"And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you: and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
"Therefore, sanctify yourselves, that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him: for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.
"Remember the great and last promise which I have made unto you; cast away your idle thoughts and your excess of laughter far from you."
The greatest, crowning, last and highest promise of all promises is that man shall behold the face of God. As man learns to control his thoughts, using them correctly and with comprehension of their power, they will no longer be idle. Neither will one who thus has control of his thinking processes need to indulge in the pastime of those who are both empty and foolish, usually displayed in an excess of laughter.
God does not sanctify any man. The command is and has always been: "Sanctify yourselves." This sanctification can only come through one developing eyes single to the glory of God. As one begins to purify himself by correct thinking processes and by developing the gift of love to the extent that he begins to fulfill that first and greatest of all commandments, his eyes do become single to the glory of God, for he begins to receive the higher vision of God's enfolding glory and of His power. God's glory is everywhere! It is in the sun and the moon and the stars! It is in the rose and in the tree! It is in every blade of grass and in the morning dew! It is in the rain and in the splendor and immensity of the sea and the sky! It is in the song of a bird! It is also in the heart of man!
"The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their lights, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the power of God.
"Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms that ye may understand?
"Behold, all these are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any of the least of these hath seen God moving in his majesty and power.
"I say unto you, he hath seen him: nevertheless, he who came unto his own was not comprehended.
"The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not. Nevertheless, the day shall come when you shall comprehend even God, being quickened in him and by him.
"Then shall you know that you have seen me, that I am, and that I am the true light that is in you, and that you are in me, otherwise ye could not abound!"
Man has gone through life with his mental and spiritual eyes completely closed. He has "had eyes to see, and seen not." He has taken everything for granted, without thought or appreciation, without joy, gratitude or understanding and without that awakened, marveling vision of wonder. He has not opened his mind to comprehend that back of all existing and created things stands the divine Creator. The spiritual feeling of awe and reverence is "the fear of the Lord" mentioned so often in the scriptures. This old Anglo Saxon word "fear" meant "awe". To be in "awe" one's attention must be focused upon God, must contemplate His wonders. And he who does so will be held in spellbound, marveling adoration.
As one beings to use his wandering, idle thoughts to think upon these higher things, he will develop the power to comprehend and to enjoy more fully and more completely everything his eyes behold, until in a glory of enfolding love and singing gratitude his eyes will of necessity become single to God's glory. At first it will be a mental awakening, as his understanding is opened and his comprehension expanded to feel the wonder and glory of all that is. It will be an inner vision of awakening that will unfold into the full light of knowing.
As one begins to comprehend the power and the wonder of that divine Christ Light, he will outgrow all negative thinking, which thinking contains all the darkened powers which have created each man's ills and misfortunes. As he casts out every negative thought and feeling, "The darkness will be cast from him." . . . . . "And there will be no darkness in him: and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things" . . . . . "even God!"
In referring back to the first quotation, it states: "And the days will come that you shall see him;" Any scripture, at any time or in any place, which refers to "day" or "days" is speaking of something concerning this earth. "Days" is a measure of "time". On the other side, "time is not". With this explanation it must be understood this unveiling of His face is something that is to take place in this life. It will be when the individual prepares for it and it will be when the individual fulfills the laws concerning it. It does not say "day" but "days" and means that after that revelation one will be able to behold the face of God the remainder of his days. This is the point where one receives "the fullness of the Father!" This Fullness of the Father is an eternal gift. It is not just given for a moment or even a day, but when it is fulfilled it is forever, for one then enters another, higher dimension.
After one has learned to cast out the darkness and the negatives, a process which intensifies the gift of appreciation and joy, he must be filled with light. With all the negatives and evils eliminated, there is nothing left but the great light. No individual can possibly remain a vacuum. He either has to be filled with the light or the darkness, or with their intermingling vibrations. If he is filled with light there can be no darkness in him. This great light is the power to comprehend all things. It also contains the joy of be-ing. It is the very glory and power of God. With this understanding one's eyes soon become single to the great glory. They no longer behold the darkness, the evils of life and their consequent powers of negation. When this is completed the final step must follow. It is then the greatest, most glorious and last promise must be fulfilled, even the unveiling of the face of God.
