The Lord's Prayer & The 10 Promises (Part 3)

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"
And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.


"Thou shalt not kill."
"Thou shalt not commit adultery."


This verse of our Lord's Prayer seems especially relevant to these two commandments - or promises - about our relationship with God, and therefore with each other.


God never tempts us to "kill" the pure - unadulterated - sense of ourselves or of others any more than He would tempt us to literally kill ourselves or someone else.

God is Life. His assurance to us is: "I am come that [you] might have life, and that [you] might have it more abundantly." And this abundant Life includes no adulteration and no murder.

Why? because God is Life itself - and you are God's image and likeness.

Think of it:

* God made you inately and completely pure, like Him. God never leads you to be tempted into adulterating that purity.

* And God made you to live and live abundantly, like Him. You are not made to be tempted into murdering that joyous Life, whether with harsh words or a bullet - either yours or anyone else's.

God feeds your famished affections - not your famished lusts - and He feeds you with grace, abundant grace, for today.

God forgives your debts, your mistakes, your willfulness, as you live your practice, as you live His Love and share it with others.

God leads you into "paths of righteousness for His name's sake" and delivers you from sin, disease, and death - because God is love. And "when we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's."

God leads you - not into trials - but delivers you from the trial of sin, the trial of sickness, the trial of death - and even from the temptation to believe those "trials" are any part of His will or His reality for you. Because they aren't.

Jesus knew this. And Jesus repeatedly proved that God doesn't send us evil by healing everyone he encountered of sin, disease, or even death! And his prayer affirms this: God never leads you into trials and tempations, but always delivers you from every belief of evil, every tempting sense of separation from your true authentic healthy whole and holy being.

Every time you pray the Lord's Prayer, you are praying the spiritual Truth that Jesus actually thought and understood. You are dwelling with the Mind of Christ. You are living at the point of Truth, Life, and Love. You are experiencing God's reality: home & heaven. Here. Now.

And as Jesus' Prayer shows you, you are already purely whole, holy, and safe.

What exactly are we being saved and delivered from anyway?

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

Temptation sounds kinda fun. But a lot of Bible translations use the word "trial" where the King James version uses "temptation." "Trial" doesn't sound like much fun. That's because what Jesus is talking about here in this verse of the Lord's prayer is very pointedly exposing evil for what it is: NOT fun. In fact, just the opposite. Evil is what would - if it could - suck the life and love and joy right out of you. It would love for you to think that "temptation" is kinda fun, because then you'd voluntarily give up your life to it. But Jesus tells us evil is a "liar and the father of it". Don't buy the lie.

And what exactly is the lie?

Sin = is thinking you want to be separated from God, that you are better off being separated from God;
Sickness = is thinking that you must be separated from God because of contagion, heredity, circumstances, "world beliefs."
Death = is thinking you are finally separated from God because sin and sickness cause death - the ultimate lie of separation from Life, God.

Fortunately for us, Jesus gave us his prayer that proves God never leads us into evil, never leads us into these evil lies, but delivers us into holiness, health, and wholeness of life.

So what is this wholeness / holiness thing then? Is it some "better than you" goodie-goodie human perfection? Does it require you to become some ascetic mystic wrapped in self-denial and a vow of poverty? Is it being morally pure and always "doing the right thing"?

No.

It is the opposite of such human ego-trips and moralism.

Does that shock you?

It shouldn't. Human moralism puts "what is right" ahead of what is spiritually true. It judges by the letter of the law instead of the spirit. It is all about appearances instead of substance.

What Jesus taught is God's reality being made manifest. Jesus always put spirituality first. He constantly broke human "moral" law - often to prove the point that living the letter but not the spirit was a phony, and dangerous and usually hypocritical way of living.

Jesus always acted from what is true about God. And he always acted from what is true about us as His image and likeness. He always lived and acted from the point of God as Spirit, of God as Love.

Here's how Jesus categorically shut down human "moralism":

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

And then he silenced moralism for all time by saying:

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Right and wrong are not based on following dietary codes, religious traditions, tribal or national customs, or even things your parents told you.

There are only these 2 commandments.

And - if you are able to live your life from these two points, you will have fullfilled "all the law and the prophets" - all other ethical and moral standards.

Why?

Because you will be living out from the Christ, from the truth about who God is, and about who you are, and about who your neighbor (which includes the world) is as His creation, His reflection. You will be living out from a fundamental spiritual Truth: God actually is Love. And you and everyone you encounter actually are His image and likeness.

So love God - be utterly grateful that God is good, is Love itself. And then recognize His image and likeness - love His image and likeness - in every one you meet. And you will be fulfilling your own identity - living out from your core purpose - as His image and likeness - the living breathing acting image and likeness of Divine Love itself. Because that is who you really are.

