Strength

Disciple: Andrew

Month of February

Tribe of Israel: Napthali

Based on Revelations 21: 11-14

Let’s now take a few moments for stillness and enter the quiet place in consciousness by becoming aware of our breath and life as our spiritual core. This quieting of the mind enables us to enter the sacred place where Jesus bids us enter when we pray. Invite and welcome the invisible Christ of God into your conscious and subconscious mind. Let the indwelling Christ of God, the spiritual man, strengthen you and the Holy Spirit guide you into all truth.

Prayer:

We now share this prayer together.
O God, we know that you Son our Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ is the indwelling light, life, love and law of God, which comes down from heaven. We recognize that humans are not just dust of the earth but truly eternal spiritual beings, designed to manifest your image and likeness. You have placed within our spiritual core your only begotten Son, the Christ of God, to be our source of strength, courage and confidence. Grant that our souls may be so thoroughly cleansed of all pride, lust, anger, covetousness, envy, gluttony and sloth, that we may truly feed on and show forth the love, grace, truth, life and light of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

Devotion:

In St. Luke’s Gospel 11:14-26, Jesus uses the story of the strong man being overcome by the stronger man to demonstrate how mankind can overcome the indwelling strong natural man [error, lower nature, mind of the flesh] with the indwelling stronger spiritual man [truth, higher nature, the mind of Christ] by the finger of God. He assures us that when this transformation happens in our lives individually and collectively, the kingdom of God has come in our midst and within us.

Strength in mankind resides in one's spiritual core. It is transmitted through the Holy Spirit and the indwelling Christ of God. In the Bible the symbol for the presence of life in the Christ of God is blood. The blood in man transmits the Breath and Life of the Almighty throughout our spirit, mind and body. Our personal choice of ideas, thoughts, words and actions either strengthen or weaken the flow of the indwelling Christ of God. This truth is the key to understanding and practicing Jesus’ unique scientific teaching and healing methods.

Jesus maintained a strong and steadfast faith in indwelling Christ of God, the spiritual man, as his only source of strength and supply. In John 5:17-21, Jesus made it clear that of himself he could do nothing. He stressed that the Father within him was the one who did the work that he performed. Jesus gave no place in his consciousness to the devil [mind of the flesh] to introduce destructive intentions and actions in any area of his life. Because of Jesus' faith and absolute trust in the spiritual man, many religious leaders misunderstood Jesus' mindset and sought to kill him, because they perceived that he was saying that he was equal to God.

Jesus chose to be a clean, open and receptive spiritual, mental and physical channel through which Abba Father, as the eternal Christ of God, was incarnate and worked His will throughout his life. Jesus effectively modeled God’s inclusive, Christ-centered, Spirit-based redemptive and regenerative plan for all humankind.

The mind of the flesh has kept mankind trapped in limitation and bondage. Worldly mindsets are preoccupied with the things of men rather than the things of God. The apostle Paul has given the mind and works of the flesh a sevenfold classification. These include pride, anger, lust, covetousness, envy, gluttony and sloth. In Christ, the great purifying currents and flowing life and light of God, cross out the error and obstacles which obscure the love, truth, grace through the spiritual core of each person.

Let us contemplate Jesus' prayer for all believers in John 17:21; “That they may be one; as thou, Father art in me and I in thee, that they may also be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me”.

Daily Practical Application & Affirmation:

• Strength is now quickened in me!
  
• In quietness and confidence is my strength.
  
• I release from my mind all thoughts and former belief that I am my lower nature, the natural man.
• Today I commit to looking for and saluting the life, love and light of the higher self, the spiritual man, with me and each person I meet.
• I am patient with myself and with others.
• I smile as I say to myself and others, “I behold the presence and strength of Christ in you”.