Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Denials and Affirmations in The Game of Life

Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be 
established unto thee."

All the good that is to be made manifest in man's 
life is already an accomplished fact in divine mind
, and is released through man's recognition, or 
spoken word, so he must be careful to decree 
that only the Divine Idea be made manifest, for 
often, he decrees, through his "idle words,failure 
or misfortune.

It is, therefore, of the utmost importance, to 
word one's demands correctly, as stated in a 
previous chapter.

If one desires a home, friend, position or any 
other good thing, make the demand for the 
"divine selection."

For example: "Infinite Spirit, open the way for my 
right home, my right friend, my right position. I 
give thanks it now manifests under 
grace in a perfect way."

The latter part of the statement is most 
important. For example: I knew a woman who 
demanded a thousand dollars. Her daughter was 
injured and they received a thousand dollars 
indemnity, so it did not come in a "perfect way."

The demand should have been worded in this 
way: "Infinite Spirit, I give thanks that the one 
thousand dollars, which is mine by divine right, 
is now released, and reaches me under grace in 
a perfect way."

As one grows in a financial consciousness, he 
should demand that the enormous sums of money, 
which are his by divine right, reach him under 
grace, in perfect ways.

It is impossible for man to release more than he 
thinks is possible, for one is bound by the limited 
expectancies of the subconscious. He must 
enlarge his expectancies in order to receive in a 
larger way.

Man so often limits himself in his demands. For 
example: A student made the demand for six 
hundred dollars, by a certain date. He did receive 
it, but heard afterwards, that he came very near 
receiving a thousand dollars, but he was given 
just six hundred, as the result of his spoken word.

"They limited the Holy One of Isreal." Wealth is a 
matter of consciousness. The French have a 
legend giving an example of this. A poor man was 
walking along a road when he met a traveler, who 
stopped him and said: "My good friend, I see you 
are poor. Take this gold nugget, sell it, and you 
will be rich all your days."

The man was overjoyed at his good fortune, and 
took the nugget home. He immediately found 
work and became so prosperous that he did not 
sell the nugget. Years passed, and he became a 
very rich man. One day he met a poor man on 
the road. He stopped him and said: "My good 
friend, I will give you this gold nugget, which, 
if you sell, will make you rich for life." The 
mendicant took the nugget, had it valued, and 
found it was only brass. So we see, the first
man became rich through feeling rich, 
thinking the nugget was gold.

Every man has within himself a gold nugget; it is 
his consciousness of gold, of 
opulence, which brings riches 
into his life. In making his 
demands, man begins at his journey's end
that is he declares he has already received.
"Before ye call I shall answer."

Continually affirming establishes the belief in the
subconscious.

It would not be necessary to make an affirmation 
more than once if one had perfect faith! One 
should not plead or supplicate, but give thanks 
repeatedly, that he has received.

"The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." 
This rejoicing which is yet in the desert (state of 
consciousness) opens the way for release. The 
Lord's Prayer is in the form of command and 
demand,"Give us this day our daily bread, and 
forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,
and ends in praise,"For thine is the Kingdom 
and the Power and the Glory, forever. Amen." 
"Concerning the works of my hands, 
command ye me." So prayer is command and 
demand, praise and thanksgiving. The sutdent's 
work is in making himself believe that "with 
God all things are possible."

This is easy enough to state in the abstract, but a 
little more difficult when confronted with a 
problem. For example: It was necessary for a 
woman to demonstrate a large sum of money 
within a stated time. She knew she must do
something to get a realization (for realization 
is manifestation), and she demanded a "lead."

She was walking through a department store, 
when she saw a very beautiful pink enamel 
papercutter. She felt the "pull" towards it. The 
thought came. "I haven't a paper cutter good
enough to open letters containing large cheques."

So she bought the papercutter, which the 
reasoning mind would have called an extra-
vagance. When she held it in her hand, she had 
a flash of a picture of herself opening an
envelope containing a large cheque, and in a few 
weeks, she received the money. The pink 
papercutter was her bridge of active faith.