None of this has anything to do with your national culture, your upbringing, your heredity, human character, what you've been taught, or human "morality" good bad or indifferent. You can't "make" yourself holy (which is what moralism claims). But you can awake to it - since it is already your everpresent natural state of being.

Huh?

Yes. If God is good (and He is), and if you are made in His image and likeness (and you are), then yes, holiness is your natural state of being. It is your God-given Christliness. It is the fulfillment of "Be ye holy; for I am holy." It is the opposite of moralism. It is living out from the Holy Spirit always.

Jesus lived his divine holiness - even though he was repeatedly accused of being immoral. And according to the literal understanding of the Law, he was. He routinely broke the sabbath by healing people. He and his disciples ate with unwashed hands. He spoke to Samaritans. He touched lepers. The world's "morality" is a dim shadow of the spiritual Truth of being that Jesus lived, taught, and demonstrated. In fact, it was that worldly "morality" that crucified him. But he proved that literal morality to be false and powerless with his resurrection and ascension.

Jesus' entire life proved the spiritual truth found in the 1st chapter of Genesis, the 10 Commandments, and the Sermon on the Mount. His morality was always an outgrowth of his spiritual understanding. His actions were always the expression of his deepest conviction that God is Love. And he summed up "all the law and the prophets" in those two short commandments:

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.... And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

This is also your natural state of being here and now. Jesus proved it so you may live it. His holiness - His salvation - is this spiritual awakening made manifest in your life. This spirituality lived is the true morality Jesus expects of us.

God never leads us into temptation, into firery trials and torturous self-denials, into sin, disease, and death, but always only delivers us into Love, Truth, and Life as His living likeness!

Hallelujah!

The Lord's Prayer & The 10 Promises (Part 1)

Do you realize that the Lord's Prayer and the 10 Commandments - the 10 Promises - are complimentary?

Think about it: Moses heard God's Word as the 10 Commandments. These 10 Commandments promise you the truth about your relationship with God and about your relationship with your fellow human beings. They define you as God's image and likeness. They fulfill all the law and the prophets because they enliven you to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. In them, you are unable to be anything other than what God makes you to be. They promise you that you "shalt not" be anything but His perfect creation.

And this is also exactly what the Lord's Prayer does. In fact, you could say it is the 10 Promises in prayer form.

Look at the first 5 Commandments and the first 4 verses of the Lord's Prayer side by side:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Our Father, which art in heaven. Our Father-Mother God, all harmonious.

To acknowledge only the One God is to have no other gods. It is to know that this One God is your only Father-Mother, all-harmonious. It is to accept that your source is Divine, your Cause is Life, your Creator is Love, and that you are His/Her perfect image and likeness, healthy, holy, and wholely good. Live this promise as your prayer.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain...
Hallowed be Thy name. Adorable One.

Hallowing the Adorable One, the Great I Am, makes it impossible to indulge in idolatry - the worship of matter - or to dishonor the name and nature of God in word or deed. God's name - God's perfect nature - is the real thing, the genuine article! You don't need to idolize people or things when you adore the Adorable One. Don't you love what you adore? And if you adore God, divine Love, would you ever even think to abuse His name or His nature? Of course not. And this is your natural state of being, as God's image and likeness.

4. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy...
Thy kingdom come. Thy kingdom is come. Thou art everpresent.

What could keep the Sabbath holier than acknowledging God's kingdom, His presence and power as being with you right here and right now? What could put you at ease - make you rest - more than knowing that God's work is done, His kingdom come, and that your perfect place in it is secure? There is no effort you need to put out to make this happen. There is no labor you need to add to His already complete perfect creation. There is no work involved in opening your eyes to His everpresence. You are a complete and perfect expression of God. God "finished" you. He is present with you now, holding you, keeping you safe. Healing is the truest fulfillment of the Sabbath - acknowedging and understanding that God's work - you! - are done and and done perfectly. This is God's Sabbath promise to you: you are already whole, complete, divinely fair. Rest in that.

5. Honor thy father and thy mother...
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Enable us to know, as in heaven, so on earth, God is omnipotent, supreme.

What better way to honor your father and mother than by obeying them? Than by acknowledging their authority? Why would you want to obey your parents? For at least one reason: their years of experience provides a loving protective wisdom that can guard and guide you as you mature. Like the Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm, their "rod and ... staff", their will, their loving desire, comforts you.

And so if you would honor your father and mother by obeying them, listening to their guidance because you know they have your best interests at heart, because they love you, so it is even more important to honor God in the same way. Listen to what God is telling you about who you are. Honor God's name and nature - because you are the image and likeness of that name and nature! So let the will of your Father-Mother God be done in your life here and now as it is in heaven.

And why not? It will only make your will, your love, your life, more like Him, more true to who you really already are, more authentic, more awake to your likeness to your Father-Mother God. Honor that heavenly likeness, that heavenly will by living your life accordingly right now right here on earth. Then you'll not only know that - as in heaven, so on earth, God really is omnipotent, supreme - you'll be demonstrating it. You'll be living it. And that's the most natural thing in the world for you to do.

