The most wicked and profane men on the earth bear more frequent witness to the divine Being of God than the righteous, though they would be the last to admit it. These violent men, with their uncontrolled thoughts and tongues, testify of God with almost every breath as they declare His name in their oaths and in their cursings. They, in their evil, are bearing witness of God as they continually call upon His name, in vain, for only in blessing can the name of God be used with power. He is a God of love and of blessings -- and of good. And "they will not be held guiltless who taketh His name in vain."
To hear the name of God spoken with only a curse behind it is always a violent shock to the souls of the righteous. But it contains even a more violent and shattering effect upon those who pollute themselves and the earth with their blasphemy. Each blasphemous curse inflicts invisible wounds upon those who utter them. And these wounds and scars may take eons of time to heal. The untold damage these profane men are inflicting upon themselves is unbelievable and so pathetically tragic.
If only the righteous would think upon, and use, the name of God as constantly as the wicked and profane there would be no limit to the good they would accomplish.
If you have yearned for the opportunity to serve God, to be chosen by Him for service, then you will rejoice in the following information. The opportunity for you to serve is already at hand. And God is waiting anxiously for you to step into this divine service of eternal blessing. The opportunity has been so close few have ever beheld it. It has been too close at hand for man to lift his eyes to see, though Christ so plainly pointed it out.
This great, unheralded, silent service is so potent and so filled with power it is overwhelming and almost awesome when one opens up his heart to fulfill the greatness of such a divine and holy privilege of glory.
Begin to think upon the name of God and your eyes will become single to His glory. Use His name as frequently as the profane, only use it silently and with love and there will be no limit to the good you will accomplish. Use the name of God in blessing! Bless your neighbor! Bless and love him with a deep, compassionate love of infinite mercy. Shield him from scandal, even as you seek to defend yourself from false, malicious gossip. Seek to justify his shortcomings even as you so diligently, and sometimes blindly, seek to justify your own failings and mistakes. Enfold your neighbor in love and, in the name of God and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, pray for him in sincere, loving solicitude.
Enlarge upon this great and Second Commandment as you apply it with power in your daily life. Bless those you pass along the streets. Let no individual seem too insignificant, too unworthy or too repulsive to receive the out-pouring of your blessings. Bless the crippled, the unfortunate and the erring and the proud and the arrogant. Bless those who irritate you instead of disliking or resenting them. Pray for every living soul. Pray and bless and pour out your fullest quota of love until it becomes purified and unfeigned. Pray without ceasing. Fulfill this divine law of the Second, Great Commandment and you will grow into the dynamic service of Jesus Christ in your complete fulness. Develop that divine degree of love "that passeth understanding." As the love of God begins to be poured out through your heart you will have continual access to the fruit of the Tree of Life, for "The fruit of the Tree of Life is the love of God which is shed forth through the hearts of the children of men."
Let this prayer of compassionate, tender love be poured out constantly. Pray for all! Pray for the rebellious, the defiant, the wicked and the seemingly lost. Pray for those who have mistreated, persecuted, cheated or injured you in any way. Bless them in the Name of the Lord! As you make use of this divine power and privilege of prayer, silently, unheralded and unacclaimed you will be entering upon the works of Jesus Christ. This is the method He was required to use at first in order to grow into the services that were apparent.
You, like Christ, will not be permitted to behold the good you accomplish in the beginning of your labors, lest pride so fill your being you lose the way. Yet this is the path of growth and of progress. It is awaiting every individual on the earth who loves God and who desires to serve.
As you pass, leaving your blessings behind you as you go, you can also begin to send these blessings of light out ahead of you to prepare the way before you. Those who use this love of constant blessing can never become self-righteous, bigoted or fanatical. It is the law that is so humbly and so unostentatiously applied it is like the silent, loving caress of the finger of God. It is like the passing breath of an angel bringing healing and comfort with it.
As you bless give thanks that God has heard your silent requests. And in such blessings and in such prayers you will be gathering the precious leaves from that Sacred Tree of Life to help heal the nations. This is the greatest possible work one can be engaged in at the present time. The nations consist of the various races of men and the single individuals who make them up. As each recipient of your blessings is, for a moment held within the loving, enfolding embrace of your prayer, he is offered one of those precious leaves for his healing. He may not accept it. That is no concern of yours. You are to offer it. And the good of your offering may bear fruits "after many days."
This is the work of God that is awaiting your willing heart to undertake. This is your first assignment of divine service. This work is dynamic and powerful beyond the measure of your present capacity to comprehend until you have learned to live this law of outpouring love and eternal blessing.
These silent, whispered blessings are only released on the wings of your thoughts. They are not proclaimed aloud. This is a silent work of the soul as it steps forth to fulfill all the laws of righteousness. And through the fulfilling of this law is your physical body exalted and glorified for each blessing you release must first go through your own being.