Many stories are told of the power of the 
subconscious when directed in faith.

For example: A man was spending the night in a
farmhouse. The windows of the room had been 
nailed down, and in the middle of the night he 
felt suffocated and made his way in the dark to 
the window. He could not open it, so he smashed 
the pane with his fist, drew in draughts of
fine fresh air, and had a wonderful night's sleep.

The next morning, he found he had smashed the 
glass of a bookcase and the window had 
remained closed during the whole night. He had 
supplied himself with oxygen, simply by his thought of oxygen. 

When a student starts out to demonstrate, he 
should never turn back. "Let not that man who 
wavers think that he shall receive anything of the Lord."

A colored student once made this wonderful 
statement,"When I asks the Father for anything, 
I puts my foot down, and I says: Father, I'll take 
nothing less than I've asked for, but more!" So 
man should never compromise: "Having done all - 
Stand." This is sometimes the most difficult time
of demonstrating. The temptation comes to give 
up, to turn back, to compromise.

"He also serves who only stands and waits."

Demonstrations often come at the eleventh hour 
because man then lets go, that is, stops 
reasoning, and Infinite Intelligence has a 
chance to work.

"Man's dreary desires are answered drearily, and 
his impatient desires, long delayed or violently 
fulfilled. For example: A woman asked me why
it was she was constantly losing or breaking her 
glasses.

We found she often said to herself and others with
vexation,"I wish I could get rid of my glasses." So 
her impatient desire was violently fulfilled. What 
she should have demanded was perfect eye-sight, 
but what she registered in the subconscious was 
simply the impatient desire to be rid of her 
glasses; so they were continually being broken or lost. 

Two attitudes of mind cause loss: depreciation, as 
in the case of the woman who did not appreciate 
her husband, or fear of loss, which makes a 
picture of loss in the subconscious.

When a student is able to let go of his problem 
(cast his burden) he will have instantaneous manifestation.

For example: A woman was out during a very 
stormy day and her umbrella was blown inside-
out. She was about tomake a call on some people 
whom she had never met and she did not wish 
to make her first appearance with a dilapidated 
umbrella. She could not throw it away, as it did
not belong to her. So in desperation, she 
exclaimed: "Oh God, you take charge of this 
umbrella, I don't know what to do."

A moment later, a voice behind her said: "Lady, 
do you want your umbrella mended? There 
stood an umbrella mender.

She replied, "Indeed, I do."

The man mended the umbrella, while she went 
into the house to pay her call, and when she 
returned, she had a good umbrella. So there is 
always an umbrella mender at hand, on man's 
pathway, when one puts the umbrealla (or 
situation) in God's Hands.

One should always follow a denial with an affirmation.

For example: I was called on the 'phone late one 
night to treat a man whom I had never seen. He 
was apparently very ill. I made the statement: "I 
deny this appearance of disease. It is unreal, 
therefore cannot register in his consciousness; this 
man is a perfect idea in Divine Mind, pure 
substance expressing perfection."

There is no time or space, in Divine Mind, 
therefore the word reaches instantly its 
destination and does not "return void." I have 
treated patients in Europe and have found 
that the result was instantaneous.

I am asked so often the difference between 
visualizing and visioning. Visualizing is a 
mental process governed by the reasoning 
or conscious mind; visioning is a spiritual
process, governed by intuition, or the 
superconscious mind.
The student should train his mind to receive these 
flashes of inspiration, and work out the "divine 
pictures," through definite leads. When a man can 
say, "I desire only that which God desires for me,
" his new set of blueprints is given him by the 
Master Architect, the God within. God's plan 
for each man transcends the limitation of the 
reasoning mind, and is always the square of life, 
containing health, wealth, love and perfect 
self-expression. Many a man is building for 
himself in imagination a bungalow when he
should be building a palace.

If a student tries to force a demonstration 
(through the reasoning mind) he brings it to 
a standstill. "I will hasten it, " saith the Lord. 
He should act only through intuition, or
definite leads. "Rest in the Lord and wait 
patiently. Trust also in him, and he will 
bring it to pass." 

