the illusory surface appearances we are beings of light, and Jesus the Christ tells us we must become as little children. Bustin’ out all over simply means surrendering to being who we really are. Some call it “going to light,” or “becoming as little children and letting ourselves be opened to light.”

Like Saturn, Juno can throw lightening bolts. When we first learn to do nothing with our mind, wouldn't we say those holy instants of bustin’ out or breaking free feel like we’ve been jolted by bolts of lightening? Such a practical jolt ... er, joke!

To make it even more fun, Juno’s messenger is Iris, whose name can mean both “inner voice” and “I join.” Our illusory ego would certainly consider it dangerous to listen to our inner voice and join with Juno, wouldn’t you think?

Never mind. No need to think.

In fact, that’s the whole point. We open spiritually only when we disengage the mind. All the reading in the world of half-baked spiritual authors leaves us with our mind still engaged … in the world. All the mantras or other spiritual practices in the world help train the mind not to think so much, but using a mantra or spiritual practice is still a doing … in the world. All the inner observation in the world may also train the mind, but observation is still doing. All the Course in Miracles lessons in the world are designed to nudge us closer by slowly breaking our addiction to doing, but still leave us … in the world. Ultimately we have no choice but to learn to do nothing with our mind.

Here’s how Jesus Christ states it in A Course in Miracles:

You ARE prepared. Now you need but remember YOU NEED DO NOTHING. It would be FAR more profitable now merely to concentrate on this, than to consider what you SHOULD do.

When peace comes at last to those who wrestle with temptation, and fight against giving in to sin; when the light comes at last into the mind given to contemplation, or when the goal is finally achieved by anyone, it ALWAYS comes with just ONE happy realization, - "I need do nothing." Here is the ultimate release that everyone will one day find in his own way, at his own time. We do not need this time.

You are not making use of the course if you insist on using means that have served others well, neglecting what was made for YOU. Save time for me by only this one preparation, and practice doing NOTHING ELSE. "I need do nothing" is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty. Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation. (ACIM unedited version, Chap. 22)

So the question ego asks (our holy spirit has no questions) is: how can we learn to do nothing?

First, it helps to know that it’s all being done for us. We are not Romans so it's not a goddess named Juno doing it for us. But we are Christians and it is the Christ doing everything that needs be done. There is no need for reading books by teachers who have rushed into print while not yet fully enlightened. There is no need for mantras, or spiritual practices, or contemplations. Even A Course in Miracles says in so many words, “you’ve done the lessons, now we’ll do the rest:”

No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. (ACIM Workbook Epilogue)

In the Bible, Jesus says it yet another way: "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Luke 12:27 (It would be tempting to smile if lilies usually bloom in June. But to Jesus all time is now, June is now. So whenever!)

Second, it helps to know that all human doing is defense, and defense is very painful. When we rest at peace, not seeking to defend against the world, not feeling the need to defend against anyone, not thinking we have to defend against whatever wants to happen … the miracle unfolds wondrously. When there are no defenses created in our everyday lives there is also no defense against God … and God’s Will is done.

Third, it helps to know that Home is here and now. To paraphrase Jesus: Quit doing, quit defending, for the kingdom of heaven is already here and now. ("Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17)

Now and finally, nothing remains but enjoyment. We might even feel like singing:

“God, I'm bustin' out all over!
The feelin' is gettin' so intense.
I'm laughing and I'm flying,
No more doing, no more trying,
And I couldn't if I want to make defense.
It must be June, June, June
I simply must be June!"

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

When Exactly Will The World End?

2009-03-31T06:40:00.000-07:00

“How am I supposed to stop the end of the world?” -John Koestler (played by Nicholas Cage) in the movie “Knowing.”

John Koestler surrendered. He joined his loved ones and let go and freed his mind of all thought of past and future. The end of the world is coming, right?

All varieties of Christians believe it: Catholic, Evangelical, Mormon, Orthodox, or Gnostic. Likewise all denominations of Muslims believe it … as do Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus. It’s a universal belief. Even atheists believe it … for good reason.

Scientists will tell you worlds come to an end for any number of reasons … so good luck enjoying your world while it lasts!

Physical cosmologists might tell you worlds end and worlds come into being in a cyclical pattern … and, again, if you are lucky you’ll be enjoying your world before it comes to an end.

Political conservatives tend to imagine the end of the world will be caused by Barack Obama and his Neo-Marxist Democrats. If you watch the Fox News Channel, you might hear end-of-the-world sounding laments coming from Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity. No doubt it must seem to people of common sense that Democrats really are hell-bent on destroying the world, but in fact Democrats are only interested in strengthening the socialism they worship, which only in their dreams does not appear as a spiritless hell. Barack Obama, like all fascist dreamers before him, actually believes he is striving to make a better world. Jesus Christ looks at Obama, laughs and says, “Bless his heart! He knows not what he does!”

Like scientists who say “enjoy while you can,” Jesus Christ absolutely advocates enjoying yourself. But here’s the rub: any joy you could ever experience is already inside of you and needs only the end of the world as you see it and a new way of seeing to help you experience it. The end of your old world view is crucial because your world, as you've been seeing it, keeps you aware of pain, sickness, suffering and death … rather than the ever-present awareness of everlasting joy.

Therefore Jesus Christ in his 21st Century revelation to the earth, A Course in Miracles, encourages you to bring your world to an end as soon as possible. To the cry, “The end of the world is coming!” Jesus, knowing what world you don't want, laughingly answers, “Bring it on!”

“The world you see has nothing that you need to offer you; nothing that you can use in any way, nor anything at all that serves to give you joy. Believe this thought, and you are saved from years of misery, from countless disappointments, and from hopes that turn to bitter ashes of despair. No one but must accept this thought as true, if he would leave this world behind and soar beyond its petty scope and little ways.

“The only purpose worthy of your mind this world contains is that you pass it by, without delaying to perceive some hope where there is none. Be you deceived no more. The world you see has nothing that you want.” (ACIM, Lesson 128)

And now an entirely new world replaces the suffering world from which you have withdrawn value. In place of the dark world you knew, a bright world is seen which had heretofore only been glimpsed in holy moments … a world of utter joy. Your world of sorrow comes to an end in joy.

“The world will end in joy, because it is a place of sorrow. When joy has come, the purpose of the world has gone. The world will end in peace, because it is a place of war. When peace has come, what is the purpose of the world? The world will end in laughter, because it is a place of tears. Where there is laughter, who can longer weep?” (ACIM, Manual for Teachers)

Most Christians will remind you that the Bible speaks of the world ending only after the gospel of Jesus Christ is spread far and wide:

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14)

But what is the gospel of Jesus Christ? Is it a gospel of fear, or a gospel of joy … a gospel of judgments believed to be "righteous," or a gospel of forgiveness so complete that grievances are unknown?

Regardless of human religious projections which have distorted the gospel, you know in your heart Jesus never taught you to feel sinful and guilty, you know in the depths of your being that you are a child of good, not evil.

Jesus states in the Bible, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3) A little child does not know of, or see, evil or sin. Children do not automatically feel guilty (they have to be taught guilt). Now Jesus states his teaching more clearly than ever:

“The father of illusions is the belief that they (beliefs in evil, sin, and guilt) have a purpose; that they serve a need or gratify a want. Perceived as purposeless, they are no longer seen. Their uselessness is recognized, and they are gone.” (ACIM, Manual for Teachers)

If the concept of evil is seen as purposeless, if the notion of sin is recognized as foolishness, if the idea of guilt is silly … then unholy judgments will end and be replaced by joy everlasting.

“Yes, such a state of innocence feels right. But what do I need to do?” Nothing! For God’s sake and yours, learn to do nothing. All your doing is an unholy judgment upon yourself. All your doing strengthens the attraction of evil, sin and guilt. “Show me someone who thinks he or she has to do something to reach Heaven and I’ll show you someone who cannot escape the self-judgment of evil, sin and guilt,” says Jesus. “Give it all away, and follow me.” Allow all your ideas to be undone by the Christ, rest in the peace of total trust that what you really want already exists when you simply give away what you don't want.

So exactly when will the world end? It will end when it is replaced with total forgiveness. It will end when you have joined your loved ones and surrendered to your personal "course in miracles," whatever form that might take. It will end when you have said a million times and finally really, really meant it with all your heart and soul and being:

“Beyond this world there is a world I want.
I choose to see that world instead of this,
For here is nothing that I really want.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Prophecy: Your Gift To Yourself!

2009-02-27T15:06:00.000-08:00

Prophecy: knowledge declared with certainty from beyond human perception.

Recently a female Mormon bank teller was asked, “What’s your birthday?” When she answered April 6, which happens to be the “birthday” of the Mormon Church, the asker remarked, “Maybe someday you’ll be a prophet.” The bank teller replied, “Not me. Maybe my husband.”

Of course this bank teller’s answer could possibly have been designed to draw the asker’s attention to the fact that as a female she would be a prophetess, not a prophet. But more likely she was addressing the asker’s apparent mistake in conceivably imagining a female could be Prophet of the Mormon Church.

In any case, there seems in the bank teller’s answer a possible implication that maybe God wouldn’t ever reveal prophetic revelation through a woman, at least not important prophetic revelation.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone can be trained to receive prophetic revelation, and in fact most women are naturally more receptive and more easily adaptable to the training.

And God knows the world needs prophetic revelation. The more men and women who are willing to become prophets, or prophetesses … the better.

For example, world-wide leaders seem to be flailing and defensively lashing out blindly at a seemingly polycephalic monster they call “world economic woes.” In the United States, President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Leader Harry Reid possess such bloated egos as to believe they can actually fight a nine-headed hydra who grows two new heads each time one is chopped off. Obama and his economic advisers and politicians are clueless about what is really going on because the U. S. economy (not to mention the world economy) is far too extensive and complex for the human mind to grasp. Their every step makes matters worse. Each political move sabotages what would have been another natural free market adjustment and lengthens the time we are guaranteed to experience economic chaos.

Listen to the words of Jesus and see if they apply to the government attempting to “solve” economic problems:

“In order to judge anything rightly, one would have to be fully aware of an inconceivably wide range of things; past, present and to come. One would have to recognize in advance all the effects of his judgments on everyone and everything involved in them in any way. And one would have to be certain there is no distortion in his perception, so that his judgment would be wholly fair to everyone on whom it rests now and in the future. Who is in a position to do this? Who except in grandiose fantasies would claim this for himself?

“Remember how many times you thought you knew all the 'facts' you needed for judgment, and how wrong you were! Is there anyone who has not had this experience? Would you know how many times you merely thought you were right, without ever realizing you were wrong? Why would you choose such an arbitrary basis for decision making?” (ACIM, Manual for Teachers)

Now maybe Jesus doesn’t appear to be talking about political intervention in economies, but Jesus talks in principles, doesn’t he? And the principle still applies. Even with respect to economic problems, what is needed is not the trial and error and guaranteed failure created by economic advisers and politicians who know not what they do, but the certain solution given by a prophet or prophetess. Jesus goes on to say:

“Wisdom is not judgment; it is the relinquishment of judgment. Make then but one more judgment. It is this: There is Someone with you Whose judgment is perfect. He does know all the facts; past, present and to come. He does know all the effects of His judgment on everyone and everything involved in any way. And He is wholly fair to everyone, for there is no distortion in His perception.” (ACIM, Manual for Teachers)

Is anyone willing to listen?

We've used economics as an example. To be sure, mankind could certainly use a few prophets or prophetesses to warn of the prolonged pain brought about by economic meddling by governments, but we also notice that historically prophets have access to a far broader picture than even the broadest economic canvass. Those who have developed prophetic gifts often address the overall moral fiber of all people. And they go further. They speak of the disaster which results from paying attention to ego-vested interests rather than giving attention to God, from listening to ego rather than listening to God’s Voice.

The Biblical prophet Isaiah begins his writings:

“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

“The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

“Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly! they have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged and gone backward." (Isaiah 1: 2-4)

Of course Isaiah is difficult for moderns because one could look up several different translations of the Bible and find very different meanings attributed to Isaiah. Wouldn’t it be better to at least supplement one's reading with modern prophecy written in 21st Century language? In A Course in Miracles the modern prophetess, Helen Schucman, relays the words of Jesus very clearly:

“If you cannot hear the voice of God, it is because you do not choose to listen. The fact that you DO listen to the voice of your ego is demonstrated by your attitudes, your feelings, and your behavior. Your attitudes are obviously conflicted; your feelings have a narrow range on the negative side, but are never purely joyous; and your behavior is either strained or unpredictable. Yet this IS what you want. This is what you are fighting to keep, and what you are vigilant to save. Your minds are filled with schemes to save the face of your egos, and you do not seek the Face of God.” (ACIM (unedited), Text Chap. 4)

Or wouldn’t it be even better to develop your own gift of prophecy? It's one thing to imagine what it would be like if President Obama took seriously the words of Jesus in A Course in Miracles. But even if Obama refuses, can you surrender yourself to the Master's words?