Let your mind and thoughts caress mankind tenderly in a loving compassion as you pour out your constant benedictions to help heal and bless a world. Bless and rejoice always in your power to bless. This is the highway of joyous ecstasy and of thanksgiving and of eternal praise. This is the path of the righteous and of the neophyte who would become an "adept."
These silent, unacclaimed, unpronounced blessings were the first works which Christ performed. He practiced them for years before His public ministry began. And many of those whom He had blessed silently, in passing, were those who were awakened by that blessing to comprehend His teachings as He declared them aloud later.
This holy work of blessing must be done in silence, without show or self-righteousness taking control so that pride might be forever overcome. This is the only path of complete service.
This very power to bless silently, in the divine name of God, is a part of the training necessary for advancement. Bless without ceasing! Live with the name of God in your heart! Whisper it in your soul as you send out love! As you continue to use this silent power to bless, sending out only love and compassion, then will eventually follow the power to do the works which Christ did openly. The first steps toward power is along the silent, unheralded road of whispered blessings, poured out from the heart, with all the power and faith and love you can possibly exert. You will not be permitted to see the stupendous impact of your prayers in the beginning for you must first work from the heart, with a faith that has not yet become apparent.
As you travel this secret, inner road of blessings the good you will accomplish will reach far beyond your power to comprehend at the present time. But never doubt! Just bless and glorify God with every breath, and you will grow automatically into the greater powers. You will soon know fully what you are doing and what you will accomplish. And as you travel this divine highway of service and prayer you will realize that it is God who does the works. And you will rejoice in the knowledge that he is using you as His divine instrument of blessing.
This constant power to bless and to love and to pray silently is even more of God's stupendous work than using these powers of creation to supply "your daily bread." The power to fulfill all your needs is only incidental. The power to bless and to forgive is the fulfilling of an everlasting, urgent, constant need, until the whole world is brought to "a knowledge of the Lord."
The moment anyone takes money for some spiritual service rendered he, in that moment, has closed the door to the power to supply his needs from the universal abundance. He is working for mammon and for the pay of the world. And those will be the wages he will receive. He has proved himself to be unworthy of his "higher" attainment.
As one fulfills these humble laws of divine, holy service, which cannot possibly be heralded, exploited, cashed in on, or even be retold, in order to appease his pride, he will speedily be prepared to serve more completely than he ever dreamed. He will, even as he offers his loving prayers of constant blessing, in a tender, unfanatical, loving outpouring of constant prayer, purify himself. And when he is completely purified he will not need to go out endeavoring to rend his desired blessing from heaven, nor to bring God's holy will down to his, nor to try to pry sanction and credits from those ahead of him on the road of attainment. The moment he has fulfilled all the laws and proved himself worthy and ready all the powers and the blessings he has prepared himself to receive will be his in their fulness. No one can demand these powers or blessings, nor take them from another. Those who are rushing about, seeking to find someone to fulfill their righteousness for them are wasting their time and their divine powers of hope.
Those who are fulfilling the divine laws will not rush out trying to entrap "flying saucers." Neither will they intrude themselves upon those in high places. When such have reached the heights of their own preparation they will be invited up. Such will never need to be invited down to take a lower seat. They will be acknowledge fully and will be given the powers that go with their own purification.
Humbly, silently and unknown to others must the first works be accomplished. They are fulfilled through silent prayer and continual blessings that are released from the fulness of an adoring heart. Only in this way can one be advanced to the status of the approved. And only then will he be able to perform the miracles, which only the true "believers in Jesus Christ" were promised the power to accomplish. Such will be able to heal the sick, cast out devils (or cure the insane), heal the halt, the lame and the blind, and raise the dead, if such be the will of God. In this higher service one does nothing except God directs it. He speaks no word, except God reveals it. In this complete obedience of eternal power only the Will of God is accomplished to the complete sanctification of him who serves. This is how one becomes a servant in every deed.
As one grows into these higher powers now, unspeakable services will be accomplished for he will begin to do "all the works which Christ did." And then, he will go on "to the greater works." The full revelation of these greater works will be unfolded as one is prepared to perform them.
Such is the law of Christ, and the powers which govern His holy Light, which Light has been given to abide right within man.
You, most noble aspirant for service, know that your service can begin this instant as you commence to bless and continue to bless. Pray for those you meet along life's way. Pray for those who come to you from memory, whether they be living or dead. Bless those you meet along the streets, in a silent, loving compassion. Learn to feel towards them as God feels towards them in His great encompassing, understanding, forgiving mercy.
Bless and give thanks without ceasing. This is one of the major ways to begin to make use of the great Light of Christ until it becomes subject unto you. It must needs obey one as he develops it and brings it forth. It has always been man's to use only man did not know it. Now the keys of contacting that powerful, holy Light and of bringing it forth are fully revealed.