I have seen the law work in the most astonishing 
manner. For example: A student stated that it 
was necessary for her to have a hundred dollars 
for the following day. It was a debt of vital 
importance which had to be met. I "spoke the
word," declaring Spirit was "never too late" 
and that the supply was at hand.

That evening she phoned me of the miracle. She 
said that the thought came to her to go to her 
safe-deposit box at the bank to examine some 
papers. She looked over the papers, and at the 
bottom of the box, was a new one hundred dollar
bill. She was astounded, and said she knew she 
had never put it there, for she had gone through 
the papers many times. It may have been a 
materialization, as Jesus Christ materialized the 
loaves and fishes. Man will reach the stage
where his "word is made flesh," or materialized, 
instantly."The fields, ripe with the harvest,
" will manifest immediately, as in all of the 
miracles of Jesus Christ.

There is a tremendous power alone in the name 
Jesus Christ. It stands for Truth Made 
Manifest. He said,"Whatsoever ye ask the 
Father, in my name, he will give it to you."

The power of this name raises the student into 
the fourth dimension, where he is freed from 
all astral and psychic influences, and he becomes 
"unconditioned and absolute, as God Himself is 
unconditioned and absolute."

I have seen many healings accomplished by using 
the words, "In the name of Jesus Christ." 
Christ was both person and principle; and the 
Christ within each man is his Redeemer and 
Salvation.

The Christ within, is his own fourth dimensional 
self, the man made in God's image and likeness. 
This is the self which has never failed, never 
known sickness or sorrow, was never born and 
has never died. It is the "resurrection and the 
life" of each man! "No man cometh to the Father
save by the Son," means, that God, the Universal, 
working on the place of the particular, becomes 
the Christ in man; and the Holy Ghost, means 
God-in-action. So daily, man is manifesting the 
fruits of the Holy Ghost.

Man should make an art of thinking. The Master 
Thinker is an artist and is careful to paint only 
the divine designs upon the canvas of his mind; 
and he paints these pictures with masterly 
strokes of power and decision, having perfect 
faith that there is no power to mar their 
perfection and that they shall manifest in his life 
the ideal made real.

All power is given man (through right thinking) to 
bring his heaven upon his earth, and this is 
the goal of the "Game of Life."

The simple rules are fearless faith, nonresistance and love!

May each reader be now freed from that thing 
which has held him in bondage through the ages, 
standing between him and his own, and "know 
the Truth which makes him free"- free to fulfill 
his destiny, to bring into manifestation the 
"Divine Design of his life, Health, 
Wealth, Love and Perfect Self-Expression." 
"Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Denials and Affirmations

For Prosperity

God is my unfailing supply, and large sums of 
money come to me quickly, under grace, in perfect ways.

For Right Plan

Every plan my Father in heaven has not planned, 
shall be dissolved and dissipated, and the Divine 
Idea now comes to pass.

For Right Conditions

Only that which is true of God is true of me, for I 
and the Father are ONE.

For Faith

As I am one with God, I am one with my good, for 
God is both the Giver and the Gift. I cannot 
separate the Giver from the gift.

For Right Conditions

Divine Love now dissolves and dissipates every 
wrong condition in my mind, body and affairs. 
Divine Love is the most powerful chemical in 
the universe, and dissolves everything 
which is not of itself!

For Health

Divine Love floods my consciousness with health, 
and every cell in my body is filled with light.

For the Eyesight

My eyes are God's eyes, I see with the eyes of 
spirit. I see clearly the open way; there are no 
obstacles on my pathway. I see clearly the 
perfect plan.


 For Guidance

I am divinely sensitive to my intuitive leads, and 
give instant obedience to Thy will. 

For the Hearing

My ears are God's ears, I hear with the ears of 
spirit. I am nonresistant and am willing to be 
led. I hear glad tidings of great joy.