“All miracles mean life, and God is the Giver of life. His Voice will direct you very specifically. You will be told all you need to know.” (ACIM, Text Chap. 1, first page, Principles of Miracles #4)

“Okay, so a woman like me is capable of hearing prophecy! But I’m not religious!”

One doesn’t have to be religious to hear God’s Voice. Ayn Rand was a woman who would argue all night that she was an ego-worshipping atheist. Yet her novel, Atlas Shrugged, is highly prophetic and contains the same spiritual teaching as A Course in Miracles: that mankind is capable of life totally free of pain, fear, or guilt. Although she didn’t know and didn’t care to know the name of the Voice she was listening to, millions of readers nevertheless recognize Ayn Rand as a prophetess. If Barack Obama and his allies consider themselves too secular to read A Course in Miracles, they would at least do well to subdue their egos and hear Ayn Rand.

“What about a guy like me? You’ve already said hearing a prophetic voice is generally easier for women!”

Maybe often easier, but not at all impossible. Do not sabotage your possibilities. Make the commitment. Decide right now that you will hear God’s Voice … no matter what it takes.

Man or woman, as a prophet or prophetess you will find joy you couldn’t have imagined possible. For you will become a Teacher of God.

“God's teachers trust in Him. And they are sure His Teacher goes before them, making sure no harm can come to them. They hold His gifts and follow in His way, because God's Voice directs them in all things. Joy is their song of thanks. And Christ looks down on them in thanks as well. His need of them is just as great as theirs of Him. How joyous it is to share the purpose of salvation!” (ACIM, Manual For Teachers)

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Is 2009 Your Year of Freedom?

2008-12-29T16:07:00.000-08:00

Nothing to worry about,
nothing to fear!
2009
...a freeing year!
Those who are listening to the still small voice of Jesus Christ and his angels will laugh and tell you there is nothing to fear.

Those who read and take seriously the teachings of Jesus in His 21st Century revelation, A Course in Miracles, exude a joy that comes from their certainty there is nothing to fear.

Those with the vision to see the world-wide fear-release process that is going on beneath surface appearances are confident there is nothing to fear.

To be sure, it almost seems a huge hurricane of fear tore up many of the economic foundations of our world in 2008. But remember, our Holy Spirit’s job is fear-release. And no storm is so violent it cannot be tamed by our Holy Spirit. There is every assurance 2009 will be a very good year.

Much of the world-wide fear-release process depends on the American President. A Course in Miracles Discourses welcomes Barack Obama as elected President of the United States. We have total trust our Holy Spirit is working mightily with Obama and through him to further the Divine Plan for Peace and Prosperity. We pray daily that Barack Obama will be tuned in to the guidance of our Holy Spirit and will follow Divine Guidance faithfully. We visualize him courageously doing what is right for everyone, and not like some politicians spinelessly catering to ideological interests. Thank you for lending Barack Obama your strength.

Let’s suppose you send Barack Obama a copy of A Course in Miracles? Would such a gift be making a better world? If the Course would help the President of the United States deepen his dedication to listening inside to his spirit, certainly his reading it would be helpful, wouldn’t you say?

But then the question arises, does reading ACIM lead to developing any particular political tendency in general? We believe it does. We believe over time ACIM students become highly efficient creators of political liberty, peace and prosperity (sometimes without even knowing it).

Because 2008 has been an election year, we have recently published several articles having to do with the political ramifications of the Miracles teachings of Jesus. Especially important, we have discussed in separate articles how Jesus does not teach any form of government-forced (involuntary) socialism, and does not advocate government-forced taxation (a form of theft). History and logic verify that the initiation of force against those who have not themselves initiated force never leads to either prosperity or peace. But since Jesus Christ strives to lead us to both peace and prosperity, it is appropriate to compare political philosophies to the teachings of Jesus.

Dig to the depths of all political philosophies or political tendencies and you eventually find one’s view of the nature of reality.

If one believes a material world is all there is, the forced socialism of political progressives like the more leftist supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton makes seeming sense. To such a mind, laws of an entirely material world should logically be discoverable by scientists, and a man-made government based on scientific laws should reasonably be able to force the creation of a Utopian society.

On the other hand if one sees reality as spiritual, with the seeming material world only a manifestation or visible form of a deeper reality, then the inner desire to be in touch with “first things first” attracts one to outer conditions with the utmost flexibility to listen inside to one’s spirit and follow the guidance of one’s spirit without being hindered ... happily, the conditions of political liberty.

Students of A Course in Miracles naturally become advocates of political liberty

Miracles students see reality as spiritual, not material. We are aware that the material world is built in ego mind, and that to the degree one enjoys the freedom of one’s spirit (freedom from ego influence) one’s visible world rearranges itself to reflect this freedom in the form of political freedom. Furthermore, ACIM students cannot but rejoice when “outer” political liberty reflects their true inner state of being. As they become like Jesus, their joy is in offering freedom to everyone. Consider the words of Jesus:

"If you want to be LIKE me, I will help you, knowing that we ARE alike. If you want to be DIFFERENT, I will wait until you change your mind. I can TEACH you, but only you can choose to LISTEN to my teaching. How else can it be, if God's Kingdom IS freedom? Freedom cannot be learned by tyranny of ANY kind, and the perfect equality of ALL God's Sons cannot be recognized through the dominion of one will over another. God's Sons are equal in will, all being the Will of their Father. This is the ONLY lesson I can teach, knowing that it is true.

"Join then with me in praise of Him AND you who He created. This is our gift of gratitude to Him, which He will share with ALL His Creations, to whom He gives equally whatever is acceptable to Him. BECAUSE it is acceptable to Him, it is the gift of freedom, which IS His Will for all His Sons. By OFFERING freedom you will be free, because freedom is the only gift which you can offer to God's Sons, being an acknowledgment of what they are and what HE is." (ACIM Text Chap. 8)

Advocates of political liberty exponentially help their cause with A Course in Miracles

Libertarians and lovers of liberty of all stripes need to come to the realization that the freedom they really, really, really crave is facilitated by A Course in Miracles. As Jesus Himself states it in his Introduction to the Course:

“It is crucial to say first that this is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what to take when.” (ACIM Introduction – unedited version)

Lovers of political liberty supposedly value an open mind. An open mind might ask: “What if I am far more spiritually attuned than I believe?" Many libertarians (at least when they are young) call themselves atheists. Their professed atheism arises from their “free spiritedness.” They know their spirit is free. They feel the desire of their spirit to stay free of preconceived ideas and previously formed structures. They may not know it yet, but they are more open spiritually than many hard-core religionists who have fallen into preconceived ideas and structures. In the spirit of open-mindedness libertarians need to at least withhold judgment regarding A Course in Miracles and not dismiss it with an automatic knee jerk reaction.

A Course in Miracles prepares one for a vastly expanded experience of freedom. The Course also makes clear the little-understood but earth-moving creative powers of mind, so it becomes very easy to see that by first opening to an overwhelming inner experience of freedom one ultimately solidifies conditions of political freedom in one’s world. The principle is “first things first.” The old saying “as above, so below” might just as well have been stated “as inside one’s self, so outside one’s self,” for in truth “inside” and “outside” are illusions. The Course student’s deep desire and hymn is: “There will be freedom on earth … and it will begin with me.”

Recognition that it must start “inside oneself” does not imply worshipping the human ego (identification of oneself as a limited individualized body and mind). Unfortunately the philosophy of political liberty took a wrong turn when it adopted without checking deeper premises Ayn Rand’s glorification of the ego. By identifying oneself with a little helpless (in the grand scheme of things) human body and human consciousness, one has begun the process of self imprisonment, which can only lead to the outer “imprisonment” of political tyranny. The creation of political freedom requires being in tune with the source of freedom. Ponder again the words of Jesus:

"The belief in EGO autonomy is costing you the knowledge of your dependence on God, IN WHICH YOUR FREEDOM LIES. The ego sees ALL dependency as threatening, and has twisted even your longing for God into a means of establishing ITSELF. But do not be deceived by ITS interpretation of your conflict. The ego ALWAYS attacks on behalf of separation. Believing it HAS the power to do this, it does nothing else, because its goal of autonomy IS nothing else. The ego is totally confused about reality, BUT IT DOES NOT LOSE SIGHT OF ITS GOAL. It is much more vigilant than YOU are, BECAUSE it is perfectly certain of its purpose. YOU are confused, because you do NOT know YOURS.

"Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God? You will accept only who YOU invite. You are free to determine who shall be your guest, and how long he shall remain with you. But this is not REAL freedom, for it depends on how you see it. For the Holy Spirit is THERE, although He cannot help you without your invitation; and the ego is nothing, whether you invite it or not. Real freedom depends on welcoming REALITY, and of your guests only He IS real. Know, then, Who abides with you, merely by recognizing WHAT IS ALREADY THERE, and do not be satisfied with imaginary comforters, for the Comforter of God is in you." (ACIM Text Chap. 11)

The inevitable "end time"

With this article, we have hoped to encourage students of A Course in Miracles to recognize their inherent dedication to political liberty, as well as interest advocates of political liberty to consider the possibility that A Course in Miracles might prove to be the single most valuable tool for reaching their goal. We have not sought to prove, but can only state our certainty, that in the end there will be a world of political freedom, and that such a world will arise out of the consciousness of men and women experiencing the joy of out-of-this-world spiritual freedom.

But the "end time" starts in 2009, doesn’t it? Knowing that human events course corrections are being influenced constantly by our Holy Spirit, we have total confidence that 2009 will be a fabulous year in the service of freedom for all mankind. And at the dawn of this great year we do well to remember the words of Jesus:

“I did not understand what made me free,
nor what my freedom is,
nor where to look to find it.

Father, I have searched in vain until I heard Your Voice directing me.
Now I would guide myself no more.
For I have neither made nor understood the way to find my freedom.
But I trust in You.
You Who endowed me with my freedom as Your holy Son will not be lost to me.
Your Voice directs me."

(Prayer from A Course in Miracles)

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Would Jesus Overturn Obama Tax Table?

2008-12-11T11:16:00.001-08:00

Can followers of Jesus Christ logically favor taxation?

Once again it is election season in America and once again Americans are faced with an illusory alternative: Caesar in Democratic Party clothing or Caesar in Republican Party clothing. Apparently what makes the illusion saleable is the mistaken idea (used by Caesar as propaganda) that Jesus Christ was a socialist who supported taxation.

Fascists, communists, and progressives (supporters of three branches of socialism), even after all the misery they have created the world over in the last 100 to 150 years, even now still aim a loud speaker toward us blaring the long broken record of their propaganda mantra: “Jesus was a socialist,” by which they try to convince us that Jesus advocated using government force or threat of force to redistribute wealth.

We’ve addressed the "socialist" issue in the past (See Jesus Christ's Love vs. Obama Style Socialism)

Nonetheless, the illusion could not be sold to the public if it were not for modern conservatives insisting that Jesus supported taxation. If someone tries campaigning against taxation, which is the primary tool of government redistribution of wealth, even conservatives who believe they are conserving the freedom America originally promised can be heard helping the socialists make noise by droning, “Well, Jesus advocated paying taxes.”

Maybe it’s time to look at the words of Jesus himself.

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"

"Caesar's," they replied.

Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (Matthew 22:16-21)

The intent of the Pharisees was to catch Jesus making an anti-taxation utterance. They knew many of his followers were anti-government zealots who hated being forced to pay taxes. Surely they could lure him into saying taxes collected by force (armed robbery), or threat of future harm (extortion), are immoral. Then they would have a case against him to take to the Roman governor.

Jesus saw through the attempted trap. He knew if he said, “It is wrong to pay taxes,” he would be arrested for sedition before his appointed time. If he said, “It is right to pay taxes,” the pharisees could shout that this is a teacher who supports an immoral system. Either answer would sabotage his work.

By not saying it is right to pay taxes but not saying it is wrong either, Jesus avoided the trap and at the same time taught his disciples what is really important. On the one hand, Jesus was basically saying: “Your devotion to God and to God’s work is more important than petty ego-vested support or petty ego-resistance regarding an immoral earthly system.” At the same time, Jesus was implying that God is in charge and the immoral robbery and extortion of taxation will in time create its own karma. The secondary meaning of his words in essence was: “Keep your attention on God. Caesar will get what is coming to him.”

Jesus was no socialist and he was no advocate of taxation. If he were an advocate of taxation, he would not have dictated, as he did in the original unedited version of A Course in Miracles miracle principle #23: Miracles make time and tide wait for all men. They can heal the sick and raise the dead because man himself made both death and taxes, and can abolish both.

