And the command of God goes out: "Let there be Light!"
As He directs His thought the Light goes out in a living flame of everlasting power as the thunders of creation roll forth to follow that pattern and to fulfill the Almighty decree of His command.
And a new world takes form from the essence of His thoughts as that vision is manifest, first as a tangible reality within the mind of God. This is spiritual creation. This thought, this inner vision is the pattern to which the elements are drawn into the power of its forming and its begetting. For all things were first a thought, a vision, a breath of life divine breathed into the birthing of each holy need, to give it body and to make it live. This is creation as it follows the pattern that the light of thought designs or draws for its fulfillment.
"AND ALL THAT THE FATHER HAS IS YOURS!"
To man God gave the priceless gift divine, the mind! To each man was given a mind with which to think, to dream, to fashion and to form the vision his heart holds forth, for man too is a creator -- a God in the making. And for man's use God set the universe and all that it contains! The creative force of Light is ever man's to use, even as it is God's. It is man's to command and to form into atoms as it is drawn into the pattern of his dreamings. For out of these infinitesimal rays of living, cosmic light, which fill the universe, are atoms formed.
And atoms are the foundations and the substance and the essence of all tangible, solid, material things. And each atom holds a living spark of God held lovingly enfolded within its embrace. Within each atom is contained the love, the intelligence and the power of God. Atoms are the building blocks of all that is visible.
Atoms, created from the rays of living light are gathered into form by thought, until reality becomes apparent to the most ordinary and dense of men as their lowered vision beholds only the dust.
And so to each man God gave a mind with which to think, to dream, to form the patterns of his inner musings, by the living force and energy of his own brooding. And those thoughts will take form, to flourish or to die, according to the attention with which one's garden of desire is nourished and sustained.
Such is the power of that divine "Tree of Good or Evil" which each man holds within the center of his being, which is his own Eden -- his soul. Each man, by the selection of his thoughts, can bring forth an abundance of all that his thoughts embrace.
This is the Tree of Creation -- the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." This is the tree of which man is a branch, and each man produces and brings forth either the good or the evil of his own thinking. And some produce a contaminated mixture of both love and the hates of their own creating. And each man will be judged by his idle thoughts. This is truth indeed. "A man is WHAT HE THINKS, not what he thinks he is."
That man will be judged by his idle thoughts is most assuredly true. And he will be destroyed by his wicked, polluted, selfish thoughts. Or he can be eternally exalted by his noble thoughts. A man is noble, or craven or mediocre or completely defiled by the caliber of his thoughts. And from the moment the fruit of that Tree of Knowledge was tasted all men henceforward until the end of time have been and will be held accountable for the products of their minds.
This amazing mystery or "mist-tree" has been ignored as man has tried to blot from his mind the memory of its producing. He has sought always to close his eyes to his own responsibility in regards to the fruit of that tree. He is only childishly seeking to be held unaccountable for his thoughts, his moods, his tempers and his mortal leanings. But he will be held accountable even for his idle thoughts. And the fruit is good or evil according to the thoughts of each individual.
This is the TREE of which Christ is the Vine -- and men are the branches -- and God is the Husbandman. And man is the producer of those fruits. And whether they are "good" or whether they are "evil" is entirely of man's choosing.
The Tree of Knowledge of "Good or evil" is also the Tree of Death. For by its fruits came death into the world. And every living soul is fed and nourished upon the fruit of his own thinking. And he who thinks only filthy, angry, evil or selfish, greedy, defiled thoughts is required to subsist upon the evil of his own corrupted, degenerate, contaminated poisons of lusts, dishonesties or selfishness, his hates and evils is feeding upon deadly pollution -- and HE WILL DIE! For this is the Tree that brought death into the world -- and is still bringing death into the world for each individual who brings forth its evils.
However, the fruits of that Tree can be beautiful and glorious and eternally life-giving, instead of bitter and poisonous and deadly.
It is entirely according to each man's thinking as to which type of fruit he will bring forth through the power or the use he makes of his golden gift, the mind. "For as a man thinketh in his heart so is he! And as he thinketh in his heart so will he produce or bring forth the fruit upon which he himself will be nourished. "For man does not live by earthly bread alone." He lives (or dies) upon the fruit of his own thinking.
This is the law of eternity! It cannot be changed! Neither can it fail! It is as definitely positive as the rotation of the earth, as its days and its nights and its times and its seasons. BUT, MAN CAN CHANGE HIS THINKING HABITS AND THUS NOT ONLY CHANGE HIS LIFE BUT GLORIFY IT. The law itself is justice. The power to be able to change one's thought habits is mercy!
"The land thou seest will I give unto thee!" Yes! The fruit you produce through your thinking habits, or inner vision, I will give unto you as the diet upon which you will be required to subsist, for the harvest is of your own planting and your own bringing forth.