"For he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will." How else could it possibly be done? Could a rose unfold before its time of maturity? And if it did, would it be beautiful? Could it come forth in any other way than His way? Remember that no man can create a rose, giving it color and fragrance and loveliness and life. Each and every rose, in order to fill the measure of its creation, must come forth in His time. And His time is always when the rose has reached, or fulfilled, the measure of its unfolding.
It is the same with the chick in the egg. Its time of stepping forth into another plane and dimension is God's own time and that time is when the chick is ready.
This great revelation that is to unveil the Face of God to the individual who is ready is also to be done in His own way. That, again, is the only possible way it could be done. His way is the way that has arranged all the laws which govern such a divine and ineffable revelation. His way is the process of developing and unfolding from within until the required perfection is attained. No rose could possibly come forth in its completed loveliness by enforced measures of outside prodding and interfering. The rose itself has to be ready -- and, shall we say, willing? -- even as an individual has to be ready. That preparedness can only be accomplished through man's cooperation and complete willingness.
As God unveils His face to an individual it is always according to His own will. This is the only perfect way for it to be accomplished. And be it here known, it is always according to God's will that this great, unspeakable revelation of Himself is vouchsafed to man. It is always God's will for this to happen. It is His will for all things to come forth in their fullness and beauty and complete expression. It is always His will that every child of His reaches that status of maturity and purification in which the great revelation can be fulfilled unto him. As man receives the fulfilling perfection and is able to receive "that great, and last promise", his own mortal destiny is completed. In this unspeakable revelation of God is contained all the powers of eternity. Death will be overcome and all the ancient dreads connected with it.
This has always been the will of God for every man who has ever come into this world, so when that final promise is fulfilled it will most certainly be according to His will. It has always been His will that this be accomplished. It is only as man begins to use his gift of free-agency aright, in awakened cooperation, that God's will can be completed and fulfilled in the life of man.
Always the great blessing of fulfilling any law is to the individual who fulfills it. If one adores and worships God, it is that individual who advances as the fountains of love are opened up in his own heart to release the very power and life force of God right within himself. If one fulfills the commandments and the laws of righteousness, it is to himself the joys of the Almighty flow back in breathtaking glory. Whatever man may think he is doing for God he himself is the real beneficiary.
God needs no man's adherence or devotion, except to be used for the redemption and glorification of that individual. Each precious gift and ray of light and devotion offered is but an avenue through which unspeakable powers and blessings are poured back to the one who released them, multiplied, increased and glorified a thousandfold; yea, more.
For God has said, "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." But it must be when man is willing and begins to cooperate.
"Cast your bread upon the waters and after many days it will return unto you." Cast your thoughts, your devotion and your love out upon that universal sea of God's vast expansion and they will return unto you laden with blessings. If you are waiting idly, impotently, negatively for "your ship to come in", realize that you have sent the wrong kind of ship to the wrong port. The sea of God's great abundance and the power of fulfillment of all good for you are but awaiting the sending of your ship to the proper port in the specified way. And your ship will come back to you laden with all the precious, divine gifts and blessings will be poured out upon you without measure, for it is His good pleasure to bless those who love and serve Him. And this is His great desire for all as He continues in His work of "bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Included in this work is your own complete redemption and eternal glory laden with every good gift that is possible to receive, if you will only lift your eyes to behold such glory -- even the glory of God. Eyes single to His glory is a condition attained by a purified state of continual, conscious awareness.