(The above sentence was changed by Ken Wapnick in editing to the sentence popularly found in principle #24, but can be found in the unedited version of the Course: here)

Despite the immorality of taxation, we nonetheless go along with various governments and pay taxes ... why? Because Jesus teaches we would be stepping out of the kingdom of heaven if we were to step into resistance. If we strained against taxation we would be taxing ourselves, wouldn’t we? (In ACIM, Jesus adds a side note: Tax also means “strain.”)

To those who advocate socialism or the forced redistribution of wealth through taxation, Jesus says: “Escape today the chains you place upon your mind when you perceive salvation here.” (ACIM Lesson 128) Nobody is going to be saved or benefited by schemes concocted by extremely illusory human perception and misnamed "progressive" man-made governments.

To these misguided ones Jesus adds: “The world is not where it [your focus] belongs. And you belong where it would be, and where it goes to rest when you release it from the world.” (ACIM Lesson 128) , and “Is it a loss to find a world instead where losing is impossible, where love endures forever, hate cannot exist, and vengeance has no meaning? Is it loss to find all things you really want and know they have no ending, and they will remain exactly as you want them throughout time?” (ACIM Lesson 129)

Maybe this new fresh world Jesus mentions is the world socialist Utopians mistakenly believe can be made through forced redistribution of wealth. Maybe their heart’s desire is being felt correctly but they need to be forgiven because in their ego-interpretation they know not what they do.

Jesus in essence says to well-meaning progressives, “Worship God, not government. Worship God, and government will take care of itself. In his Lesson 23, he says: “There is no point in lamenting the world. There is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect. But there is indeed a point in changing your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The effects will change automatically." (ACIM Lesson 23)

Finally, those are not forgotten who struggle to make ends meet under the slavery of socialism and forced redistribution of wealth through taxation. To all his beloved ones, rich or poor, taxers or taxed ... to you very personally ... Jesus offers totally freeing hope as you with deep sincerity voice the words of the following lesson:

Lesson 279
“Creation’s freedom promises my own.”

The end of dreams is promised me, because God’s Son is not abandoned by His Love. Only in dreams is there a time when he appears to be in prison, and awaits a future freedom if it be at all. Yet in reality his dreams are gone, with truth established in their place. And now is freedom his already. Should I wait in chains which have been severed for release, when God is offering me freedom now?

“I will accept Your promises today, and give my faith to them.

My Father loves the Son Whom He created as His Own.

Would You withhold the gifts You gave to me?”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Obama & McCain: Big Difference or No Difference?

2008-09-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

What is the most important thing to keep in mind as Barack Obama and John McCain fight for the U.S. Presidency?

Democrats who are fearful that McCain might win now that he has the highly appealing Sarah Palin as his running mate need to keep in mind that God is in charge. If God is in charge, the right man will win.

Oops! Did we just give a clue as to who will win the U.S. Presidency? Will it be the man who is more to the right and less to the left of the political spectrum? Such an interpretation would certainly make sense given the general direction of the U.S. population in the years since Ronald Reagan campaigned for the Presidency. Reagan said government is always the problem, never the solution ... a belief which has taken deeper and deeper root in recent decades with their daily government-caused chaos.

But then again, the leftist Barack Obama talks constantly about change. The only change in government that would really be change would be to reduce its size, cut its programs, lower taxes, lay off bureaucrats, and reduce the tax burden of Americans by at least half. Is Barack Obama honestly interested in bringing about such truly fundamental and freeing change?

It doesn't seem so. He campaigns for new government programs, more bureaucrats, and heavier taxation. The only "change" he seems to want is Democrat dictatorship in place of Republican dictatorship, forcing on the country programs favored by the Democratic Party in place of programs favored by the Republican Party. This is not change. It is substitution.

Here is what Jesus Christ says of substitution:

To substitute is to ACCEPT INSTEAD. If you would but consider exactly what this entails, you would perceive at once how much at variance this is with the goal the Holy Spirit has given you and would accomplish FOR you. To substitute is to CHOOSE BETWEEN, renouncing one IN FAVOR of the other. For this SPECIAL purpose, one is judged more valuable, and the other REPLACED by him. The relationship in which the substitution occurred is thus fragmented, and ITS PURPOSE SPLIT accordingly. To fragment IS TO EXCLUDE, and substitution is the strongest defense the ego has for separation. The Holy Spirit NEVER substitutes. (ACIM Text Chap. 18)

Because there is no spiritual benefit from substitution, maybe the right candidate will win after all.

But most importantly, it makes no difference who wins. No matter who wins, it will not be the end of the world, nor will there be out-of-this-world joyous happiness. Because politicians cannot create such conditions. Only an advanced spiritual teacher can "take you out of here." Only a preparation device such as that given by Jesus Christ, A Course in Miracles, can help train your mind to be ready for life not of this world.

Unless you are totally enlightened spiritually, your world is a place of pain, sickness, suffering, and death. If John McCain wins the American Presidency, your world will remain a place of pain, sickness, suffering, and death. If Barack Obama were to win the American Presidency, your world would still be a place of pain, sickness, suffering, and death. No government made up by human consciousness can solve the conditions created in the first place by human consciousness. Human government is the problem, not the solution. The attempt to have human government, not Divine Government, is what placed you where you find yourself.

So what can you do ... just be happy no matter who wins the election? That's not a bad idea. But why not choose total happiness even before the election is won by one or the other of the candidates? Why not realize that the seeming two candidates are really one ... and wish them both the perfect outcome directed by the Holy Spirit's vision?

Where the ego perceives one person as a REPLACEMENT FOR another, the Holy Spirit sees them joined and indivisible. He does not judge BETWEEN them, KNOWING they are one. Being united, they are one BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME. Substitution is clearly a process in which they are PERCEIVED AS DIFFERENT. One would UNITE; the other SEPARATE. NOTHING can come BETWEEN what God has joined, and what the Holy Spirit sees as one. (ACIM Text Chap. 18)

Walking the earth, Jesus kept his attention and focus far above politics. Knowing taxation is a form of slavery, his disciples had a natural temptation to resist paying taxes. Jesus told them it wasn't worth the pain to resist, basically saying, "Go ahead and pay the taxes. Your real kingdom is not of this world." In other words, any resistance takes your mind off the real world.

Jesus knows the Holy Spirit's power is so far superior to any human-invented political movement, so totally assured of success, that it really doesn't matter who appears, in earthly perception, to be in charge.

"The Emperor is in charge!"

"Yeah, sure!"

But He who is in charge has a wonderful surprise waiting for those who stay happy no matter what goes on around them on earth. Human politicians promise a utopia they could never deliver for they live a dream and dreams deliver only chaos. But Heaven's promise is beyond all earthly dreams.

Yet Heaven IS sure. THIS IS NO DREAM. Its coming means that you have chosen truth, and it has come, because you have been willing to let your special relationship meet its conditions. (ACIM Text Chap. 18)

So during this election season ... and forever afterwards ... let us keep in mind the prayer given to his modern-day disciples by Jesus Christ:

"Today I let Christ’s vision look upon
All things for me and judge them not, but give
Each one a miracle of love instead......

....Amen.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Find New Joy With Relationship Miracles

2008-08-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

Never in the course of human history has it been so easy to create a perfect relationship ... true or false?

From a spiritual point of view, every relationship we experience is an invitation to a miracle ... a potential for everlasting acceptance, forgiveness, love, joy, and inner peace.

"Gee, if I felt those feelings with everyone it would be like being in love with everyone!"

Exactly! And that's why all relationship miracles can be taught so well using the metaphor and language of romantic love.

Dwell upon these words from the introduction of Course in Relationship Miracles:

Romantic love is one of the most spiritually opening experiences one can have in life on earth. It is an experience that is dreamed of and sought after and sung about more than any other experience on earth precisely because it "seems like heaven" when you are experiencing it. Certainly if any feeling on earth could be a close approximation to the experience of heaven, it would be romantic love.

Wouldn't you ultimately want all your relationships to be like heaven? Or put it this way: if all your relationships were like heaven, wouldn't you be living in "heaven on earth?" And wouldn't such a happy existence be at the very gateway to the real heaven?

So it pays to become a master of relationships, wouldn't you say? Which means we want to study and practice courses like Course in Relationship Miracles.

This course uses the language of romantic love to teach the success principles of relationships, from maintaining the highest of highs to pulling oneself out of the deepest of depths:

Just as romantic love is like opening to heaven, the complications which arise in romantic love can be like opening to hell ... unless miracles enter the picture. Thus the need for a course such as this one.

But isn't it true that complications can arise in all relationships? And wouldn't the answer be the same regardless of what type of relationship it seems to be? And if principles are true, couldn't they be followed with one's associates, or friends, or even "enemies" with the same success as with one's romantic partner?

The Course in Relationship Miracles teaches you how to maintain romantic openness and extreme happiness throughout your entire relationship. To most people, this would seem like a miracle ... thus the name of the course. But the "miracle" is not scientifically unexplainable. It is merely a matter of newly revealed technology.

So the Course in Relationship Miracles is written for the romantic who wants to make the romance last, but also for anyone who wants to make any relationship a good or better experience.

Newly revealed technology? Well, let's put it this way: have your old methods worked? Have your old approaches brought you lasting peace and joy? Has your old style led you to say that all your relationships are perfect?

The Course in Relationship Miracles is interested in helping you blast through the limitations of old-style relationships, allowing you to operate on a level which could almost be called "miraculous," as you follow your unique spirit-directed path to happiness in relationships. To this end, we offer what might be the most life-changing course you will ever take.

"Yes, but I can remember being in relationships where I felt giddy with joy and bursting with love. It just never lasted. Are you saying I can make it last?"

What exactly happens in romantic love? Why is the feeling sometimes short-lived? What causes romance to wear thin? How can partnerships be sustained in highly romantic happiness without a lot of work? Not only are these and related questions answered in this course, but the course offers the mind-training necessary to make the romance last.

The Course in Relationship Miracles will lift you way up ... and here's a little hint as to where it will gently place you once you are lifted high: you will eventually learn to live in out-of-this-world oneness.

But maybe to reach the fullness of that experience you might ultimately need to allow to work on you the more profoundly life-changing device, A Course in Miracles given to us by Jesus Christ, of which the relationship course is but an inkling. Yet taking an interest in creating more peaceful and fulfilling relationships, or relieving the conflict of painful relationships, is certainly a good place to start for many people, possibly many of your friends.

Then in the end when all is learned (or unlearned), there is one final happy surprise. As if the universe has been playing with us all along, we discover we cannot even experience "relationships," because ultimately there are not two or more. There is only one. So eventually we learn to experience not relationships, but oneness. Listen to these words of Jesus Christ from A Course in Miracles:

The beautiful relationship you have with all your brothers is a part of you BECAUSE it is a part of God Himself. Either there IS a gap between you and your brother, or you ARE as one. There is no in between, no other choice, and no allegiance to be split BETWEEN the two. A split allegiance is but faithlessness to both, and merely sets you spinning round, to grasp uncertainly at any straw that seems to hold some promise of relief. Yet who can build his home upon a straw, and count on it as shelter from the wind? (ACIM Text Chap. 28)

If you are already using A Course in Miracles as a spiritual opening device, maybe you are already experiencing oneness more often than you ever dreamed possible. Maybe the only use you will have for the relationships course mentioned above is to recommend it to those who are ready for relief but not yet ready for the depth of the course Jesus gave to Helen Schucman; recommending it, in other words, to those who need to start with baby steps.

But whether someone starts with the easier to grasp relationships course or the more deeply profound course given by Jesus Christ to Helen, either way this will end up being the final prayer:

"Father, our Name is Yours.
In It we are united with all living things
and You Who are their One Creator.

What we made and call by many different names
is but a shadow we have tried to cast across
Your Own Reality.
And we are glad and thankful we were wrong.
All our mistakes we give to You,
that we may be absolved of all effects
our errors seemed to have.
And we accept the truth You give
in place of every one of them.

Your Name is our salvation
and escape from what we made.
Your Name unites us in the Oneness
which is our inheritance and peace....

....Amen.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

McCain, Obama, and the Insanity of Man-mad Laws

2008-07-31T06:27:00.000-07:00

Liberty is spiritual, but man-made government is the root of all evil ... true or false?

Before you dismiss such a question as far-fetched, stop to ponder the full meaning of the words of Jesus: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." (Matthew 22:21) Think about what it would mean if man-made government was able to seriously block you from acting upon guidance from your Holy Spirit.

Dwell on the words of Ezra Taft Bensen, former President of the Mormon Church, talking to BYU students. But as you do so, pretend he is talking to you as a student of the 21st Century revelation from Jesus Christ: A Course in Miracles.

The gospel of Jesus Christ can prosper only in an atmosphere of freedom. As members of his Church, we have a major responsibility to do all in our power to see that freedom is preserved and safeguarded. I pray that God will bless you to see communism for what it really is: the greatest system of human slavery that the world has ever known.