Hallowed be Thy name.

"Hallowed be Thy name."
Adorable One.

This has unexpectedly become my favorite verse (if that's even really possible) of the Lord's Prayer. Maybe it's because I really had to dig into it, think hard about what it really means. And I've come to see it as a very transforming verse - one which really prepares us for the rest of the prayer, one that prepares us for healing.

And that's because it demands you to stop. It demands you to stop and consider what God really is. It shows you why "What is God?" is the most important question in the world.

In the first verse, you acknowledge your true relationship to God, and glimpse something true about what God is (our Father-Mother) and where He lives (Heaven - and you get to learn more about Heaven in the third verse).

But "Hallowed be Thy name" makes you stop. It makes you think: what is it to "hallow" God's name? what does it mean to "adore" the One God?

Hallow has these meanings: to make holy, to consecrate, to treat or keep as sacred. It's interesting too that the word "holy" shares its Anglo-Saxon origins with our words for health, and wholeness, and carries the significance of salvation.

And Mrs. Eddy did not mean "cutesy" when she understood this verse to spiritually mean "Adorable One." In her day adore meant: to love in the highest degree; to regard with the utmost esteem and affection.

In fact think about it: if you adore someone, don't you hang on their every word? don't you follow their every movement? don't you just LOVE being around them? wouldn't you do anything they ask? isn't it completely effortless and joyous and fun to be near them - and don't you want to be as near them as you can possibly be? Isn't that how you should be relating to God? Isn't this what it is like to really bow before Him, honor Him, to accept your sacred holy healthy whole (unbroken) relationship with your Father-Mother, the all-harmonious adorable One?

But wait. Why does Jesus say "Hallowed be Thy name?" Why not just say "Hallow God" and be done with it?

Because our Lord's Prayer moves you beyond just a kneejerk blind "acceptance" of God as God. His prayer moves you to think about something deeper: the name of God. What does it mean to hallow and adore His name? What is a "name" anyway?

The dictionary says a name is that "by which a person is known or designated." But it also refers to that which defines a person's character and actions.

Is Jesus then telling you to thoughtfully, prayerfully hallow, honor, respect, maybe even understand / appreciate / love, God's nature? His character? His qualities?

Yes. Because as you begin to think about God's nature, His character, His qualities, you begin to grasp what God is. That He is Love, therefore His nature is loving not vengeful. That He is Spirit, therefore He is spiritual not material. That He is Truth, therefore He includes all reality. That "God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all." I John 1:5

So, if God's nature is completely loving, spiritual, real, and luminous - what does that say about you as His image and likeness?

By honoring God's true name and nature, you begin to learn who you really are as God's creation. You begin to change the way you think about yourself. If you're honest about it, you also begin to change how you act, how you live, how you love. Can you really hallow, honor, respect, appreciate, love your Father and His Name and Nature, and then go off and think, live, and act in some opposite way? But if you do begin to knowingly live as best you can according to your understanding of how God really made you, then you are living authentically.

It's interesting to think about all the places in the Bible where people did exactly this. And as they woke up to their true spiritual nature as God's own image and likeness, and lived accordingly, things changed - sometimes radically. In fact, in the most dramatic cases, their names changed because of their spiritual awakening: Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel, Saul became Paul. These are all dramatic examples of how people are transformed when they truly hallow - honor, yield to, reflect - God's true Name and Nature.

So as you pray this verse, think about how adoring God's Name moves you into your natural wholeness - holiness! Into a bigger understanding of yourself as His image and likeness. Into living authentically. That as you hallow, honor, respect, appreciate, love, adore what you are learning about God and His true nature as revealed by Jesus, you begin to understand who you really are as His reflection. You start dropping all the negative things you may have thought about yourself, all the hateful things that may have been said about you, all the societal misconceptions that may have labeled you. And instead you wake up to your true nature as God's likeness. Your true nature is actually just like God's: loving, spiritual, healthy, whole - holy - because that's the way God made you! And nothing can ever change that.

Wake up to this truth that Jesus gives us in his Prayer. Let His likeness shine as you, His Life flow through you, His Love move in you. Let His Love soften you, strengthen you, show you that your innocence is unimpaired. Let His Love calm and purify your heart. Let your words and actions temper as your thoughts move off yourself, and out toward your Father-Mother God.

Let the Lord's Prayer help you to understand God's true nature, help you to love God for who He really is: Love itself. Let the Lord's Prayer teach you to love who you really are as God's own likeness. Let the Lord's Prayer help you to love your neighbor as yourself - love the true God-like nature of those around you. Let the Lord's Prayer help you bow humbly to (as Mrs. Eddy says) "to receive more of His reappearing." This is acknowledging the Name of God. This is adoring the Adorable One. This is hallowing His Holy Name.