Saturday, January 21, 2017

FEARLESSNESS

"Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith?"

All through the Bible man is told not to be afraid. Fear is man's only enemy. It is faith turned upsidedown. Jesus Christ said, "Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith?" If you can only believe, all things are possible. Linked with God- power, man is invincible. The story of Jehosophat is the story of the individual. So often he seems outnumbered by adverse appearances but he hears the same voice of the Infinite saying: "Be not afraid or dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's." Jehosophat and his army were even told that they would not need to fight the battle. "Set yourselves, stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord," for the battle was God's not theirs. Jehosophat appointed singers unto the Lord to praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army, saying; "Praise the Lord for His mercy endureth forever." When they came toward the watchtower in the wilderness they looked toward the multitude and behold, they were dead. The enemy had destroyed itself. There was nothing to fight. The Bible is talking about states of consciousness. Your enemies are your doubts and fears, your criticisms and your resentments. Every negative thought is an enemy. You may be outnumbered by adverse appearances, but be not afraid or dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God's.

As we follow closely the story of Jehosophat, we see he advanced making an affirmation: "Praise the Lord, His mercy endureth forever." He had nothing to say about the enemy or his own lack of strength. He was giving the Lord his full attention, and when he commenced to sing and praise, the Lord placed ambushments against his enemies and they were smitten. When you make your statements of Truth your enemy thoughts are vanquished, dissolved and dissipated, therefore, all adverse appearances disappear. When Jehosophat and his army came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked into the multitude and behold they were dead. The watchtower in the wilderness is your high state of consciousness, your fearless faith, your place of safety. There you rise above all adverse conditions, and God's battle is won.

"When Jehosophat and his people came to take away the spoils of the enemy, they found among them both riches and precious jewels, more than they could carry away, and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much." That means, when you let God fight the battle for you, great blessings come out of every adverse situation. "For thy God will turn the curse into a blessing, for the Lord thy God loveth thee." The ingenuity of the Spirit is amazing. It is pure intelligence and brooks no interference with its plans. It is very difficult for the average person to "stand still," which means, keep your poise, and let Infinite Intelligence run the situation. People like to rush into the battle and try to manage things themselves, which brings defeat and failure. "Ye shall not need to fight in this battle; set yourselves, stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord with you. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you." That means, not to run away from the situation, walk up fearlessly and face the lion on your pathway, and the lion turns into an airedale. The lion takes his fierceness from your fear. A great poet has said "Courage has genius, magic and power in it.

Daniel was unafraid and the lions' mouths were closed. King Darius called to Daniel while he was yet in the lions' den, asking him if God could save him from the lions, and Daniel answered, "0! King live forever! My God hath sent His angels and shut the lions' mouths that they have not hurt me." We have in this story the subdued attitude of the lions as a result of Spiritual power; the entire group changed from ferocity to docility, and Daniel looking away from the beasts to the Light and Might of Spirit, which saved him completely from the lions. Scarcely a day passes without some sort of lion appearing on man's pathway, the lions of lack, limitation, fear, injustice, dread or forebodings. Immediately walk up to the situation of which you are afraid. If you run away from it, it will always be right at your heels.

Many people lose the things they prize or love because they are continually fearing their loss. They do everything possible on the external to insure protection, but back of it all is the devastating picture of fear. In order to hold the things you prize and love, you must know that they are Divinely protected, therefore, nothing can harm them. I give the example of a woman who was very fond of a man who was good-looking and popular with women. She decided to prevent his meeting one particular woman of her acquaintance because she was sure the woman would make every effort to "cut her out," to use a slang expression. One evening she went to the theatre and there he was with the woman. They had met at a card party. Her fears had actually attracted the situation. I knew a woman who had seven children. She knew they were all Divinely protected and they all grew up safe and sound. One day a neighbor rushed in and said, "You had better call your children, they are all climbing up and down trees— they are going to kill themselves!" My friend replied, "0 they're only playing tree-tag. Don't look at them and nothing will happen." Like Daniel she turned her back to the situation and let God take care of it.

The average person is a resenter, a resister, or a regretter. They resent people they know and people they don't know. They resist everything from daylight saving up. They regret what they did or what they didn't do. It is very wearing to be with these people. They exhaust all their friends. It is because they are not living in the wonderful NOW and are losing all the tricks in the game of life.

It is heaven to be unafraid and to live fully in the NOW; that is, to be fearless in using what we have, knowing back of us is the abundance of the spheres to draw upon. We know that fearless faith and the spoken word release this supply. The power of the word was known in Egypt thousands of years ago.