For Right Work

I have a perfect work
In a perfect way;
I give a perfect service
For perfect pay.

For Freedom from all Bondage

I cast this burden on the Christ within, and I go free! 

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.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Veni, Vidi, Vici

"He touched her ...the fever left her."

WHEN I was in my 'teens, an older friend asked me if I had read the works of Charles Dickens. I had not ; though I have since remedied the defect. My friend exclaimed, "Oh, I envy you the thrill of a first reading!"

Caesar' famous words, Veni, Vidi, Vici : " I came ; I saw ; I conquered."
I have sometimes wished we could read these Gospel incidents as though for the first time. Would there bot be wide-eyed wonder? Well, we cannot go back in time and read them for the first time, but however often we return to them, we find something new.

The Bible Scriptures often state the most amazing things with the most stringent verbal economy. In no other writings is so much said in so little, and with such wealth of latent new surprise. As I recently re-read the two short verses which record how Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law my mind darted back to the Latin class,  Caesar' famous words, Veni, Vidi, Vici : " I came ; I saw ; I conquered." How truly the words describe what happened when the Lord Jesus entered Simon's house! Side track, from these verses, I know for sure that Peter was a married man and the Roman Catholic Church version of Peter being the first pope and never married is falsehood.

Veni, Vidi, Vici : " I came ; I saw ; I conquered."
First, then, Jesus came into Peter's house. Has Jesus come into ours?  It is an interesting circumstance that Peter's hone was there at that time. In John 1:44 tells us that Peter lived in Bethsaida, but here we find his home in Capernaum. There has been a removal. Why ? Well, Jesus had now come to live in Capernaum . Mr. and Mrs. Peter had an earnest chat, and decided to remove there too. They had not been very long in their new home before Peter Simon's wife's mother was stricken with fever. Affliction comes even those who follow Christ Jesus ; but the compensation is that He is always easy to access.  The more fully we follow Him, the more immediate is his help. peter and his dear wife " besought Him"to heal the dear invalid, and at once He came.

Second, Jesus saw .Luke, who was a doctor-writer, tells us that it was a "great fever",  old-time physicians classified fevers into "great" and "small", modern time doctors say high-fever and mild fever, respectively. This patient's condition was serious. her loved ones were deeply anxious. Who wouldn't be? Jesus took in the situation at once. He "saw" with eyes such as no other diagnostician ever had.

Third, Jesus conquered. "The fever left her." There was no slow, delayed, uncertain reducing of the fever, like the slow subjugating of an obstinate enemy. The cure was immediate and complete."She arose and ministered to them."  Luke adds a vivid touch : " He rebuked the fever" - as though there was an evil intelligence behind it . If there was, then both disease and demon fled at the omnipotent touch of that Hand!

All this illustrates what happens or is meant to happen, when Jesus Christ comes into a human heart-home. He comes. He sees. He conquers! Veni, Vidi, Vici. The sin-fever, the passion-demon, the soul-sickness, the worry-prostration, give way before His wonder-working touch., if we really put Jesus Christ in command ; so that instead of our being ministered to all the while, we rise and "minister" to others in His Name !

The big question for each of us is, " Has He really come, and seen, and conquered, in my heart and life? Am I allowing Him to do in my nature what he did in Peter's home?"
Remember, His sympathy is equaled by His invincibility! 

we have choices to make here today , click this  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aO1ge8ASZQ or click this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vv2ojTi4Mc&feature=related

Shackled by a heavy burden
Neath a load of guilt and shame
Then the hand of Jesus touched me
And now I am no longer the same

He touched me, oh He touched me
And oh the joy that floods my soul
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole

Since I met this blessed Savior
Since He cleansed and made me whole
I will never cease to praise Him
I'll shout it while eternity rolls

He touched me oh He touched me
And oh the joy that floods my soul
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole

History Revisit/ First reading.....

Veni Vidi Vici

When Pompey and the Senate fled Rome from Caesar in 49 BC, he did so without an army. As a result, he was forced to draw upon the eastern provinces and allied client states for recruits and supply. With garrisons and massive levies being shipped off to Greece to Pompey's camp, the east was left dangerously vulnerable.