Another notable counterfeit system to the Lord's plan is collectivized socialism. Socialism derives its philosophy from the founders of communism, Marx and Engels. Communism in practice is socialism. Its purpose is world socialism, which the communists seek to achieve by revolution, and which the socialists seek to achieve by evolution. Both communism and socialism have the same effect upon the individual--a loss of personal liberty.

Why is socialism incompatible with man's liberty? Socialism cannot work except through an all-powerful state. The state has to be supreme in everything. When individuals begin to exert their God-given rights, the state has to suppress that freedom.

Of course a phrase like "God-given rights" needs some clarification. If you listen inside and hear the Voice for God as taught in A Course in Miracles, then it is right for you to follow the instruction you hear. In fact, if you are a 100% dedicated student of Jesus, then the only thing that is right for you is to listen inside and do as told.

But a nearly omnipresent, omnipotent man-made government waving laws, rules and regulations in your face every direction you turn hardly even gives you a chance to quiet your mind and hear spiritual guidance, never mind carry out instructions heard inside. In fact, a man-made government run by egoistic politicians and keeping you in slavery by means of oppressive taxation makes it a painful struggle to even keep your head above water, never mind learn what the Holy Spirit would really have you learn and create what the Holy Spirit would really have you create.

"But doesn't socialism take from the rich and give to the poor? And isn't that what Jesus practiced?"

No, it's not what Jesus practiced! Consider again the words of Ezra Taft Bensen:

Americans have always been committed to taking care of the poor, aged, and unemployed. We have done this on the basis of Judaic-Christian beliefs and humanitarian principles. It has been fundamental to our way of life that charity must be voluntary if it is to be charity. Compulsory benevolence is not charity. Today's socialists--who call themselves egalitarians--are using the federal government to redistribute wealth in our society, not as a matter of voluntary charity, but as a so-called matter of right.

Let's look at a "matter of right." If what is right is listening inside and doing as told, then voluntary charity certainly would be a matter of right, since such giving is an extension of spiritual impulses. But there can be no spiritual benefit to either giver or receiver from people being forced by a man-made government to give to the poor. In fact, that would be not right, but wrong.

In this respect, President Bensen quotes the great social commentator Edmund Burke warning of the threat of any political attempt to create economic equality:

A perfect equality will indeed be produced--that is to say, equal wretchedness, equal beggary, and on the part of the petitioners, a woeful, helpless, and desperate disappointment. Such is the event of all compulsory equalizations. They pull down what is above; they never raise what is below; and they depress high and low together beneath the level of what was originally the lowest.

You might wonder if politicians like Barack Obama or John McCain would even let go of their arrogance long enough to read Edmund Burke.

But then the arrogance starts with us, doesn't it? Politicians only carry to extreme the laws of chaos we have made up. Here are the words of Jesus Christ from A Course in Miracles:

Chaotic laws are hardly meaningful, and therefore out of reason's sphere. Yet they appear to constitute an obstacle to reason and to truth. Let us, then, look upon them calmly, that we may look beyond them, understanding what they are, not what they would maintain. It is essential it be understood what they are for, because it is their purpose to make meaningless, and to attack the truth. Here are the laws that rule the world you made. And yet they govern nothing, and need not be broken; merely looked upon and gone beyond. (ACIM Text Chap. 23)

You might say man-made government as we see it out there in our society is merely a reflection of an attempt to have man-made government inside ourselves.

The solution, of course, is simple. Dedicate ourselves to God, to listening for God, to experiencing God, to being God's teacher. Here's what Jesus tells us about those who are willing to be God's teachers:

Perception is the result of learning. In fact, perception is learning, because cause and effect are never separated. The teachers of God have trust in the world, because they have learned it is not governed by the laws the world made up. It is governed by a Power That is in them but not of them. It is this Power That keeps all things safe. It is through this Power that the teachers of God look on a forgiven world.

When this Power has once been experienced, it is impossible to trust one's own petty strength again. Who would attempt to fly with the tiny wings of a sparrow when the mighty power of an eagle has been given him? And who would place his faith in the shabby offerings of the ego when the gifts of God are laid before him? (ACIM Manual for Teachers)

Certainly the American Revolution was a spiritually guided attempt to put an end to (or at least severely limit) man-made government and replace it with "in God we Trust." Another of the revolutionary mottos, still on American currency, was Novus ordo seculorum: "A new order of the ages."

As we feel the revolutionary spirit this month of July, let us repeat often the following statement from A Course in Miracles and ask God to help us make real in our world it's truth:

"I am under no laws but God’s.
Here is the perfect statement of my freedom.

I am under no laws but God’s.
I am constantly tempted to make up other laws,
and give them power over me.
I suffer only because of my belief in them.
They have no real effect on me at all.

I am perfectly free of the effects of all laws,
save God’s.
And His are the laws of freedom.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Jesus Christ's Love vs. Obama Style Socialism

2008-05-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

There is no reason to think the socialism advocated by Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton (and most other Democrats and Republicans) is Christianity. All the difference in the world exists between voluntarily sharing as an extension of one's spirit, and mandatory government programs enforced by government guns.

Yes, early Christians practiced voluntary socialism (community ownership and sharing guided by one's spirit) as have many Christian cults through history:

"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need." (Acts 4:32-35)

In fact, Karl Marx was a Christian in his youth and he must have felt the spirit of the earliest Christian community in Jerusalem as ideal. However, somehow along the way Marx must have become impatient with people making voluntary choices, because he became an advocate of heavy-handed dictatorship, the inevitable result of the 10 policy programs recommended in his Communist Manifesto (all necessarily maintained by government force):

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.

You have probably noticed that Marxist "progressives" have been successful in implementing the majority of this manifesto in most countries of the world. In communist countries, tens of millions of non-believers have been slaughtered in cold blood. In countries where "progressives" have advanced their socialist agenda without having to murder, their programs have severely limited the natural expression of the inventive and creative spirit of hundreds of millions of people, resulting in countries all over the world stuck in chronic unemployment, shortages of goods and services, and severly limited freedom and opportunity. They have "killed" the spirit, so to speak.

All of the misery created over the last hundred and fifty years by socialist ideas stems from one single anti-Christian idea popularized by Karl Marx and his followers: you are a victim of the world you see.

Once you believe you are a victim of the world around you, you are likely to invent illusions of being oppressed or seeing an oppressed people, as Barack Obama and his church have done:

"As a congregation of baptized believers, we are called to be agents of liberation not only for the oppressed, but for all of God’s family.

"The fortunate who are among us combine forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!" - Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ

If you were to buy into the socialist world view of the overriding importance of the material world, you would then accept only facts that support your preconceived belief. It would no longer matter that free markets consist of free people making free choices, and using their free choices to teach themselves the (sometimes very difficult) lessons of life. Because now you would be blinded by illusions you have made up in your mind of "economic mal-distribution" and "oppression."

Yet Jesus Christ clearly has no interest in materialism. Jesus doesn't care, as Barack Obama does, if some people have more and some people have less. Jesus calls his followers away from addiction to material concerns and invites them to focus only on the spiritual. He tells the rich young man:

"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)

In his modern revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles, Jesus Christ thoroughly reinforces his teaching that the material world means nothing:

The world you see has nothing that you need to offer you; nothing that you can use in any way, nor anything at all that serves to give you joy. Believe this thought, and you are saved from years of misery, from countless disappointments, and from hopes that turn to bitter ashes of despair. No one but must accept this thought as true, if he would leave this world behind and soar beyond its petty scope and little ways.

Each thing you value here is but a chain that binds you to the world, and it will serve no other end but this. For everything must serve the purpose you have given it until you see a different purpose there. The only purpose worthy of your mind this world contains is that you pass it by, without delaying to perceive some hope where there is none. Be you deceived no more. The world you see has nothing that you want. (ACIM Lesson 128)

But freeing oneself of addiction to a materialistic view of the world is just the beginning. Jesus Christ takes us much farther into personal responsibility with his Course in Miracles lessons.

Lesson 31: “I am not the victim of the world I see.”

Lesson 32: "I have invented the world I see."

Lesson 33: "There is another way of looking at the world."

Lesson 34: "I could see peace instead of this."

We've seen Barack Obama's pastors like Reverend Wright, and his other teachers, vent their grievances against unequal distribution of material wealth. But Jesus Christ teaches to forgive all appearances and let go of all grievances:

Lesson 68: "Love holds no grievances."

Lesson 69: "My grievances hide the light of the world in me."

Lesson 72: “Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.”

The truth is it doesn't matter if Democrats grope around stumbling blindly ... or if Republicans attempt to feel their way with cataracts blurring their vision. There is no reason for you to accept unclear seeing. There is no reason for you to surrender your world to Caesar.

Join Jesus Christ in affirming that the material world is not your overriding concern. Feel the joy and freedom of knowing that the material world will take care of itself if your focus is above and beyond the material world. Hold the following prayer in mind constantly as you go through your days this month:

"Heavenly Father,
I sought for many things,
And found despair.
Now do I seek but one,
For in that one is all I need,
And only what I need.

My only need I did not recognize.
But now I see that I need only truth.
In that, all needs are satisfied,
All cravings end,
All hopes are finally fulfilled,
And dreams are gone.

Now have I everything that I could need.
Now have I everything that I could want.
And now at last I find myself at peace."

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Utah

Lessons We Learn From Religious Persecution of FLDS by Texas Judge Walther

2008-05-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

Religious persecution is alive and well in America.

There is absolutely no evidence that anyone in the FLDS religious community in Eldorado, Texas has broken the law. There is speculation that maybe a law has been broken. There is socialist testimony that someday in the future children might possibly be subject to abuse or at least a different kind of indoctrination than is taught in public schools. And based on "maybe" and "might possibly," some 460 children have been forcibly separated from their parents and siblings despite promises that there would be no separation.

This is not called "saving the children" (who were never in any immediate danger). Invading a religious community and carrying off the children with excuses of "maybe" and "might possibly" is called religious persecution.

But what if something really was going on at their ranch? What if? Do you want police raiding your home on the basis of "what if?" Or are you glad there is something called the 4th Amendment?

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." - U.S. Constitution, 4th Amendment

This Amendment was totally violated by Texas authorities in their raid on the Eldorado ranch, but that issue will be sorted out by Courts of Appeal and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court ... by which time the FLDS children will be grown to adulthood and the FLDS religious community long disbanded in Texas.

Thus Texas gets precisely the result they wanted. They did not want a highly visible polygamous religious community in Texas, pure and simple.

Do you need proof? Here are excerpts from an article published in the Deseret News:

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff testified in Texas legislative committee hearings in support of the proposed changes, which were intended to help Texas authorities address new found problems stemming from the FLDS compound and its inhabitants' way of life.

"Our marriage laws needed to be updated anyway," Hildebrand said. "Moving from 14 to 16 was a no-brainer for parental consent. It would have the least amount of push-back."

Hilderbran said Texas had enough authority under the criminal laws already on the books for statutory rape and sexual assault of minors to justify its raid and believes those provisions "really boxes them in."

To read entire news article click: This won't be "another Short Creek."

Pay attention to the fact that the Texas Legislature rewrote their marriage law (with the help of a Utah polygamy fighter) for the specific purpose of hoping to entrap a particular religious community. Texas do-gooders didn't want the polygamist "way of life" (their language) in their midst, so they wrote a law they knew would allow them to hassle and destroy the community.

It's been done before in history. The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209–1229) was a brutal military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the heresy of the Cathars of Southern France. The entire population of Cathars, tens of thousands of men, women, and children, were slaughtered; except for a few who surrendered and converted to the "official" church. Even these few were later burned in an inquisition if they showed any inclination to revert to their old beliefs.

It will be done again in future history, possibly if students of Jesus Christ's modern revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles, decide to live in cloistered or somewhat cloistered communities in attempts to experience God without the distractions of the outside world.

Christian book stores are stocked with books calling A Course in Miracles a cult. That's the first step. On CBS, Dan Rather attempted to use cult investigator Rick Ross to cast dispersions on Endeavor Academy, the most successful teaching institution of A Course in Miracles. It didn't matter that Rick Ross had never lived at Endeavor Academy and had no idea whatsoever what goes on there anymore than Texas authorities knew what really goes on in an FLDS religious community.

So the appearances are that sooner or later if you really want to live "outside the world," so to speak, in communion with God, the world will attack you.

But Jesus teaches us not to judge by appearances. Do the appearances necessarily have to come true?

After all, your world is a reflection of your own consciousness. If there is no attack in your mind, then there is no attack in your world. Here is how Jesus says it in A Course in Miracles:

It is surely obvious that if you can be attacked you are not invulnerable. You see attack as a real threat. That is because you believe that you can really attack. And what would have effects through you must also have effects on you. It is this law that will ultimately save you. But you are misusing it now. You must therefore learn how it can be used for your own best interests, rather than against them.