We read in the Bible, "Behold I make all things new!" By our words of Truth we can make new our minds, bodies and affairs. When all fear is obliterated we live magic lives. Like Jehosophat we go forward fearlessly singing: "Praise the Lord, His mercy endureth forever." In our watchtower of high consciousness, we stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

Christianity is founded on faith. Faith gives one a sublime assurance of one's good. One may be surrounded by adverse appearances, but this sublime assurance impresses the subconscious mind, and a way opens for the manifestation of health, wealth and happiness. There is an endless, invisible supply for every man. "Before we called we were answered." This supply is waiting to be released by faith and the spoken word. We find that Jesus Christ taught an exact science.

At the World's Fair there was a panorama of New York City in the Edison Building. At dusk when the city was being lighted up the buildings showed a myriad of lights; the man explaining the exhibit said: "The city is lighted by the power of electricity at the turn of a switch— the turn of a hand." Edison was the man who had faith in the laws of electricity. He knew what could be done with it if it were harnessed and directed. It seemed to have intelligence of its own. He created a dynamo through which it would work, after years of patience and loving absorption in his work. Now this power lights the world, for it is harnessed and directed.

Jesus Christ taught man to harness and direct thought. He knew that fear was as dangerous as uncontrolled electrical forces. Words and thoughts must be handled with wisdom and understanding. The imagination is man's workshop, and an imagination running wild and building up fear pictures, is just about as safe as riding a bucking broncho.

We were born and brought up in an age of doubt and fear. We were told that the age of miracles was over and to expect the worst. An optimistic person was laughed at. A bright remark was — "A pessimist is a person who lives with an optimist." "Eat the speckled apples first," was thought the height of wisdom. They did not seem to realize that by following this advice they would never catch up with the good apples, for they would be speckled too by the time they were reached.

What a beautiful world this would be if all anxiety and fear were blotted out. These twins, anxiety and worry, have made men slaves and are destroyers of health, wealth and happiness. 

There is only one way of getting rid of fear—and that is, to transmute it into faith; for fear is the opposite of faith. "Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith?" These words ring down through the centuries. Jesus Christ taught that the Father within man could be absolutely trusted to guide, protect and provide when man believes it possible. Jesus Christ demonstrated this God-power over and over again in order to convince his followers. Out of the invisible supply He brought the loaves and fishes; He raised the dead; and took money from the fishes' mouths. He told them, "Greater things shall ye do, for I am going."

We know he was teaching an exact science, the science of mind, the power of thought and the power of the word. We must have faith, for faith registers the idea in the subconscious mind. When an idea is once registered in the subconscious, it must objectify. That is the reason Jesus Christ told people that if they believed (which is having faith), all things were possible. How are we to get rid of this anxiety, which we might call "anti-faith"? The only way to neutralize it is to walk up to the thing you are afraid of.


There was a man who had lost all his money. He was living in very poor quarters and all the people around him were poor and he was afraid to spend the little he had. All he had was about five dollars. He had tried to get work but everyone had turned him down. He awoke one morning to face another day of lack and disappointment, when the idea (or hunch) came to him to go to the horse show. It took about all he had but he was fired with the idea of being with rich and successful people again. He was tired of his limited surroundings. He fearlessly spent the money for a ticket to the Horse Show. There he met an old friend, who said: "Hello Jim,! Where have you been all this time?" Before the Show was over the old friend gave him a wonderful position in his firm. His hunch and fearless attitude toward money had put him in a new vibration of success.

Form the habit of making giant swings into faith. You will receive marvellous returns.

As has already been noted, we look with amazement at the people in the circus performing their remarkable feats. These people have the faith that they can perform these acts, and see themselves doing them. You cannot accomplish anything you cannot see yourself accomplishing. These difficult feats are all a matter of poise and balance. Your success and happiness depend upon your poise and balance. Trusting God is like walking a slack wire. Doubt and fear cause you to lose your balance and fall off into lack and limitation. Like the circus performer —it takes practice. No matter how many times you fail, try it again. Soon you will acquire the habit of poise and balance. Then the world is yours. You will walk joyfully into your kingdom. The circus performers all seem to love their work, no matter how difficult. The band plays, the people applaud and they smile, but remember they were trained without the music and applause.

Rhythm, harmony and balance are the keys to success and happiness. When you are out of rhythm you are out of luck.

In the fourth chapter of Philippians we read: "Be careful (or anxious) for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplications, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." This is certainly a wonderful arrangement, all in favor of man. Man, free from worry and fear, asks with thanksgiving, and his good is given him.

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