Pharnaces II, king of Pontus, and son of the great Roman enemy Mithridates VI, used the Roman civil war to his advantage. He began a systematic process of re-taking those lands which once belonged to his father's kingdom, and Rome or its allies could do little to stop it.
When Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus in 48 BC, he still had no opportunity to deal with the Pharnaces situation. The war in Alexandria delayed any immediate reaction and his subsequent affair occupied his attention for the seasonal winter months of 48 to 47 BC. Caesar's legate, Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, was installed as governor of Asia in the interim and did all he could to stop the Pontic advances, but had little success. Calvinus gave battle and the Romans acquitted themselves well, but its allies were cut up badly. Caesar's trouble in Egypt prompted him to request aid from King Mithridates of Pergamum, further depleting the potential resistance to Pharnaces forcing Calvinus to make do.

In a fortunate turn of events, Pharnaces' appointed governor of Crimea revolted, allowing the Romans to recuperate in Asia Minor for the winter. Meanwhile, Caesar was victorious in Egypt, and the lull back in Asia gave him the opportunity to relax on the Nile with Cleopatra.
By the campaign season of 47 BC, Caesar left Egypt and began an overland march through the far eastern provinces. Heading towards the trouble with Pharnaces, Caesar traveled through Judaea and Syria, accepting apologies and granting pardons to those foreign kings and Roman governors who had supported Pompey. In so doing, he was also able to rebuild his war chest through the various tributes paid to him. Boarding ship in Syria Caesar next sailed to Tarsus in Cilicia where he called a meeting of the regional leaders. Securing loyalty once again and laying out his plan of action, Caesar continued the march north to Pontus.

Pharnaces meanwhile, well aware of Caesar's approach and his now notorious clemency, asked Caesar for a pardon of his own. Despite the fact that Pharnaces was the only eastern king who remained neutral in the Roman civil war (as all other in the east had declared for Pompey) Caesar rebutted that only Pharnaces attacked Roman citizens, plundering and killing as he took advantage of the situation.
Still, Caesar offered a peaceful solution, declaring that Pharnaces could be forgiven if he quit Pontus, released Roman prisoners, restored any financial damage done in the process, and of course, pay a hefty tribute. Pharnaces at first agreed, but it was no secret that Caesar had pressing matters both in Rome and against hold out Republican resistance elsewhere. Marcus Antonius, appointed by Caesar as his master of horse (Caesar had been appointed to the dictatorship while in Egypt), was sent back to Rome to oversee administration of the city and was not living up to the task. Pharnaces took advantage and sought to delay Caesar as long as possible, hoping he would decide other matters were more urgent, but Caesar had lost patience.
In May of 47 BC, Pharnaces camped his army on a hill near the town of Zela and Caesar on an opposite hill. The place had historical significance in that Pharnaces' father; Mithridates had defeated a Roman army 20 years earlier. Separated by a valley a few miles apart, the two armies began to position for battle. Caesar, with 4 legions first began to build fortifications, assuming that Pharnaces had no taste for open battle against him, but he soon found this to be wrong. On or about May 30th, Pharnaces moved his lines towards Caesar, attacking with scythed chariots, but the Romans held them back with their pila. The Pontic army engaged full force and hand to hand fighting erupted across the lines.

Despite their tenacity and the advantage of the initial advance, Pharnaces' forces were likely exhausted from the up hill fight. Before long, their lines began to break and it was only a matter of time before the entire army was sent into a rout. Pharnaces managed to escape with some cavalry but his entire army was slaughtered or captured in the overwhelming Roman victory. Caesar claimed that the entire affair, including the rounding up of fleeing prisoners took no more than 4 hours.
Caesar, not only erased the blemish of the earlier Roman loss on this very site, he erected a monument to commemorate just that event. He set about reorganizing parts of the eastern provinces and set up Mithridates of Pergamum as King of Pontus in recognition for his loyalty and service in Egypt. Caesar then crossed from Asia to Thracia, and set sail for Italy. In the meantime, in recognition of his overwhelming victory, he sent a simple, but powerful message back to Rome and the Senate: "VENI VIDI VICI", I came, I saw, I conquered.