Use these keys humbly and constantly.
This very power, which has always been within your reach, has been the power which you have unconsciously yearned for God to bestow upon you. It has remained concealed until you were sufficiently awakened to begin to seek and to search that you might KNOW God, instead of having someone tell you about Him.
This holy Light is the power that will purify, perfect and glorify you as you begin to use it silently, untrumpeted and unacclaimed, at first. This is the power you can begin to use with love and tenderness and infinite compassion to bind up the wounds of the broken (in spirit), and to heal the bodies and the minds of men. With this power released, through your constant prayers of praise and blessing, you will also have the power to begin to remove the scales of blindness from those who have never desired to see, for your light will begin to shine forth so that others seeing it will begin to glorify your Father, which is in heaven. They will not see that holy light with their physical eyes, not at first, for it will not be made thus apparent. But they will feel it. And they will begin to behold it with their spiritual eyes as your works of love bear witness of it in a joy of utter glory as it is released through you.
This is the power you can begin to use to help bring peace to the earth. Remember, your sincere, released blessings of compassion are the leaves from that sacred Tree of Life. And your love is the vehicle upon which they are carried forth, even to the bleak, the forelorn and the suffering and to the arid places of the earth, where it is most needed.
Such are the powers you now hold in your hands. Use them graciously, humbly and continuously. Never tire of using them in your daily life that that life might unfold in fulfilling glory and infinite power.
This is the power of God in action as you begin to cooperate with Him. The developing and the bringing forth of these stupendous powers is up to you. These powers are unspeakable and tremendous beyond the knowledge of human thought. It is not possible to reveal their fulness to you now. You will be given the full understanding of them as you perfect yourself in their use. As you exercise your right to perfect this divine, holy power of prayer and blessing you will bring forth that Light even until you are "filled with Light and comprehend all things." And "all things will become subject unto you, both in heaven and on earth." "And nothing will be impossible to you" for such are the divine promises of Almighty God, through His Son, Jesus Christ.
In blessing continually "your mind and your lips will soon lose the power to hurt and wound. Then will your voice be heard among the Gods!" And such is your constant opportunity of service, right where you stand. And there is no person so alone and so unknown and insignificant who can not begin to use these divine powers as he begins "to evolve from the man kingdom into the God Kingdom."
This holy, divine service and this everlasting power is your divine heritage. And for this were you created. And this will be your glory as you begin to use the holy powers vested in you and the unutterable, incomprehensible privilege of prayer. Such are the dynamic powers of God awaiting your loving, compassionate, intelligent use of them. This instant! Every instant! There is no limit to the good you can accomplish. It is as limitless as the power of God is limitless.
Lift your eyes to His glory! Let them become single to that glory and watch yourself grow into it as your mortal weaknesses, shortcomings and failings drop away.
Oh, blessed one, as you LIVE these divine laws of blessing they will become your own for you will grow into them fully and completely. And in fulfilling these divine laws of silent, holy prayer you will fulfill the full measure of your own divinity. And know this surely and completely, that these prayers of blessing, as you send them forth, are truly "the prayers that are not heard of men." They are for the ears of God only.
Beloved, noble aspirant for service, you need not seek on the outside for honors or acclaim or for rewards. They will be given to you from within. God's blessings are always from within as you become purified, ennobled, exalted and filled with light and eternal power. "Not as the world gives, give I unto you." You need only to fulfill the laws of your own inner being, the laws Christ so lovingly gave to the world. And as you fulfill them "Nothing will be impossible to you!"
In order that you might begin to comprehend and to use these powers it will be necessary to reveal one more key that has been mentioned before, but not fully.
Trials are given for the perfecting of the individual that he might learn to develop his spiritual strength to the point where he can stand forth in that ancient acclamation and issue that all-powerful command, "Let there be Light!"
Each person has the right to command that Light to come forth, from right within himself, whenever overwhelming misfortunes or dismays or sorrows seek to submerge him or to silence his divine power of prayer.
As one knowingly issues that dynamic command, "Let there be Light" within me, he will be able to step aside and watch the fears and discords and confusion and the evils melt away as they are dissolved by that all-powerful vibration of Christ's holy Light.
This is another key by which that Light is brought into subjection to the individual along with that Celestial Song of Creation, the "New Song" of praise and love and gratitude, as well as the exercised privilege of blessing and praying without ceasing. These three methods contain the keys of all power and advancement and blessings. Each is a key in the life of him who would fulfill all the laws of righteousness, that all things might be added unto him.
This ability to command the "Light to stand forth" in all experiences and upon all occasions is stupendous in its power. This too is a key that can be used constantly as one learns to "walk in light." Or as the writer of those wonderful Odes of Solomon proclaimed; "I clothed myself in light, and acquired a body free from sorrow or affliction or pain."
