Lesson 93 Light and joy and peace abide in me

Apr 2 in Feed

You think you are the home of evil, darkness and sin. ²You think if anyone could see the truth about you he would be repelled, recoiling from you as if from a poisonous snake. ³You think if what is true about you were revealed to you, you would be struck with horror so intense that you would rush to death by your own hand, living on after seeing this being impossible.

These are beliefs so firmly fixed that it is difficult to help you see that they are based on nothing. ²That you have made mistakes is obvious. ³That you have sought salvation in strange ways; have been deceived, deceiving and afraid of foolish fantasies and savage dreams; and have bowed down to idols made of dust,—all this is true by what you now believe.

Today we question this, not from the point of view of what you think, but from a very different reference point, from which such idle thoughts are meaningless. ²These thoughts are not according to God’s Will. ³These weird beliefs He does not share with you. ⁴This is enough to prove that they are wrong, but you do not perceive that this is so.

Why would you not be overjoyed to be assured that all the evil that you think you did was never done, that all your sins are nothing, that you are as pure and holy as you were created, and that light and joy and peace abide in you? ²Your image of yourself cannot withstand the Will of God. ³You think that this is death, but it is life. ⁴You think you are destroyed, but you are saved.

The self you made is not the Son of God. ²Therefore, this self does not exist at all. ³And anything it seems to do and think means nothing. ⁴It is neither bad nor good. ⁵It is unreal, and nothing more than that. ⁶It does not battle with the Son of God. ⁷It does not hurt him, nor attack his peace. ⁸It has not changed creation, nor reduced eternal sinlessness to sin, and love to hate. ⁹What power can this self you made possess, when it would contradict the Will of God?

Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. ²Over and over this must be repeated, until it is accepted. ³It is true. ⁴Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. ⁵Nothing can touch it, or change what God created as eternal. ⁶The self you made, evil and full of sin, is meaningless. ⁷Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God, and light and joy and peace abide in you.

Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought;—you are as God created you, not what you made of yourself. ²Whatever evil you may think you did, you are as God created you. ³Whatever mistakes you made, the truth about you is unchanged. ⁴Creation is eternal and unalterable. ⁵Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. ⁶You are and will forever be exactly as you were created. ⁷Light and joy and peace abide in you because God put them there.

In our longer exercise periods today, which would be most profitable if done for the first five minutes of every waking hour, begin by stating the truth about your creation:

²Light and joy and peace abide in me.

³My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

⁴Then put away your foolish self-images, and spend the rest of the practice period in trying to experience what God has given you, in place of what you have decreed for yourself.

You are what God created or what you made. ²One Self is true; the other is not there. ³Try to experience the unity of your one Self. ⁴Try to appreciate Its Holiness and the love from which It was created. ⁵Try not to interfere with the Self which God created as you, by hiding Its majesty behind the tiny idols of evil and sinfulness you have made to replace It. ⁶Let It come into Its Own. ⁷Here you are; This is You. ⁸And light and joy and peace abide in you because this is so.

You may not be willing or even able to use the first five minutes of each hour for these exercises. ²Try, however, to do so when you can. ³At least remember to repeat these thoughts each hour:

⁴Light and joy and peace abide in me.

⁵My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

⁶Then try to devote at least a minute or so to closing your eyes and realizing that this is a statement of the truth about you.

If a situation arises that seems to be disturbing, quickly dispel the illusion of fear by repeating these thoughts again. ²Should you be tempted to become angry with someone, tell him silently:

³Light and joy and peace abide in you.

⁴Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

⁵You can do much for the world’s salvation today. ⁶You can do much today to bring you closer to the part in salvation that God has assigned to you. ⁷And you can do much today to bring the conviction to your mind that the idea for the day is true indeed. (https://acim.org/acim/en/s/497#1:1,1:2,1:3,2:1,2:2,2:3,3:1,3:2,3:3,3:4,4:1,4:2,4:3,4:4,5:1,5:2,5:3,5:4,5:5,5:6,5:7,5:8,5:9,6:1,6:2,6:3,6:4,6:5,6:6,6:7,7:1,7:2,7:3,7:4,7:5,7:6,7:7,8:1,8:2,8:3,8:4,9:1,9:2,9:3,9:4,9:5,9:6,9:7,9:8,10:1,10:2,10:3,10:4,10:5,10:6,11:1,11:2,11:3,11:4,11:5,11:6,11:7 | W-93.1:1-3;2:1-3;3:1-4;4:1-4;5:1-9;6:1-7;7:1-7;8:1-4;9:1-8;10:1-6;11:1-7)

9 comments