"If your eyes be single to My glory your whole bodies will be filled with Light and there shall be no darkness in you." (There will be no evils, no poisons, no deadliness or corruption). "And you will be filled with Light and comprehend all things!"
If one is filled with Light, so that he begins to comprehend all things, he will first of all comprehend and KNOW fully the law which brings about all conditions, either good or evil, according to the inner vision, or according to the thoughts he holds within his mind. He will comprehend the full meaning of that "Tree and is therefore responsible for the type of fruit he produces.
If an individual wallows in the slime of self-pity, gorges himself on the lusts and corruption of his flesh, seethes in the wraths of his hates, robs or cheats, through the greeds of his blind selfishness, then the fruits he is subsisting upon are sour, evil, shriveled, contaminated and poison. And his body will be corrupted and defiled and will rot in the grave as his spirit, naked and unclothed with the precious gift of the flesh will wander forth to await its judgment: "For ALL THE DEAD, small and great must stand before the throne of God and be judged." And the shame of their nakedness will appear as they are held accountable for the loss of their bodies. And for those who "Overcome", which overcoming means also the overcoming of death, there is no judgment -- but only glory!
It is only possible for one "To receive a fulness of joy when the body and the spirit are inseparably united!" And this condition was meant to be achieved while in this life. The body can be exalted, purified and so spiritualized through love and the worship of God and a reverence for one's fellowman the physical can take on the purity and eternal vibrations of the exalted status of the Spirit -- and DEATH CAN BE OVERCOME!
As one understands the dynamic wonder of that Tree of Knowledge and produces only the "good" of that glorious Tree, he becomes powerful! He fulfills completely the laws of Christ in a splendor of divine love and gratitude and exulting praise. He becomes purified and is cleansed from all sin. He becomes exalted and naturally, and without effort or striving, he overcomes death -- the last enemy, according to the promises of Jesus Christ. Christ not only taught by words, that a record might remain, he proved His words by fulfilling them. He proved everything He taught by His own life. He overcame death and left this challenge for us: "If ye believe on me, the works which I do shall ye do also, even GREATER WORKS THAN THESE SHALL YE DO!"
And so, that great mystery or "mist-tree" that has been veiled in the mist of the ages, becomes fully revealed in its breath-taking glory as the "TREE OF LIFE" also! It is the veil or mist that has enshrouded this Tree down the centuries that must now be rent.
One has but to guard his thoughts and so control his emotions, his actions and his reactions with a glory of released love and good-will, and joy and happiness will be the banquet of his feasting as "he beings to grow and wax strong" in the perfection of his diet.
As one fulfills those first two Great Commandments he truly fulfills all the laws and rises above the law in a triumphant overcoming of mortality, and in so doing he will be "Wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and will be caught up to dwell with HIM!" Such is the promise!
As man learns of the power of his thoughts and the meaning and the effects of them, first upon himself and then he becomes a master. And from mastery he progresses onward into a glorious, radiant being, completely freed from mortality and death. Then he is prepared to move onward toward divinity and Godhood.
The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is to make one wise. But wisdom only comes to those who benefit from experience, whether their own or that of others. One does not need to personally live in the eternal gloom of despondency, the agony of despair, the filthy evil of hopelessness in order to gain wisdom. Too many who permit themselves to be entrapped in these slimy bogs of darkness have willingly descended into those hideous depths through their own thinking habits. No one can be forced to wallow in such contaminated defilement unless he is WILLING or completely unwise.
"And if your eyes be single to my glory your whole body shall be filled with Light and there shall be no darkness in you. And that body which is filled with Light comprehends all things! And I will unveil my face to you!" Such is the promise of Almighty God and His promises fail not!
And if one's eyes are single to the glory of God it is utterly impossible for him to dwell mentally upon a negative, dark, dismal plane of doubt, fear, frustration, greed, lusts, hate, envy or self-pity. And as his thoughts are consciously held upon that highest level, he is gradually spiritualizing his body as he feeds upon the most perfect of all fruits, the "Good" of that precious Tree of Knowledge.
In this divine control of thoughts and feelings and perfect adoration, love will pour out through every living cell of the soul and the body. "And the fruit of the TREE OF LIFE is the love of God which is shed forth through the hearts of the children of men." And man's heart is prepared for this glorious experience as he trains his mind to "Think only the most beautiful things possible!"
This precious fruit of Life Eternal is man's to partake of always. And in it is contained the fulness of joy and a complete KNOWLEDGE OF GOD for "He will unveil His face to you! It will be in His own time, and in His own way, and according to His own will!" And His time will be when that individual is ready and prepared for so great a glory.
It will be after one has been "tested and tried in all things, and God finds that individual is determined to serve Him at all hazards. Then will he find his calling and election made sure!" This holy preparation is accomplished by the controlling of one's thoughts. It is achieved in the releasing of praise, in the joy of happiness, in the cultivation of singing ecstasy as one rejoices in every blessing. And as he thus gives thanks and rejoices his blessings will multiply and increase. Such is the law!