Because your attack thoughts will be projected, you will fear attack. And if you fear attack, you must believe that you are not invulnerable. Attack thoughts therefore make you vulnerable in your own mind, which is where the attack thoughts are. Attack thoughts and invulnerability cannot be accepted together. They contradict each other.

The idea for today introduces the thought that you always attack yourself. If attack thoughts must entail the belief that you are vulnerable, their effect is to weaken you in your own eyes. Thus they have attacked your perception of yourself. And because you believe in them, you can no longer believe in yourself. A false image of yourself has come to take the place of what you are. (ACIM Lesson 26)

Translated into street language: you draw to you what you fear. David Koresh feared his religious community in Waco would end in fire. And of course the FBI burned them all up just as surely as the Catholic Church once burned heretics at the stake. The FLDS gentle souls feared the world's authorities would find a way to persecute them. And of course it happened in Eldorado. It happens because holding attack thoughts about "those outsiders," or "those others," means you are attacking yourself ... and therefore creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Of course Jesus shows us the next step:

“Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.” (ACIM Lesson 72)

And finally Jesus walks us through the steps of our salvation:

“I am entitled to miracles.” (ACIM Lesson 77)

“Let miracles replace all grievances.” (ACIM Lesson 78)

This month as we hold in mind a picture of a bright future for the FLDS children, seemingly captives of state socialism at it's worst, let us repeat often the following prayer for all these children ... and for all who have felt religious persecution in past and future time ... and for all those who are so out of touch with God that they feel the need to persecute ... and for ourselves....

"Father,
let me remember You are here,
And I am not alone.
Surrounding me is everlasting Love.
I have no cause for anything except
the perfect peace and joy I share with you.

Fear binds the world.
Forgiveness sets it free.
Truth never makes attack.
Truth merely is.

Surrounding me is perfect safety.
Can I be afraid,
when Your eternal promise goes with me?
What can I fear,
when You created me in holiness
as perfect as Your Own?"

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

The Mysteries of High Gas Prices

2008-05-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Business persecution is alive and well in America.

Both major party presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain point to high gasoline prices and say, "Let's punish oil companies by stealing some of their profits."

So much for common sense. Oil companies have to make a good percentage of profit in order to afford new drilling or new refining capacity so as to create more supply. Without increased supply, demand will drive prices higher than ever. But then nobody ever accused politicians of exhibiting common sense, wouldn't you say?

In any case, oil companies are not responsible for the rising price of gasoline. Here's how economists without a political agenda tell the story:

Once oil is pumped from the ground, it can be sold on the spot market, a last-minute trading arena where oil companies and distributors buy and sell to each other, or straight to refiners. After it's brewed into gasoline, the product can again be sold on the spot market, or directly to wholesalers, who in turn can supply their own stations or sell it to other retailers.

Each step of the way, buyers and sellers negotiate a price until, finally, drivers pay the ultimate tab at the pump.

Oil companies do not set either the price of oil or the cost of a gallon of gas. Prices are a function of the open market, the result of futures contracts being traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, or Nymex, and other exchanges around the world.

Buying the current July crude oil futures contract means you're buying oil that will be delivered by the end of July. But most investors who trade futures have no intention of ever accepting the underlying oil: Like stock investors who frequently buy and sell their holdings, they're simply betting that prices will rise or fall.

Of late, on the Nymex, oil futures have been rising.

Why? Blame the falling dollar. Oil is priced in U.S. dollars, and the weaker the dollar gets, the more attractive dollar-denominated oil contracts are to foreign investors — or any investor looking for a safe haven in the turbulent stock market.

The rush of buyers keeps pushing oil futures to a series of new records, and the rest of the energy complex, including gasoline futures, has followed. That pushes up the price of gas that goes into your tank.

Okay, so the culprit is not oil companies, but a weakening U.S. dollar. But who is responsible for a weakening dollar? Politicians! More specifically, Congressmen and Senators (Republican or Democrat) who promise voters spending, spending, and more spending; and any president (Democrat or Republican) who acquiesces in all this spending.

Since government is the ultimate cause of rising gasoline prices, what's it all about - this cry for stealing oil company profits? It's about business persecution.

Profits are a measure of efficiency and wise decisions. Since government does not use profit as a measure, governments have no way of gauging their own efficiency or the wisdom of their own decisions ... and of course most departments of most governments become notoriously inefficient. This reason alone is enough to justify extremely limited (libertarian) government.

Nonetheless politicians and bureaucrats, to live with themselves psychologically, have to justify in their minds what they are doing. Otherwise most of them would feel so much inner conflict they would quit politics or government service altogether. Therefore, government worshippers tend to develop a subconscious hatred for profits.

"Oh, don't get us wrong. We don't hate profits. We just hate obscene profits!"

Who are they kidding? There are no such things as obscene wise decisions or obscene efficiencies. They hate because they are afraid of efficiency and wise decisions ... two realms they are not accustomed to.

But there is another reason why politicians and government bureaucrats often come to hate profits. Profits are spiritual values.

The Holy Spirit uses profit to lead us along our path and show us our progress.

If we are learning to trust the Holy Spirit, we will see profit when we trust.

If we are teaching ourselves honesty, we will experience profit when we are honest.

If we are developing a habit of tolerance, we will recognize profit when we are tolerant.

And so it goes. We learn to listen inside to the Voice of our Holy Spirit, do as told ... and we profit.

"But that's not the same as money profits made by greedy companies!"

That's true. Because greed does not and cannot profit. Greed sabotages.

If you read The Spiritual Basis of Free Markets, which is revelation from the Holy Spirit, you will come to understand that free markets are a mechanism guided by the Holy Spirit to foster hope, honesty, good will, trust, and other spiritual values that are utterly sabotaged by government-manipulated markets. You will grasp that material profits are manifestations of spiritual profits (spiritual profits made into form): the more spiritual values extended by your endeavor, the more material profit will be shown; if very few spiritual values are expressed by your enterprise, material profits will very soon dwindle or disappear.

When government attempts to influence markets, men and women are prevented from following their inner spiritual guidance, spiritual values are not developed as rapidly, and the slowed expansion of spiritual values is reflected by relatively lower material profits.

The Holy Spirit's mission is our salvation. But the Holy Spirit has to "meet us where we are at." So the first stage of the Holy Spirit's task is to lift mankind out of material poverty and fear. To do this, the Holy Spirit gives guidance (sometimes called "discoveries") which become new inventions, new processes, new services, new ways of looking at things ... a continually new and advanced world for mankind. The measure of how efficient men and women are in listening to their Holy Spirit and bringing forth spiritual revelation is called profit.

Only after the first stage, when free men and women producing and trading freely in their world have learned that nothing really works except listening inside and operating with spiritual values as heard inside ... only then are conditions ripe for the final stage of salvation. Because only then are we really ready to understand and feel: 1.) greed doesn't work, 2.) there is really nothing in this world that satisfies, and 3.) beyond anything this world can offer is an ultimate experience we really crave.

Having used worldly profit to prepare us spiritually, Jesus Christ can now "yank the rug out," so to speak, flip-flop our mind, and show us what we couldn't have previously seen: there is no profit whatsoever in this world:

The ego is trying to teach you how to gain the whole world, and lose your own soul. The Holy Spirit teaches that you CANNOT lose your soul and there IS no gain in the world, for OF ITSELF, it profits nothing. To invest in something without profit is surely to impoverish yourself, and the overhead is high. Not only is there no profit in the investment, but the cost to YOU is enormous. For this investment costs you the world's reality, by denying YOURS, and gives you nothing in return. (A Course in Miracles, Chapter 12.)

So wouldn't it be strange if high gasoline prices were teaching you what you really, really, REALLY want. That's about how Jesus Christ works, isn't it? Nothing is as it seems.

This month as you fill your gas tank, or as you pay higher prices for anything because truckers have been forced to raise shipping costs, perhaps you will be tempted to make a commitment to vote for libertarian-leaning candidates who understand economics, but you can also rejoice that the Holy Spirit's "invisible hand" is at work in everything in your world.

"Heavenly Father,
thank you that the world I see
holds nothing I want.

Thank you that beyond this world
there is a world I want.

Thank You, Father,
for Your guarantee of only happy outcomes in the end.

Help us not interfere, and so delay the happy endings
You have promised us for every problem that we can perceive;
for every trial we think we still must meet.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Widespread Misconception About Barack Obama

2008-04-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

Will Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama make it through Spring and become nominee of the Democratic Party? For some it must be joyous fun to ask such a question. Despite the howling blizzard of discussion and free advertising by the news media (most of it warming to Obama), this is after all not the last unanswered question (even though many students of A Course in Miracles might for the moment think so).

Yes, it's thrilling to think of oneself as part of a political trend that is generating excitement. But are Obama supporters really following divine guidance? Or are they merely unable to see through a convincing snow job? Let's look carefully through the white-out and see what the news media would rather have us blind to.

First of all, let's find out were Obama is rooted philosophically. The mainstream media has their reasons for not reporting it, but Obama is known to be a long time champion of Liberation Theology, an attempt to redefine Christianity in Marxist terms. In Liberation Theology, Jesus Christ is not only our redeemer and savior, but is claimed to teach liberating the poor and oppressed through political activism.

Dr. Robert A. Morley, an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of theology and apologetics, writes: "The goals of Black Liberation Theology are to turn religion into sociology, Christianity into a political agenda, Jesus into a black Marxist rebel, and the gospel into violent revolution." A story too hot for the mainstream media: Obama's Communist Mentor

To justify all this political activism and revolution (Obama wisely uses the word "change" in place of "revolution"), Liberation Theology constantly stresses victimhood: "all these people are lacking, they are victims of injustice; so vote for me and I'll use government force to make for them a better world." Such an approach is so totally the opposite of what Jesus Christ teaches in A Course in Miracles that the inability of Miracles students to see it becomes a great testimony to the ability of Obama to spin political illusions.

Here is what Jesus really teaches:

ACIM Lesson 31: “I am not the victim of the world I see.”

ACIM Lesson 70: “My salvation comes from me.” (The seeming “cost” of accepting today’s idea is this: It means that nothing outside yourself [like government] can save you; nothing outside yourself can give you peace.)

ACIM Lesson 72: “Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.”

ACIM Chapter 21: "I AM responsible for what I see. I CHOSE the feelings I experience, and I DECIDED ON the goal I would achieve. And everything that SEEMS to happen TO me, I ASKED FOR and received as I had asked."

The non-voluntary kind of socialism which Obama wants to enforce in America is not really change at all, but a mega-overdose of the same political "medicine" we've been given for the last 100 years: take away from people (by government force) their responsibility for their own lives, and indoctrinate in all minds the idea that government can somehow magically do a better job deciding how everyone should live.

A usual argument for this kind of socialism is, "People are not smart enough to make their own decisions." Nobody ever asks how people are ever going to learn, and become smart enough, if government is making all the decisions for them. Nor does anyone ever ask who is running this somehow omniscient government which human beings are not smart enough to run.

But perhaps the deepest fallacy of all, and maybe the most widely accepted without thinking it through, is that it is somehow moral to take from the rich (by government force) and give to those who are not rich. Redistribution of wealth. Narrowing (by government force) of a perceived "inequality gap."

Such is an attempt to twist a clean and joyous concept, Christian charity, into a hideous scam. Yes, there are certainly spiritual benefits gained by voluntarily giving of one's wealth. Oprah Winfrey can give millions of dollars to charities which seem to help seemingly poor and oppressed black youngsters if she feels so guided ... and she will reap the spiritual benefits of voluntarily giving of her wealth if directed by the Holy Spirit.

But there could be no spiritual benefits gained by Oprah if she was forced by a socialistic government to give.

Neither are there any spiritual benefits gained by politicians or activists who scheme to force us into socialist scams. They are no more advanced than thugs who go around to their neighbors' houses, point guns to their neighbors' heads, and demand: "Give me your hard-earned money so I can send a poor oppressed youngster to college."

Nor are there ever spiritual benefits gained by someone receiving government handouts. A very, very poor person who receives a voluntary gift from a private party or private charity feels a deep heart and soul-opening gratitude and urge to someday also be a giver. That very same person jumping through hoops with government bureaucrats is forced to choose between walking away with honesty and integrity intact or spiritually-damaging denial ("It's not me holding a gun to anyone's head. It's not me. It's the system.")

Students of the Bible, and students of A Course in Miracles especially, can never rightfully argue, "Oh, but it's majority rule. If enough people vote for Obama, then we can pretend it is not theft. We can get away with calling it the will of the majority." After all, it's different if everyone in a majority goes around to their neighbors' houses and points their guns at their neighbors' heads. A spade is no longer a spade and truth is no longer true ... because majority rules ... wouldn't you say?