Friday, October 8, 2010

The Cure for their Sin-disease.

When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth become useless, and intelligence cannot be applied. Death end.

On this day, evening, we celebrate your birthday at Sukon Thai Restaurant, followed by one Bengawan Solo birthday-cake. HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!! Beloved friend, I pray that you may get along well in every way and may enjoy health, just as your soul is prospering.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

This Message is dedicated to you andeande
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." - Jesus said.

THE very grammar of this towering prophecy surely strikes a significant balance which defines the drawing-power of Calvary. Our Lord does not say that either He alone or the Cross alone would constitute the attraction. There is a deliberate dual emphasis when He says, "And I, if I be lifted up."

The Cross itself apart from Jesus Christ has no saving power ; nor has even the Lord Jesus Himself apart from the Cross. Therefore, in the saving sense, neither Christ Jesus nor the Cross apart from each other has this drawing-power. But together they are the most wonderful magnet which ever drew the hearts of earth's sin-cursed millions. I was one of them, you are one of them, they too. And herein lie two vastly momentous truths which need strong reassertion today.

First : it is not Christ Jesus apart from the Cross on Calvary who draws and saves. Calvary was the place of crucifixion for criminals by the Roman Empire . Many modern divines have a way of eulogising Jesus without any reference to His death as a substitutionary sacrifice for sin. If they bring in the Cross at all, it is decked with the draperies of a sublimated sentimentalism which obscures its real nature, tragedy and glory. Yet the real power of the Gospel Of human souls' Salvation , to draw and to save lies in the very Cross with Christ which these aesthetic preachers deem to be its most unattractive feature. They fondly dream that if they preach His exemplary life without His ignominious death, men/women will be attracted to Him ; but they are wrong. Christ Jesus, presented only as supreme Teacher and Ideal, has never drawn the sin-conscious sons of Adam, humankind, who are far too fallen to be charmed into holiness by a mere exhibition of moral excellence, however perfect. What human race need is not just a beautiful portrait, but a cure for their sin- disease. It is the Christ Jesus of Calvary Cross, and He alone, who really saves and really draws.

Second ; it is not the Cross apart from Christ Jesus which draws and saves. For there were many other crosses beside His. Let the public evangelist guard against the easy danger of preaching the Cross as a mere doctrine, or as a sort of detached transaction which in itself can save. There is a cheap evangelistic jargon today which almost sounds like bargaining the Cross off to those who will only "believe" in it and lift up their hands in meetings, show of hands - as though the Cross by itself were a free entry-permit to heaven, apart from a persevering, life-long faith-union with Christ Himself which sanctifies character and conduct. We are making a true distinction when we say that it is not strictly the Cross itself which saves us, but Jesus Himself who saves us through the Cross. And, remember, it is not the mere creature-Christ of the so-called Christian Scientist, the Spiritualists, the Jehovah's Witnessess denominations, and other such unitarian cults, but the Christ Jesus who is the Son of God and God's only begotten and Delight.

It is the deity life behind the manhood which makes the Cross an atonement. It is the manhood within the divine deity incarnation which makes it an atonement for us, humankind, and such a magnet to us, lost souls. Wondeful Christ ! Wonderful Cross !

Still, still He draws ; true Man, incarnate God,
Who once the sad, brown earth as Jesus trod,
Until, with pinioned limbs and deep-torn side,
On yonder rough-hewn beam and bar He died.
Yes, still that Cross with Christ Jesus compels our gaze today ;
Sin nailed him there ; yet sin He bears away !

Yes,  His death on the Cross enables us to celebrate our yearly birthdays without fearing for death right through eternity, He has given eternal life to us to love and share. Happy birthday again,  !!!