There are those who try to bully and threaten God, or who seek to make picayunish little deals with Him. "God, if you don't give me this or that or the other, I will never pray again!" Or it may be this threat, "I will never go to church again!" So what? Such an individual is only inflicting the loss of that divine contact with God upon himself. No one can possibly spite or injure God. The individual alone is injured as he separates himself more completely from God and His great healing, enfolding light. Or there are those who pray thus: "God, if you will give me this or that or the other, I will do this or that for you." No one can do anything for God, for whatever he does for God he is but doing for himself and the reward will be his own.
There is not anything that can possibly happen to any individual on this earth that will not be turned into a blessing if that person will only accept it as a gift from God and humbly glorify Him and give thanks. Yes. This does mean even your heartbreaks, distresses, vicissitudes, losses and sorrows. Bless them and praise God and they will be clothed in glory and transmuted into power and blessings to you forever. The greater the sorrow the greater can be its released power as it is transformed into a radiance of infinite potency.
When Christ prayed, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, let not my will, but thine be done," He gave the keys of all glory. And with that inner love released He later proclaimed in great joy, "Now is the Father glorified in the Son." With His eyes wholly single to the glory of God He achieved the greatest victory possible for Himself -- and for God and for a world.
When an individual can lift his vision to the great glory of God and have his eyes single to that Glory, he will not even pray for "this or that or the other." He will worship and adore and love with a devotion that will vibrate across the Universe in such a rhythm of power all things will be fulfilled in him. "And the things of this earth will be added unto him a hundredfold; yea, more!" . . . . . "And he will be made glorious."
Don't try to make deals with God unless you always give Him the biggest end of the bargain. And if you will just give Him your all without any bargaining, in utter and complete surrender there will be no way to estimate your gains.
Glorify Him with every breath and become glorious. Give thanks and praise to Him for what you have and watch your "little" grow into "much". Your blessings will increase as by a miracle. Let your eyes become single to His glory, as you shut out the negatives, the fears and the darkness and you will be prepared to behold His face -- and will be filled with His fullness, even His glory.
Love so much that whatever He sends will be as a very rare and precious gift. Love and adore, praise and give thanks and the windows of heaven will be opened unto you and you will not have room enough to receive the blessings.
"Therefore I say unto you, all things, whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive; and they shall come unto you.
"And when you shall kneel to pray, forgive, if you have aught against any man; that your Father also, who is in heaven, may forgive you your sins."
As you love and worship and adore God, your very requests will be in tune with His Will and His Holy Spirit of Promise will bear witness to your soul that you shall receive them. Learn to listen for that assurance -- and believe it always. As you learn to believe in that inner assurance the blessings will follow. That is His law -- the law by which all requests are granted. Anything you ask for in this manner, fulfilling this law of prayer and learning to hear His promise will be granted unto you. If you ask amiss and the prayer is not for His glory or for your own ultimate good or for the good of him you might be praying for, that desire will be removed from your heart, if you yield yourself to His wisdom and to His will as you pray in this manner.
If you pray that your little child be spared and it isn't, you may be sure there is a very good reason. Perhaps God, in His infinite mercy and love, is saving your precious child from some teenage tragedy later. Your child is His child too. It was His long before it was yours. Why not trust Him in handling the affairs of life and death?
Or if you pray, without yielding your will to His will, that your husband or wife or sister or brother, your sweetheart or some other loved one be spared and they are because of your refusal to relinquish that loved one, then such a life is usually taken later with much more suffering and anguish attached. There are thousands upon thousands of cases to substantiate this truth. And the great extended misery was created by your personal will being placed above the will of God. It was not His doing, nor was the added suffering required. Nor was He trying to add extra punishment.
It is possible and it is the will of God that all pain and suffering -- and death be overcome. But death can only be overcome by overcoming its cause, which is sin. It is not overcome through self assertion or by defiance or by exerting one's own will above the will of God. Death is overcome by obedience to every beautiful, divine law and by yielding to God's will in a love of praising gratitude that completely fulfills all laws, hence has the power to banish death. Use this method and you can pass from death into life. Fulfill the higher laws and you will also be able to lift your loved ones so they too will be able to comprehend His glory. They too will be able to lift their eyes to His heights and receive the vision divine and the blessings thereof.