And that leads us to the real last unanswered question, the question we are really being asked in between the lines of Obama's rhetoric, the last of four simple questions given by Chapter 21 of A Course in Miracles, the question which if repeatedly asked within ourselves will finally be answered with such overwhelming certainty that we will laugh with unbounded freedom and joy and out-of-this-world wisdom when we hear even the slightest mention of the strange upside-down politics of the human world:

"Do I DESIRE a world I rule, instead of one where I AM ruled?
Do I DESIRE a world where I am powerful, instead of helpless?
Do I DESIRE a world in which I have no enemies, and cannot sin?
And do I want to see what I denied, BECAUSE it is the truth?"

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship - Salt Lake City

Nice Way to Choose a President!

2008-02-27T08:50:00.000-08:00

The democratic process (election campaigns) has become one of the ego's greatest excuses to choose denunciation, fear, anger and overall unhappiness. So this February, a month of intense Presidential campaigning, we remember two important teachings of Jesus: 1) none of this matters, our kingdom is not of this world; and 2) from the Holy Spirit's viewpoint every ego move is meaningless, allowing us to know with confidence and joy the Holy Spirit is in charge ... or as some would say: "God is in charge."

It must have been much easier to see from a spiritual viewpoint during the first two American Presidential elections when there was no campaigning. George Washington didn't really want to be President, but was willing to serve and was elected by the electoral college unanimously in both 1789 and 1792. Maybe if we didn't have Presidential campaigns and the electoral college was required to find a man or woman who they could all unanimously feel right and good about ... everyone in all states could more easily find a way to choose happiness.

The process of unanimous consensus which was used to choose George Washington is not outmoded. It is used, for example, even today to select the president of Gov. Romney's Mormon church:

"The appointment of a new president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints happens in an orderly way that — remarkably in today’s world — avoids any trace of internal lobbying for position or rank. It is devoid of electioneering whether behind the scenes or in public.

"Moreover, it is not only the structure of Church organization that governs this process. There is also a deeply ingrained tradition in the Church that personal aspiration for leadership at any level is inappropriate. Instead, the emphasis is on personal worthiness and a humble willingness to serve when invited." - LDS Living Magazine

February is the month we officially celebrate George Washington's legacy with a national holiday. Unfortunately, this holiday has in pop culture become known as "Presidents Day," which offers us the contradiction of an unholy holy-day by attempting to reach beyond Washington and Lincoln who were born in February and embrace all Presidents, even those whose campaigns were objectively proven to be corrupt and fraudulent. The good news is the official name of the holiday is still Washington's Birthday:

"Presidents Day (or Presidents' Day), is the common name for the federal holiday officially designated as Washington's Birthday. As the official title of the federal holiday, Washington's Birthday was originally implemented by the federal government of the United States in 1880. In the late 1980s, with a push from advertisers, the term Presidents Day began its public appearance." - Wikipedia

Born on February 22nd, George Washington was born in Pisces energy (like Mitt Romney). Pisces is the least ego-aggressive, most naturally spiritually-driven energy of the universe ... feeling a deep abiding need to serve. No wonder he didn't crave to be President, but simply could not feel right about avoiding an opportunity to serve.

A good first step to happiness this February (and any February) is to refuse to use the watered-down term "Presidents Day," and stick to celebrating the glorious spirit of George Washington ... no campaigning to be President, no ambition to be President, only a willingness to serve as called.

Some would argue that America was formed as a republic and the more democratic it has become the more the electoral process has fostered dirty politics, dishonesty, and cheating in every way. A democracy and a republic are not only dissimilar but incompatible. There is a fundamental difference between (a) pandering to voters in a democracy allowing the majority to rule over what is right for individuals in a minority, and (b) a Republic under a written Constitution which safeguards the rights of individuals in the minority.

America has abandoned its Constitution to the point where not only do we now have serious "tyranny of the majority" (which was foreseen by the great French social scientist Alexis de Tocqueville) and blatant "violence of the majority faction" (which was considered the highest danger by "the father of the Constitution" James Madison), but even individuals not part of the majority feel the need to "do what it takes" to defend. The American electoral process has become more than chaos. Perhaps it should be called "evil."

So a second step toward happiness might be to honor George Washington's example by each February re-energizing a personal resolve to work peacefully to aid any efforts to junk the democratic process as it has evolved and pull America once again back to a republic which strictly adheres to its Constitution.

And yet Jesus teaches us that even while taking any steps our holy spirit guides us to take here on earth, we must keep our focus on our true nature: "And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mark 12:17) In other words, even while helping our holy spirit right the wrongs the ego has put into place, keep our focus on the light, love, peace, and joy who we really are. Have fun "enjoying the game," so to speak.

In his revelation for the Twenty-first Century, A Course in Miracles, Jesus puts it this way: "The world may seem to cause you pain. And yet the world, as causeless, has no power to cause. As an effect it cannot make effects. As an illusion it is what you will. And so again we make the only choice that ever can be made; we choose between illusions and the truth, or pain and joy, or hell and Heaven. Let our gratitude unto our Teacher fill our hearts as we are free to choose our joy instead of pain, our holiness in place of sin, the peace of God instead of conflict, and the light of Heaven for the darkness of the world." (ACIM Lesson 190)

Crucial to the maintenance of joy while serving on earth is the understanding that we cannot judge our brothers for following their divine guidance which might appear different from our own divine guidance. Everyone on earth is learning from a different perspective. Many might hear inside to support Mitt Romney. Others might hear inside to support Hillary Clinton. There is no contradiction. Maybe those hearing to support Mitt Romney are opening in one way and those hearing to support Hillary Clinton are opening in another way ... but everyone is opening.

As the Holy Spirit is fond of saying: "It all comes out in the wash ... and I AM the washing tone."

So this month, even while watching all the political happenings let's choose constant happiness by maintaining a 100% commitment to following only our deepest spiritual guidance (not our intellectual [ego] thoughts) regarding politics and by enjoying our holy spirit's amused detachment when it comes to results.

And let's honor the One who Fathered America by chanting silently in our mind:

Thank you Father,
For founding a Republic,
Of Liberty and Justice for all,
For gathering a people,
Who can say with joy,
"In God we trust!"

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Nothing Like the First Month of A Wonderful Year!

2008-01-29T09:59:00.000-08:00

What if each new year brought an absolute guarantee of increased prosperity and economic security, more love than ever, joy that could not have been imagined, and a deeper happiness and inner peace than any previous year?

Possible? It's up to you.

There is nothing like a new year ... true or false?

If your ego has you seeing yourself as old or tired, and has you thinking you just want out of here, you could well hear your ego grumbling an answer: "False. Who in hell needs another year?"

But if you are in-touch with your spirit, seeing spiritually what can be and should be, you might hear your inner voice optimistically and enthusiastically shouting the answer: "True! Earth to Heaven! Bring it on!"

To your spirit there is nothing more exciting than a new year. To your spirit a new year is another glorious new opportunity, as always, to choose once again; a jump-off-the-cliff-in-abandonment new moment. The old no longer exists, the new is radiant here and now. Holy instant days on a calendar.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away." (Revelation 21:1)

It's all about how one sees things, isn't it?

Do you see earth life as hell? Then either consciously or subconsciously ... you'll want out. To be sure, the ego created earth life to be hell ... and who wouldn't want out of the ego's way of seeing? But just as surely, under the Holy Spirit's direction earth life is lifted to the gateway of heaven itself. That's what new years are for.

New years are for practicing the now moment. January was named after the Roman god Janus who was seen as the god of transition. Janus was depicted with two heads, so although able to see the old, he could also see the new. In fact, Janus could not see the old and new as separate. He was aware, for example, that past and future were happening simultaneously. Thus today we would say Janus was the god of the eternal moment, the god of the holy instant.

The holy instant is THIS one, and EVERY one. The one you WANT it to be, it IS. The one you would NOT have it be, is lost to you. YOU must decide on WHEN it is. Delay it not. For beyond the past and future, in which you will NOT find it, it stands in shimmering readiness for your acceptance. (ACIM Chap. 15)

This revelation which Jesus Christ has given for the Twenty-first Century, A Course in Miracles, is a device which opens our awareness so we see as Jesus Christ himself sees, as Janus was imagined to see in mythology. All time is now, eternally.

But found in the now moment is the fullness of life, a huge magnitude of life not imperfectly satisfying, but utterly vibrating with joy. Who would not want to choose to use each new year for such an enormous enhancement of life?

Can you imagine what it means to have no cares, no worries, no anxieties, but merely to be perfectly calm and quiet all the time?

One of the sources of perceived discouragement from which you suffer, is your belief that THIS TAKES TIME, and that the results of the Holy Spirit's teaching are far in the future. This is not so. For the Holy Spirit USES time in His OWN way, and is NOT bound to it.

The ego, like the Holy Spirit, uses time to convince you of the inevitability of the goal and end of learning. To the ego, the goal is death, which IS its end. But to the Holy Spirit, the goal is life, which HAS no end. (ACIM Chap. 15)

Can you see the choice in January is ours? We can allow the ego to tell us it is "just another year" in the progression toward our ultimate death. Or we can listen to our spirit, which tells us life can be lived more exquisitely than we could ever have imagined:

So will the year begin in joy and freedom. There is much to do, and we have been long delayed. Accept the holy instant as this year is born, and take your place, so long left unfulfilled, in the Great Awakening. Make this year different, by making it ALL THE SAME. And let ALL your relationships be made holy FOR you. This is OUR will. (ACIM Chap. 15)

2008 is a political year, so to have a little fun with some political terminology: let's be pro-choice and use our choice to be pro-life this year. Let's remind ourselves everyday when we wake up and throughout the day from now until the end of January:

"I am a being of light,
living on earth to serve the light!
In the service of light,
My new year can only be
rewarding beyond imagination.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Obama & McCain Both Disagree With Jesus on Taxation

2008-01-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

Can followers of Jesus Christ logically favor taxation?

Once again it is election season in America and once again Americans are faced with an illusory alternative: Caesar in Democratic Party clothing or Caesar in Republican Party clothing. Apparently what makes the illusion saleable is the mistaken idea (used by Caesar as propaganda) that Jesus Christ was a socialist who supported taxation.

Fascists, communists, and progressives (supporters of three branches of socialism), even after all the misery they have created the world over in the last 100 to 150 years, even now still aim a loud speaker toward us blaring the long broken record of their propaganda mantra: “Jesus was a socialist,” by which they try to convince us that Jesus advocated using government force or threat of force to redistribute wealth.

We’ve addressed the "socialist" issue in the past (See Jesus Christ's Love vs. Obama Style Socialism)

Nonetheless, the illusion could not be sold to the public if it were not for modern conservatives insisting that Jesus supported taxation. If someone tries campaigning against taxation, which is the primary tool of government redistribution of wealth, even conservatives who believe they are conserving the freedom America originally promised can be heard helping the socialists make noise by droning, “Well, Jesus advocated paying taxes.”

Maybe it’s time to look at the words of Jesus himself.

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"

"Caesar's," they replied.

Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (Matthew 22:16-21)

The intent of the Pharisees was to catch Jesus making an anti-taxation utterance. They knew many of his followers were anti-government zealots who hated being forced to pay taxes. Surely they could lure him into saying taxes collected by force (armed robbery), or threat of future harm (extortion), are immoral. Then they would have a case against him to take to the Roman governor.

Jesus saw through the attempted trap. He knew if he said, “It is wrong to pay taxes,” he would be arrested for sedition before his appointed time. If he said, “It is right to pay taxes,” the pharisees could shout that this is a teacher who supports an immoral system. Either answer would sabotage his work.

By not saying it is right to pay taxes but not saying it is wrong either, Jesus avoided the trap and at the same time taught his disciples what is really important. On the one hand, Jesus was basically saying: “Your devotion to God and to God’s work is more important than petty ego-vested support or petty ego-resistance regarding an immoral earthly system.” At the same time, Jesus was implying that God is in charge and the immoral robbery and extortion of taxation will in time create its own karma. The secondary meaning of his words in essence was: “Keep your attention on God. Caesar will get what is coming to him.”

Jesus was no socialist and he was no advocate of taxation. If he were an advocate of taxation, he would not have dictated, as he did in the original unedited version of A Course in Miracles miracle principle #23: Miracles make time and tide wait for all men. They can heal the sick and raise the dead because man himself made both death and taxes, and can abolish both.

(The above sentence was changed by Ken Wapnick in editing to the sentence popularly found in principle #24, but can be found in the unedited version of the Course: here)

Despite the immorality of taxation, we nonetheless go along with various governments and pay taxes ... why? Because Jesus teaches we would be stepping out of the kingdom of heaven if we were to step into resistance. If we strained against taxation we would be taxing ourselves, wouldn’t we? (In ACIM, Jesus adds a side note: Tax also means “strain.”)

To those who advocate socialism or the forced redistribution of wealth through taxation, Jesus says: “Escape today the chains you place upon your mind when you perceive salvation here.” (ACIM Lesson 128) Nobody is going to be saved or benefited by schemes concocted by extremely illusory human perception and misnamed "progressive" man-made governments.