As one learns to bring forth that divine Light from right within himself that "Light will become subject unto him." "All things will become subject unto him, both in heaven and on earth." And not only that light will become subject unto him but the gift of life also -- "and the Spirit and the Power, sent forth by the will of the father, through Jesus Christ, His Son."
As one offers his prayers of blessing and healing and enfolding love out to those he contacts, either in actuality or in memory, he will begin to bring forth that light. And within that power of prayer is the power to command the very gift of life itself. This is the power of healing in its fullest extent. And this is the promise of God to those who love and serve Him.
This divine, holy "Light of Christ is given to abide in every man who cometh into the world. And those who reject this Light (or who fail to bring it forth and use it) are under condemnation." They naturally remain in their impotent, grubby, mortal condition of endless vicissitudes that are the heritage of this "lone and dreary world" as they plod their bleak, unenlightened way to that desolate, back door -- of death.
Up until now few have lifted their eyes to behold the great Light of the glory of God. And fewer still have held "their eyes single to that glory!" So very few have believed sufficiently to go beyond the drab, surface teachings of their creeds as they have trusted in the arm of flesh instead of seeking to KNOW God for themselves. These have indifferently relinquished their divine powers to "seek, to ask and to knock," that they themselves might find God and henceforth KNOW Him. But man is no longer satisfied with the old-time religions that were good enough for their ancestors and which are now as out-moded as the covered wagons of the past.
New and wider frontiers have opened up in every field of knowledge. Breathtaking accomplishments have been achieved in every field of learning to which man has directed his mind. And the result has been unbelievable as each stupendous door opened has revealed breathtaking new fields to explore.
Now, the most exciting field of all research has opened wide its doors. It is the spiritual field! The unexplored realm of the soul of man and his right to actually KNOW God.
In this stupendous new search to find a man's soul and to KNOW God, not through hear-say, but by individual accomplishment it is discovered that each individual is equipped with a laboratory in which he can test, for himself, every formula and every teaching -- and ascertain which are of God and which are of men. Each person is given the necessary equipment and the intelligence and the dynamic, unspeakable power to prove for himself every word and every promise ever given by God to man. And man himself is the testing ground for every word Christ ever uttered. And never before have the doors to that spiritual realm been opened so wide and so invitingly for man to step forth and fulfill the full measure of his own creation.
The keys of infinite power and spiritual understanding have remained unrevealed for centuries because of man's willingness to accept whatever he was told without testing its power. He has been satisfied to blindly follow, the blind leaders who have lead him. So has man been cheated and his soul robbed and he has fallen with his brothers, into the ditch of death.
The dynamic keys of power and of complete knowledge are now made in fulfilment to God's holy promises from the very beginning of time. The "Great and unspeakable things which God has hid up from the foundation of the world, because of the GROSS WICKEDNESS OF UNBELIEF," are now opened and available to all who desire them.
These stupendous truths and powers have been awaiting a generation who would no longer be satisfied with an insipid diet of milk and spewed out vomit. This age belongs to those who have awakened to the desolating pangs of spiritual hunger that can no longer be appeased by the powerless creeds and formulas of the past. These awakened ones are "hungering and thirsting after righteousness," not platitudes or appeasements or powerless doctrines. These are the ones who must satisfy that yearning hunger to KNOW by fulfilling the command to "ask, to seek and to knock."
These awakened ones will no longer be restrained by the secular authorities, who are but blocking the way. These noble ones are already seeking both "early and diligently" that they might know Him, the only true and living God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent!" These great, advancing, spiritual sons of God will never again be satisfied with the dead conformity to earthly ritualism. They can no more return to the dead, unprogressiveness of their forefathers than a jet pilot or an astronaut would be willing to travel in an ancient camel caravan or with a covered wagon, drawn by a plodding ox team.
These awakening ones are at last aware that the leaders, who lulled them to sleep with their professed knowledge, are themselves blind. These enlightened ones are no longer interested in being informed about God. They are reaching to KNOW God. "And to know Him is life eternal."
This very promise of eternal life is based on man's search to know God for himself. This search is as necessary to man's divine progress as the principle of birth is necessary to commence one's sojourn in mortality.
And as one lives the laws of God he will KNOW of their truth and of their power. He will need none to tell him. And the promise is to all: "Those who seek me diligently shall find Me!"
This is the day of spiritual awakening! This is the beginning of the day of power. This is the day of God Almighty and every individual will have a part in it whether he is prepared or not. Yet all are invited to participate in the great glory of this wondrous day -- a day such as has never been before or ever will be again. For those who are prepared it is a day of unspeakable glory. For those who are unprepared it will be a day of regret and of deep sorrow.
Thank God that you are privileged to live in this great day -- the day of the consumation -- of the fulfilling -- of the ending and the beginning of all that was or will be.