Until one accepts and lives by the laws that fulfill the full measure of creation and hence have power to overcome death, it is a help to comprehend that for every loss there is a divine compensation, if one will only receive the gifts of the Holy Comforter.
"For it is given to abide in you: the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory;" etc. For every sorrow there is ample comfort and the power of complete healing. Within every loss and every searing heartbreak there are also contained the ineffable powers of advancement, progress, redemption and glory. All the greater things are accomplished by overcoming the small things through love and praise and gratitude, and by developing the ability to accept all things, all conditions as though they were His will. In this attitude they can be instantly exalted into blessings and the greater laws will automatically be fulfilled. Thus can one be exalted and glorified.
In the Will of God is contained only the ultimate happiness and the power to perfectly work out all evil conditions. Man sees it not because man's vision does not extend beyond the present hour -- the present day. If one will lift his vision to the glory of God, whose scope views all eternity, and accepts His will, he will have power to walk with God! He will no longer need to drag along keeping step with time. He will be in step with eternity and will be enfolded in eternal glory.
In the Will of God is contained all the glory and the power of the ages. In His mind and will is the perfect working out of every problem, the healing of every pain, the relief for every sorrow, the righting of every wrong and the perfecting of every imperfect condition.
It is not necessary to make deals with God. It is only necessary to tell Him of your problems and ask for His help. Then let love and gratitude pour out from you in songs of everlasting praise for a privilege so divine -- and all things will work together for your good -- for your glory.
So many are lost in the great vortex of engulfing, heartbreaking difficulties because they are continually battling against life and every condition that unfolds. They battle events, their fellowmen and life itself. There is only one fight for any man to really make. Man's only important battle is to subdue the "self". As it is overcome all evils go with it. When this is accepted man will be able to relax in the great tide of God's flowing current of life and in that relaxing love and praise he will be lifted high upon the crest of the stream of life, instead of being completely submerged beneath it. He will be carried almost effortlessly into the great ocean of His abundance and peace and completeness of all things and receive the fullness of joy.
There is no need to spend one's life battling the currents in a little, unimportant eddy, unprogressive, unglorified and unredeemed by a lifetime of wasted, unproductive living.
"Be still! And know that I Am God!" Let your troubled heart be still and His healing and His comfort will flow in. Let your troubled mind be at peace and lift your eyes to His glory, for in His glory is the exalted redemption and joy and perfection of all that He created. And His creations are always perfect. He created nothing except beauty and perfection and love, happiness and eternal joy. It is only man's interferences and negative creations of discords and evils and violence that are so terribly devastating and completely destructive. Lift your eyes to His glory and let His will be done in all things and the great perfection will ensue in your own life. Your life will be filled with it. Only you and others like you can bring the fulfilling of the prayer, "Thy will be done on earth even as it is in heaven."
Cease "Kicking against the pricks!"
As you learn to worship and adore and give thanks to Him continually you will lose the power to ask amiss and your prayers will be the unfolding of His will in your life as you are prepared to receive blessing after blessing, truth upon truth, glory upon glory until you are prepared to behold His face and receive of His Fullness.
Let only love go out from you in a singing glory of praise and gratitude. In so doing you will not need to spend your fragile, impotent strength battling to fulfill your will and bring the universe into tune with you. You will become in tune with the Universe. And with the great stillness now at your command you will walk with God. Your eyes will become single to His glory. And as they become adjusted to behold that great, divine glory, He will unveil His face unto you. In such intimate, exalted understanding you will truly be prepared to receive of "The Fullness of the Father!"
There is nothing in all existence that can surpass a glory so great, a goal so complete and a joy so all-inclusive as one puts off mortality and puts on immortality -- even Eternal Life. Henceforth such a one will actually know God! "For this is life eternal to know Thee, the only true and Living God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You have sent!" With eyes single to this glory, such glory can be fulfilled in every man who will only lift his eyes to behold it.