To these misguided ones Jesus adds: “The world is not where it belongs. And you belong where it would be, and where it goes to rest when you release it from the world.” (ACIM Lesson 128) , and “Is it a loss to find a world instead where losing is impossible, where love endures forever, hate cannot exist, and vengeance has no meaning? Is it loss to find all things you really want and know they have no ending, and they will remain exactly as you want them throughout time?” (ACIM Lesson 129)

Maybe this new fresh world Jesus mentions is the world socialist Utopians mistakenly believe can be made through forced redistribution of wealth. Maybe their heart’s desire is being felt correctly but they need to be forgiven because in their ego-interpretation they know not what they do.

Jesus in essence says to well-meaning progressives, “Worship God, not government. Worship God, and government will take care of itself. In his Lesson 23, he says: “There is no point in lamenting the world. There is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect. But there is indeed a point in changing your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The effects will change automatically." (ACIM Lesson 23)

Finally, those are not forgotten who struggle to make ends meet under the slavery of socialism and forced redistribution of wealth through taxation. To all his beloved ones, rich or poor, taxers or taxed ... to you very personally ... Jesus offers totally freeing hope as you with deep sincerity voice the words of the following lesson:

Lesson 279
“Creation’s freedom promises my own.”

The end of dreams is promised me, because God’s Son is not abandoned by His Love. Only in dreams is there a time when he appears to be in prison, and awaits a future freedom if it be at all. Yet in reality his dreams are gone, with truth established in their place. And now is freedom his already. Should I wait in chains which have been severed for release, when God is offering me freedom now?

“I will accept Your promises today, and give my faith to them.

My Father loves the Son Whom He created as His Own.

Would You withhold the gifts You gave to me?”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

The Real Meaning of Christmas

2007-12-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

For those with open minds and open hearts, Christmas is wondrous and magical, surprising and miraculous, awe-inspiring and transcendent.

Thank God for Christmas!

Without Christmas we would exist in a living hell of infinitely more pain, sickness, suffering and death than we see today. Christmas is the birth of the Son of God to earth, a birth to bring salvation to all the earth, a birth to raise all of us up from earth into a heaven where pain, sickness, suffering and death do not exist.

The birth of Jesus Christ two thousand years ago accomplishes all this? Yes, but Christmas has much more to do than we can possibly imagine with a wonderful experience inside of ourselves.

Jesus Christ counsels us not to judge by surface appearances, teaching us there is always much more going on than meets the eye. Jesus would say, "as above, so below," hinting to us that an event on earth is a reflection of an event in heaven. But heaven, Jesus says, is here and now within us. So an event visible by observation is a reflection of an event inside of us.

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21)

So yes, we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus which occurred 2000 years ago. But in a heaven of eternal here and now we celebrate Christmas as the birth of the Christ child within us, the birth of the experience of total innocence and total holiness within us.

Those who have surrendered to Jesus Christ, who have surrendered into the experience of the kingdom of God, laugh at the discovery that it has always been their natural state. We really are children of God. But on earth, in the realm of time and space, heaven was not always experienced. It was a natural state which was clouded over by so much pain, anger, guilt and earth-focus that it might as well have existed "up above the clouds somewhere," rather than right inside of us.

So our true child of God Christ nature had to be born on earth, so to speak. The baby Jesus had to be born within us, God's answer to our prayer to be saved from the world of sickness and pain we had created.

Scientists feeling around inside the box of their primitive little earth science will scoff at such a "mystical" transcendent idea, and narrow-spirited ACLU lawyers will prepare new attacks, but the truth is: outside the realm of time and space the birth of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago is the same event as the birth of Jesus Christ inside of us here and now, an event which brings indescribable love and joy and peace to earth.

Maybe Jesus had in mind scientists and lawyers when in his latest revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles, he described the Gift of God's Answer:

Perception's laws are OPPOSITE to truth, and what is true of knowledge is not true of anything that is apart from it. Yet has God given Answer to the world of sickness, Which applies to ALL its forms.

God's Answer is eternal, though It operates in time, where It is needed. But, because It IS of God, the laws of time do not affect Its workings. It is in this world, but NOT a part of it. For It is real, and dwells where all reality MUST be. What is projected out, and seems to be external to the mind, is not outside at all, but an effect of what is in, and has not left its source. (ACIM Chap. 26)

If Christmas is God's gift to us, and we are children of God, of the nature of God, is not Christmas our own experience of giving gifts? Let us not complain about how "commercialized" Christmas has become. For who would complain in heaven? Rather, let us realize we are like the ancient wise men. We recognize the birth of the Christ in others and offer gifts of gratitude.

With each gift we give this holiday season, let us cherish this thought:

"I recognize the birth of Christ in you.
This gift I give is for the Christ child in you
bringing holy love and joy and peace to earth ...
the real meaning of Christmas!”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship- Salt Lake City

"Out of This World" Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

There is nothing in the world like giving thanks! True or False?
(Hint: Giving thanks takes us out of the world.)

Men and women have always tried to escape the pain and suffering of their old world by moving on to a new world. In April 1598, over 400 men, women and children participated in a ceremony giving thanks for reaching a new homeland just before crossing over to settle their "New Mexico," a region that is now New Mexico, Arizona, Eastern California, Southern Nevada, Western Texas, Western Oklahoma and Southwestern Kansas.

Maybe the real crossing over happened while they were giving thanks.

Another famous thanks giving event in American history was the gathering of Pilgrims and their allies in Plymouth, Massachusetts celebrating the success of their Fall harvest in 1621. The Pilgrims started a tradition in the early English colonies which lived on and in 1863 became an American national holiday set aside to give thanks for blessings received during the year.

Maybe the real blessings happen while we are giving thanks.

Stories of men and women escaping their old world and giving thanks for a new start in a whole new world abound throughout history. But what if the new world turns out to be not much different than the old world ... except in moments of thankfulness which could be seen as holy instants?

Talk to those who have constantly moved from one job to another, from one location to another, from one relationship to another. They will tell you they have learned the hard way there is no escape in this world. Whatever is the condition of your mind simply recreates the "same old, same old" in a new setting ... because your mind is creating the world you experience. The only escape would be to change your mind, which is what happens when we shift from a focus on escape to a focus on giving thanks.

Jesus Christ tells us we really do not want any particular job or location or relationship in the world we see. What we really want is to rise up out of this world altogether. In his revelation given for the 21st Century A Course in Miracles, Jesus says:

"Each thing you value here is but a chain that binds you to the world, and it will serve no other end but this. For everything must serve the purpose you have given it until you see a different purpose there. The only purpose worthy of your mind this world contains is that you pass it by, without delaying to perceive some hope where there is none. Be you deceived no more. The world you see has nothing that you want.

"Escape today the chains you place upon your mind when you perceive salvation here. For what you value you make part of you, as you perceive yourself. All things you seek to make your value greater in your sight limit you further, hide your worth from you, and add another bar across the door that leads to true awareness of your Self." (ACIM Lesson 128)

Even Jesus uses the word "escape," and surely escape is the result. But the mechanism is giving thanks. Yet notice that Jesus focuses far beyond giving thanks for the "blessings" we can count, since we have made the world of pain by deciding on our own what are blessings and what are not blessings. Jesus councils us to escape the world we have made altogether.

In the Holy Bible, Paul writes: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1Thessalonians 5:18).
Paul is teaching as Jesus teaches. Not just for our blessings, give thanks. But for everything. We escape the world we have made totally and completely by achieving a state of thanksgiving for everything, every moment.

Some would call this "total forgiveness." Others might call it "accepting everything just the way it is." But look inside at your memory of heaven. When we finally choose to dwell in total forgiveness, when we finally laugh and accept everything as it is without resistance, we are surprised to notice that we are overwhelmingly grateful. People in total gratitude have been heard making utterances like: "Oh, my God! What a joy! I can barely speak!"

Do you need help in reaching a state of total overwhelming gratitude? You better believe it. Otherwise you would already be there. Your help is the ever-present Holy Spirit. Jesus in his course says of the Holy Spirit's help:

"Let Him be Judge as well of everything that seems to happen to you in this world. His lessons will enable you to bridge the gap between illusions and the truth. He will remove all faith that you have placed in pain, disaster, suffering and loss. He gives you vision which can look beyond these grim appearances, and can behold the gentle Face of Christ in all of them. You will no longer doubt that only good can come to you who are beloved of God, for He will judge all happenings and teach the single lesson which they all contain.

"Such is your resurrection, for your life is not a part of anything you see. It stands beyond the body and the world, past every witness for unholiness, within the Holy, holy as Itself. In everyone and everything His Voice would speak to you of nothing but your Self and your Creator, Who is One with Him. So will you see the holy Face of Christ in everything, and hear in everything no sound except the echo of God’s Voice." (ACIM Lesson 151)

So this Thanksgiving season we not only count our blessings and give thanks for our blessings, for that is merely a starting point. This season we put our entire heart and soul and being into our giving thanks, to feel a hundred million times more grateful than Spanish or English Pilgrims ever felt, to literally be overwhelmed by gratitude:

"We thank our Father for one thing alone; that we are separate from no living thing, and therefore one with Him. And we rejoice that no exceptions ever can be made which would reduce our wholeness, nor impair or change our function to complete the One Who is Himself completion. We give thanks for every living thing, for otherwise we offer thanks for nothing, and we fail to recognize the gifts of God to us."
Le s s o n 195
“Love is the way I walk in gratitude.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Salt Lake City

Liberty vs. Security: No Conflict!

2007-11-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin said famously: "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."

The Early American sage was certainly seeing clearly when he recognized that security can only be fleeting if liberty is given up. He might better have said: "They who give up liberty for security end up losing both."

But it is interesting that even in Benjamin Franklin's day a false political question must have been arising which during the 20th Century proved to be agonizingly hurtful as the world views hurt. The question was whether people should give up some degree of their liberty in order to enjoy a greater degree of security ... as if the two were separate experiences.

Communist countries experimented: "We'll find out the answer! We'll attempt giving away all liberty in exchange for the hope of total security. We'll see what happens." Each such experiment became a disaster as the world sees things. Both liberty and security were equally and inevitably lost in political tidal waves of pain, suffering, and death. These wrong-minded experiments did, of course, give a clue to the answer: liberty and security are indivisible. Liberty is the only state of being that produces real security.

But some human beings are slow learners, wouldn't you say? For example, so many political activists in America continue to try to elect their loyal party comrades so they can continue experimenting with legislatively taking away liberty and offering "security," "insurance," and "safety-net" programs. American politicians say, "We are not Communists! Our methods are different." Big difference! Both liberty and security are lost, but at a slower pace. Pain and suffering continue to increase, but more gradually.

As with all foolish human mistakes, the history-making misery caused by Communists in the 20th Century could have been avoided. Likewise, future disasters already set in motion by American politicians in the 21st Century can be avoided. It is only necessary to see that liberty and security are two sides of the same coin. Security cannot be experienced by tossing liberty in a wishing well.

But how can this law of the universe be clearly seen?

Jesus hints at it in the Holy Bible:

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (Matt. 6: 24-26)

Jesus turns our attention away from man-made government and affirms that God is our safety net. God, not mankind's government, is the true provider of security. Not human laws, but Divine Law and Divine Grace constitute our insurance policy.

Well-meaning politicians who probably think of themselves as "do-gooders" are not the solution, but the problem. They actually create scarcity by believing in scarcity, teaching scarcity, and for the purpose of perpetuating political power ... preaching scarcity.

Regarding our choice to see as Jesus would have us see (prosperity) or to see as politicians desire us to see (scarcity), Jesus Christ in his revelation for the 21st Century A Course in Miracles, explains: "This world you see MUST BE DENIED, for sight of it is costing you a different kind of vision. YOU CANNOT SEE BOTH WORLDS. For each of them involves a different kind of seeing, and depends on what you cherish. The sight of one is possible because you have DENIED THE OTHER." (ACIM Chap.12)

In the same chapter, Jesus assures us that if we quit believing in a world of scarcity we will find we have everything we ever need: "Only the Holy Spirit KNOWS what you need. He gives you all the things that you need have, and will renew them as long as you have need of them. He will take nothing FROM you, as long as you have ANY need of it." (ACIM Chap.12)

It doesn't take a college professor to see, then, that to have an abundance of everything ever needed one needs only liberty ... only the freedom to follow the Holy Spirit's guidance as heard inside.

But let's imagine the Holy Spirit would have guided you to bring a wonderful new invention to mankind, or teach struggling families how to produce, or bring healing to someone ... would have guided you ... if not for the burdens of taxation (theft) and rules made by politicians (slavery). How many great aids to mankind's prosperity are not invented, how much production is shut off, how many healings never occur ... because of government intervention in people's lives? We can only feel an inkling how glorious life would be for everyone if politicians stayed out of the way and let people live by their spirit.

