Principle

• Am I trying to please the Man upstairs?

  It is recorded in the Bible that a guy named Elihu told a guy named Job, If you sin, do you really think it bothers the Creator and Intelligence of the universe? Or if you do a good thing, do you think He is benefited? (Job 35 paraphrased) Today, thousands of years later (!), the questions still need to be asked because too many of us are still thinking and acting like God is manlike, needing our obedience and support!

• Charity or nothing!

  According to our audio selection today, you can speak beautifully, be able to prophesy about the future, have a great understanding of metaphysics, etc., faith to move mountains!!, generous with your money, even sacrifice your body - but without charity, it is worth zippo!!

   

  Click to play  

  I Corinthians 13 {jumi [onDemand.php] [I Corinthians 13.mp3]}

• Devil in the details?

  I looked this up, and on http://grammarist.com it explained how this term is used, common to many of us, but that the expression "God is in the details" is slightly more common. Interesting! I suppose, either way, it is saying the same thing. Leaving God out of the details is leaving them to devil, so-to-speak. We don't buy the devil story, but what do we have when there is no light?

• How does one differentiate between good and evil?

  You have to be pretty bigoted to claim to know exactly where good ends and evil begins. Shakespeare recognized "There is neither good nor bad but thinking makes it so." This is the human condition! So how can we discern what we need to.

• If God is love, does He love?

  Is there a difference between "God loves us" and "God is love?"

  Acknowledging that God loves us can be comforting, strengthening, but if it leaves the door open to perhaps He does not love someone else, then it is personal. It is more difficult to conceive this kind of love covering each and every one. Nonetheless, there is a place where the idea of God loving me meets the need of the moment.

• If God knows evil...

  From the standpoint of God, the all-knowing, infinite, we are confronted with the following: God knows evil and therefore predestinates it, OR "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:" (Habakkuk)

• Just how important is motive?

  Does it really matter what the motive is as long as the job gets done? Take a simple example - saying thank you to someone. In one case, it is a matter of custom and not heart-felt, in another it is to please the person, and in another case it is a genuine expression of gratitude, a recognition of the love expressed. We all know the difference. The first is sort of a dead ceremony - blah, blah; the second feels a little uncomfortable; the last motive touches the heart - feels good all around.

• Living it instead of believing in it

  This morning I opened to Paul's letter to the Colossians chapter 2. If this is not a warning of church organization, I don't know what is! This is what I get:

  "As you have received the Christ, Truth, use it.

• Nothing new in the human condition

  The Book of Job is apparently the oldest book in the Bible - thousands of years old.

  It tells of a good man, very successful and wealthy, very devout. But his children were spoiled brats, and rather than deal with it, he prayed to God to protect them despite their selfish, "carnal" ways.

• The law to adversity

  If our starting point is a good God which never causes evil, what are we to do with adversity? Let's see now. We could bitch and moan, whimper, or perhaps condemn ourselves for letting bad things happen - OR, we could decide right then and there to get the full blessing from the experience. There is no doubt that the first responses listed here make us miserable and leave us only with a bag of troubles. The latter response aligns us with the Principle of the universe, and invariably leads us to a better place.

• The more you have, the more is required of you

  We've talked about the laws of the universe, the Golden Rule being one - "do to others as you would have them do to you." Another one is, "the more you receive, the more is required of you." Being spiritual laws, nobody is about to put you in jail for breaking them, however that does not make them less imperative, in fact they are absolutely inescapable.

• Thought control?

  Thought control has an ominous sound to it, especially if it pertains to someone controlling another's thought! Thought control goes hand in hand with will-power.  

  "The hypnotist dispossesses the patient of his individuality in order to control him."  (S&H)

• Tyranny? the people's voice will not be denied

  "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." (Lord Acton)

  Presently, we are seeing the manipulation of the media by the powers that be - to mislead and reinforce status quo against the will of the people and their best interests - particularly in the US, Britain, Europe.

• What's my purpose?

  How often do we hear something like: I just want to know my purpose. What am I here for? 

  This morning I opened to this in Isaiah: "The Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it?"

• Who is born of God and cannot sin?

  We have heard so much about being "born again." What's up with that? It is thought that once you profess that Jesus is Lord, or something like that, you are in! Then this morning (from audio selection below) I read that those born of God cannot sin. I'd like to meet that person. (btw - Elsewhere in the same book it says anyone who claims he is without sin is a liar!)

• Why do so few get it?

  After addressing an audience of several thousand of her followers, Mary Baker Eddy said she did not see one Christian Scientist out there. Elsewhere she lamented that most of the healing going on in the name of Christian Science was faith-healing or mind-cure - not Christian Science healing. That was when she was around. We can be sure it is far worse today.