This complete glory of revealing will be open and unfolded and will become one's own as he arises in his faith to lay claim to his own divine heritage, accepts the responsibility of doing his own thinking. And as he knowingly and with full understanding selects the caliber of his thoughts, holding his mind single to the glory of God, in an inner joy of praise and love and gratitude, then will the wondrous everlasting GOOD of his own divine thinking bear the fulness of its perfection for his joy and glorification. In this divine KNOWLEDGE, as one uses this knowledge, he truly "Evolves from the man kingdom into the God Kingdom!" "And all things will become subject unto him, both in heaven and on earth; the Light and the Life; the Spirit and the Power, sent forth by the will of the Father, through Jesus Christ, His Son!"
PROMISES?! Yes! The promises are great and endless and impossible to comprehend in their fulness until one begins to use his mind and his will to explore, to live and to lay claim to them. "For God is a God of truth, and cannot lie!" "He is no respecter of persons!" These most holy, divine, almost unspeakable promises are yours to PROVE and to "take hold of, as the best gifts," as Paul revealed.
Oh, come with me, you blessed ones! Leave the dark, dreary road of mortality behind! Let your minds become single to the glory of God, to the splendor of His perfection, to the breath-taking beauty of His creations, to the love of His sharing, to the gratitude of His blessings, to the joy of His existence! And begin to think as He thinks! Hold your thoughts high! Keep your vision exalted! And rejoice evermore!
This Tree of Knowledge is most assuredly alive and precious. It has been alive and producing for each individual according to his own thoughts and actions and reactions since time itself began. Few indeed have comprehended the stupendous import of that Tree. Many have assumed that that Tree contains the instinctive knowledge of right and wrong. It most certainly does just that! But it does far more than that! It is the Tree upon which grow the fruits of every man's thinking and acting habits. This the responsibility of one's own thinking habits is his own. And the results are his. And he will be held responsible for them. He is accountable for every vibration he releases from within himself. For he is assuredly a branch of that Tree and from his own thought energies the fruits he brings forth into his own life are produced.
When one accepts of the "evil" of that Tree of Knowledge there come into his life all the desolating experiences, the nagging vicissitudes, the heaped-up mountains of seeming bad luck, the dismaying misfortunes of ill health and deterioration as one plods his weary way along life's difficult, burdensome road to that dreary back door of DEATH!
It is possible that one may be unaware that through his greedy and dishonest procedures he is carrying the curse of the broken law of gravity which is one of the physical, mortal laws. The law of gravity and the law of mortality and the law of death are one and the same law. This physical law is the law of "seeking for one's own." The higher law as revealed by Paul in I Corinthians, the thirteenth chapter, is the law of Charity, which "Seeketh not its own!" In breaking the lower law of gravity and of mortality one usually goes a step lower and seeks for more than is his own or for more than he is rightfully entitled to. He grasps that which he has no right to, through dishonest procedures or greed. When the earthly law of gravity is broken the burden of its curse follows beyond the grave and into eternity. Those who break this mortal law are doubly subject unto death, which is the fulfilled law of earth and mortality and gravity -- or the grave.
But this road is one of individual choosing. No one need travel it. It is a loathsome road, paved with the slimy evils of pride and falsehood and broken lives. It is the road of DEATH!
But "death has no claim on him who overcomes all sin!" so declared the ancients. And many of them proved it. Christ reaffirmed this higher law. And it is yours, this wondrous law of glory and of life everlasting and of joy unspeakable and of power ineffable! It is yours to live -- and to PROVE!
The stupendous, glorious wonder of living His words -- and of PROVING THEM -- belongs to every living soul who desires to put them to the test. And as each individual assumes this responsibility he will need none to teach him, for God Himself will become his teacher! And as one lives the teachings he not only KNOWS of their power, he is able to use that power -- the power of creation in its fulness -- the power of healing and of bringing forth from the universal substance that which will satisfy every good desire, and his daily needs, for all these things will be added unto him. Such will walk with God!
As one takes hold of the KNOWLEDGE of the power of the "good" and the "evil" of the Tree of Life -- or death -- and uses his precious gift of choosing his thoughts for "good" and for the glory of God, he begins to take upon himself that same glory. He truly becomes glorious! Or, as the precious writer of the Odes of Solomon declared: "he who would interpret the wonders of the Lord will be dissolved and will become that which he interprets!"
Interpret the love of God and become that love personified! Interpret the beauty of God's fabulous creations and in your own life become the personification of exquisite beauty! Interpret the breath-taking glory of that Celestial Song of Creation, of praise and love and gratitude, and become the creative power of all perfection.
Lift your thoughts to the Glory of God and hold them there and you will become glorious! Radiant! Filled with Light!