Listen inside to the Voice of the Holy Spirit. You'll hear that politicians actually destroy both welfare and liberty with government programs imagined to provide "social security," "universal care," and "safety nets" ... not to mention how they distract attention and focus from the real care provider.

Old Ben Franklin just didn't express it forcefully enough to get the point across, wouldn't you say? It was left to Jesus to say it this way:

"What worry can beset the one who gives his future to the loving hands of God? What can he suffer? What can cause him pain, or bring experience of loss to him? What can he fear? And what can he regard except with love? For he who has escaped all fear of future pain has found his way to present peace, and certainty of care the world can never threaten. He is sure that his perception may be faulty, but will never lack correction. He is free to choose again when he has been deceived; to change his mind when he has made mistakes."
Le s s o n 194
“I place the future in the Hands of God.”

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship- Salt Lake City

Viewing Political Candidates with Clear Vision

2007-09-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

Republicans Mitt Romney and Ron Paul say there are some things that are simply not right. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would tell you those same things are right. Since our news media these days inundates us with election cycle coverage, we have come to expect hearing of differences between political leaders of different parties. But such differences beg a much deeper question: Just exactly what is right and what is wrong? In other words, how do we know what is really right and wrong?

It would be simple to say: if it has to be justified, it is wrong. Because in our innermost being we do know what is right and wrong, and what is right needs no justification. But the world finds simple answers hard to believe in. Human beings, in particular, seem to be addicted to complexity. So Jesus Christ, instead of saying "God is! I am!" and letting it go at that, gives us a Textbook, a Workbook, and a Manual for Teachers all combined into one course, A Course in Miracles, as a clarification of our very human interpretations of the Holy Bible.

"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Gen 1:31)

How hard can that be to grasp? Everything that God creates is good! End of story.

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:4)

The woman obviously is Eve, our receptive nature. The serpent is our ego, our human identification. And our ego, our human mind, simply cannot stand that all we know is good. So it says to our being, "Come on, have a little taste of evil as well as good. You won't die!"

Can that be hard to understand? Everything the ego makes up is evil.

We know the story. We eat the fruit and we no longer live in the Garden, where everything is very good and the fruit of the tree of eternal life is available to us. As the ego promises, we don't die right away. But we live in pain much of the time and find it very difficult to rise beyond the belief that death is inevitable.

All this is corrected by A Course in Miracles, but look how the ego fights: "A Course in Miracles is a cult. It is not true Christianity!" And obviously rejecting Jesus Christ's Course is the same as saying, "Give me pain and death. I'm sure as hell not going back into the Garden I banished myself from."

But hey, we are talking human beings. So just out of the earth-wandering human curiosity we have gained by eating the forbidden fruit, let's take a peek and see what A Course in Miracles says about good and evil, right and wrong. We won't step back into the Garden, we'll just take a peek, okay?

"God's Word assures you that He loves the world; your judgment says it is unlovable. Who is right? For one of you is wrong. It must be so." (ACIM Manual for Teachers)

Oops, here is the idea of right and wrong being used by none other than Jesus Christ. But for Jesus it's all about judgment, isn't it? If, like a little child, you hadn't yet decided there was evil as well as good, you wouldn't even have a judgment ... would you?

"The mind can be right or wrong, depending on the voice to which it listens. Right-mindedness listens to the Holy Spirit, forgives the world, and through Christ's vision sees the real world in its place. This is the final vision, the last perception, the condition in which God takes the final step Himself. Here time and illusions end together.

"Wrong-mindedness listens to the ego and makes illusions; perceiving sin and justifying anger, and seeing guilt, disease and death as real." (ACIM Clarification of Terms)

"Hold on a minute! Let me get this straight! If I see through Christ's vision, I will see an altogether different world? I will see only a world of good?"

Wallah! Not a bad start, wouldn't you say? But then how do we decide practical everyday matters? For example, which candidate is right and which candidate wrong? Who do we vote for?

Is the answer once again too simple for us? Can we handle such an easy solution as simply asking the Holy Spirit and listening for the Holy Spirit's reply?

A Course in Miracles tells us that every instance of wrong (including wrong positions on political issues) starts with wrong perception, and the Holy Spirit is given us to correct perception. We cannot make wrong decisions if we are clearly listening to the Holy Spirit and clearly saying to our ego: "Get thee behind me, Satan!"

"His Voice will direct you very specifically. You will be told all you need to know." (ACIM Text page 1)

Of course to develop such clarity it is necessary to release our previously held ideas picked up in government schools and other unreliable sources. This is the reason for the first 35 or so lessons of A Course in Miracles: to undo our addiction to ideas formed in the past, in order to facilitate hearing clearly in the present.

"But I haven't got time to master the first 35 lessons from Jesus. Government taxation and regulation keeps me struggling 24 hours a day. I'm being asked to vote within the next few months."

As Jesus Christ would say, there is no problem. It's as simple as repeating the following prayer until you really, really mean it:

"Holy Spirit,
take away all my preconceived ideas.
Help me to pretend
I am back in the Garden of Eden
and I know nothing of the rightness or wrongness of issues.
I have no preferences.
I could vote for anyone.
Let me see with Your eyes.
You show me the candidate to support."

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship- Salt Lake City

"Just Say NO to Altruism!"

2007-08-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

Sometime in the early 1800s the French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798-1857) invented and marketed a hitherto unknown concept which he called "altruism," by which he intended to mean "unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness; self-sacrifice as a virtue."

Not long thereafter, Karl Marx came up with the basic socialist slogan "take from each according to his ability, and give to each according to his need." Since then, those who call themselves "liberal-progressives" have used the concept of altruism to lay guilt trips on freedom advocates and justify forcing heavy-handed socialist government programs on everyone. The liberal-progressive reasoning? If altruism is good, then why not force everyone to appear altruistic?

One of the first to recognize the destructiveness which comes from trying to practice altruism was the Russian-American novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand (1905-1982), who as a 12 year old girl had observed first-hand the brutality of communists trying to establish their ideal state, which became the Soviet Union. Young Ayn Rand quickly visualized her life purpose, which was to shine the light of reason not on the end results of socialism or communism, but on the underlying concept of altruism. Ultimately she published in 1961 in book form a collection of essays entitled "The Virtue of Selfishness."

The ethics Ayn Rand championed in her works became known as enlightened self-interest. She argued that pursuit of our values, whether material or spiritual, is noble; and that the act of self-sacrifice would be a vice. She sought to show that altruism was evil and that political freedom could only be maintained if selfishness is seen as a virtue.

This was the exact opposite of the way the world had been taught to think since Auguste Comte, and as you might imagine there was a time when it seemed like Ayn Rand stood alone against the world. The virtue of selfishness??? How dare she!

But did Ayn Rand really stand alone? While early readers were discovering The Virtue of Selfishness, psychiatrist and atheist Helen Schucman became a reluctant prophet hearing and writing down the teaching of Jesus Christ in words understandable to the 21st Century mind: A Course in Miracles. As it turns out with a little enlightenment from this Course given by Jesus Christ, we see there can be no such thing as altruism.

To one's logical mind the contradiction in the definition of altruism is so obvious that one wonders why the idea survived so long. You cannot not act in your own interest as you perceive your own interest. If you honestly feel it is good to concern yourself with the welfare of others, then the welfare of others is, by definition, your selfish interest.

But Jesus makes it even more clear by explaining we are all in this together as one. If we listen to our holy spirit and do what is right for us, we are teaching everyone to stay open and do what is right. If we mistakenly ignore our holy spirit and do what is not best for us, then we are teaching ourselves a lesson which everyone learns with us. Everyone gains no matter what we pursue as our self-interest. The only variable is the time it takes for all of us together to finally get it right, for which we need the freedom of trial and error.

Mitt Romney, the one American Presidential Candidate who seems both highly spiritually tuned-in and highly logical, uses a term from business statistics to describe a definition like the definition of altruism. He calls it a "null set:" a definition for which there can be no such thing.

That altruism is necessarily impossible is true enough, but in A Course in Miracles Jesus addresses thoroughly the human penchant for believing in and giving power to sacrifice:

"Those who believe in sin must think the Holy Spirit asks for sacrifice. For this is how they think their purpose is accomplished. Brothers, the Holy Spirit knows that sacrifice brings nothing. Your faith in sacrifice has given it great power in your sight. Except you do not realize you cannot see because of it." (ACIM Text Chap. 21)

"Sacrifice is so essential to your thought system that salvation apart from sacrifice means nothing to you. Your confusion of sacrifice and love is so profound that you cannot conceive of love without sacrifice. And it is this that you must look at; sacrifice is attack, not love. If you would accept but this one idea, your fear of love would vanish." (ACIM Text Chap. 15)

"All roads will lead to this one in the end. For sacrifice and deprivation are paths which lead nowhere, choices for defeat, and aims which will remain impossible. All this steps back as truth comes forth in you to lead your brothers from the ways of death, and set them on the way to happiness." (ACIM Workbook Lesson 155)

"But hasn't Christianity always taught sacrifice? Didn't Jesus Christ make the ultimate sacrifice for our sins?"

The answer Jesus himself gives in his A Course in Miracles is that the crucifixion was not a sacrifice, but a teaching device. Listen to Jesus speaking:

"Do not make the pathetic human error of 'clinging to the old rugged cross.' The only message of the crucifixion is in respect for man's ability to OVERCOME the cross. Unless he does so, he is free to crucify himself as often as he chooses. But this was NOT the gospel I intended to offer him." (ACIM Text Chap.4)

"The message which the crucifixion was intended to teach was that it is not necessary to perceive ANY form of assault in persecution because you cannot BE persecuted. If you respond with anger, you MUST be equating yourself with the destructible, and are therefore regarding yourself insanely.

"I elected, both for your sake AND mine, to demonstrate that the most outrageous assault, as judged by the ego, did not matter. As the world judges these things, but NOT as God knows them, I was betrayed, abandoned, beaten, torn, and finally killed. It was perfectly clear that this was only because of the projection of others onto me, because I had not harmed anyone and had healed many. We are still equal as learners, even though we need not have equal experiences. The Holy Spirit is glad when you can learn enough from MINE to be re-awakened by them. That was their only purpose, and that is the only way in which I can be perceived as the Way, the Truth, and the Light.

"When you hear only one voice, you are never called on to sacrifice. On the contrary, by enabling yourselves to hear the Holy Spirit in others, you can learn from their experiences and gain from them WITHOUT experiencing them. That is because the Holy Spirit IS one, and anyone who listens is inevitably led to demonstrate His way for ALL. You are not persecuted, nor was I. You are not asked to repeat my experience, because the Holy Spirit which we SHARE, makes this unnecessary. But to use my experiences constructively for yourselves, you must still follow my example in how to perceive them. (ACIM Text Chap.6)

Having clarified that there never was any sacrifice on his part and there can be no altruism, Jesus does indeed differentiate between our true self-interest and ego-vested interest. He tells us that if we are listening not to our holy spirit but to our ego, we will be delaying our own and every one's ultimate salvation. Would delaying be called a "sacrifice?" Or merely an unhappy choice?

Because Jesus sees us suffering when we delay and feels so much compassion and love for us, and because it is in his own selfish interest to save us from delay, pain and suffering, he has given us his teaching once again for the 21st Century. A Course in Miracles, written down by Helen Schucman but authored by Jesus Christ, is a preparation device for our salvation, a device preparing us for freedom from pain, fear, and guilt.

Maybe it doesn't seem so strange that Ayn Rand's ideal hero in her novels was a man or woman free of pain, fear, and guilt.

But Jesus doesn't force his Course on us. He doesn't set up government programs requiring mandatory participation "for our own good." As much as progressive-liberals would like to claim Jesus Christ is somehow their own, Jesus is more like Ayn Rand or Mitt Romney in telling us that our own voluntary choice to pursue happiness in our own trial and error way is the only way our salvation can ever happen.

Do we forgive Auguste Comte, who knew not what he was doing in trying to invent altruism? It goes without saying. To the spiritually attuned, it never happened. Likewise, although we do not choose to support mandatory government programs, we forgive today's progressive-liberals who know not what they do in trying to force on people altruism and sacrifice.

So we continue with last month's affirmation from Jesus Christ, which now has deeper meaning to us as we recognize the forgotten virtue of selfishness:

My salvation comes from me.
It cannot come from anywhere else.
My salvation cannot come from anything else.
My salvation comes from me and only me.
Nothing outside of me can hold me back.
Within me is the world's salvation ... and my own.

Each month our Holy Spirit gives a message of prophetic revelation which helps individuals open spiritually and understand Jesus' teaching.

If you would like to receive an email each month containing a link to the latest message from our Holy Spirit, please email us with "ADD" in the subject line: holyinstant@aol.com

"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship- Salt Lake City