"Nothing is impossible to him who believes!"
And the magic switch that transforms one from a dull, unbelieving being, with all the drab, ugly tendencies of grubby mortality into a person of radiance and dynamic personality, is accomplished by the mere touching of that magic button of everlasting power as one learns to turn on that LIGHT and then holds himself within its glow.
This divine, magic switch is operated by one's own desire as he fills the realms in which he dwells with the full light of understanding and locks out the darkness of unbelief, doubting and their fostered off-spring of despairs and griefs and sorrows and suffering. This magic switch is invisible, as yet, but so are all the great things that are waiting to come forth from that invisible realm into the world of tangible reality.
As one begins to use that magic switch within his mind, determined to exclude the darkness and the doubting and the negation from his life, he takes hold of this limitless power of FORMING. Just as one begins to manipulate this switch, in his testing, he will soon learn the full measure of its power and he will become the master thereof -- "AND IT WILL BECOME SUBJECT UNTO HIM!" With the manipulating of this magic switch or button the very caliber of one's thoughts are transformed from the realm of gloom and failure into the region of LIGHT in which FAITH can be taken hold of as it fashions into the breathtaking reality the very glory of one's dreams.
In the manipulating of this switch the caliber of one's thoughts can be changed and exalted from the realms of desolating despairs and dismal conjectures of anguish into the glorified reality of HOPE prepared for fulfilment as it is brought forth in solid manifestation by one's own exerted efforts of pure desiring.
It takes practice, at first, to learn to manipulate that switch, because in the beginning it seems one has to search for it and locate it in the darkness of his own established unbelief. Next he must have within his mind the pattern of his most cherished dream or hope as he holds forth his secret yearnings to be fashioned and formed and brought forth into the open. And as he does so they will be produced or be brought forth into the realm of material existence.
In this work one need not be too concerned about the whole, vast sea of the divine, holy, primal substance. One needs only hold his attention upon the container of his own desires, the pattern of his divine request. This is how one "lays hold of the best gifts," which are always best to him according to his own desiring.
This bringing forth is God's own fulfilling, as the pattern or desire is filled full. It is the fulfilling of that ancient law which proclaims aloud to all the world and to all creation: "There is a law irrevocable decreed in heaven, before the foundations of the world upon which all blessings are predicated. And if we obtain any blessing (or desire) from God it is upon obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."
And now, to explain that law more clearly it will be necessary to continue with the unfolding of that most sacred plan of the Almighty, to bring forth your own innermost desires.
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen." FAITH truly is the energizing life force or activating element of things ardently hoped for. Within the seed or the plan or the pattern or idea is the reality of its forming. The very idea itself is formed of the LIGHT of creation. And within it is the very evidence, the spiritual design of that which can be -- or which will be. It is like the child in the womb which has not yet been born into this outside, tangible world. Nevertheless it does exist and is most real, though unseen. And though HOPE or the desire has not been activated upon by FAITH it still exists in its unseen form -- waiting its own fulfilment. It is a reality else it could not have been thought or taken form in the realms of desiring. And this realm is composed of the great spiritual essence or substance of all forming. The very thought or idea or desire, when activated upon by FAITH is then fashioned from the element of ETERNAL LIGHT.
FAITH is the evidence or the spiritual life force of forming that generates the element of spirit into the establishment of the hope held, without wavering in a human heart. FAITH and LIGHT are the supreme element of all creation, the glory of all that is or can ever be. Within the element of Light (the idea) and Faith is contained the dynamic energy of creation, or of "becoming" fashioned into the very essence of its own PROMISED PERFECTION. Any doubts or negation, when encouraged or indulged in, can mar or completely destroy the vision, the hope, the dream utterly. And even neglect will let it die still-born in the womb of eternity, unglorified, unquickened and unfulfilled.
Hope itself is pure LIGHT and contains the very evidence of its PROMISE. Without the spiritual glory and reality of LIGHT no beautiful desires could ever be formed and brought into existence. Life itself would be hell, with no meaning or purpose. The glorious fact that hopes can be formed in human minds is the evidence of their, as yet unseen possibility. To have a dream or hope is the very proof that it does exist in the realms of the, as yet unseen, intangible substance of all forming. It is already established in mental or spiritual form when the dream or hope is envisioned. "And without this divine gift of vision the people will perish." And the vision also will perish without the strength of a human mind to form and contain it.
To have a dream or a hope or an idea is the very evidence that it can be brought forth from the, as yet unformed substance, waiting to BECOME. It is established in mental or spiritual form when the dream or the hope is envisioned. Yes, "Without vision the people perish." There is no progress, no creating, no hope, no glory, only a dull, dead, stupid existence of unprogressiveness.
"ALL EXISTING THINGS WERE FORMED SPIRITUALLY FIRST!" Or to express it in other words: "All existing things were formed mentally first." And the meaning is the same. This spiritual forming is the mental plan or pattern being established in that realm of primal substance in order that it might fulfill its period of gestation. And when it is completely established the divine element of spiritual glory and LIGHT take tangible form in physical existence as the atoms are formed from LIGHT to fill full the pattern of their design. Thus man is the creator of his own hopes and ambitions and the fulfiller of them as he obeys the laws of their coming forth.
"And they were called Gods, unto whom the Word of God came, and the scriptures cannot be broken." (John 10:34). And the Word of God is HIS PROMISES, His Holy Covenants expressed in Words, or thoughts, or as inspired ideas of glory penetrating into the minds of those prepared to receive them.
And if "they were called Gods unto whom His Words" or PROMISES or inspired Truths came, then they could fulfill those Words and thus become Creators. Gods are Creators -- Creators of their God-given dreams or visions or divinely revealed ideas. And any humble individual who can open his heart to believe and to take hold of the PROMISES, or to receive inspiration or newly revealed Truths from God is moving or evolving into divinity. He is becoming a god or a creator as he uses the elements of LIGHT and FAITH to fashion and to form and to fulfill the PROMISES his soul beholds. This is the power of Creatorship when used with full understanding and in perfect love.
The Patriarchs of old had the gift and the power to lay their hands upon the heads of their children or descendants and reveal, in blessing, their individual destinies or missions of PROMISE. But the blessing had to be taken hold of by the one receiving it, for it was only fulfilled as he believed it, desired it and lived for it, holding the pattern or desire in his mind always. This alone brought forth the fulfilling.
It is possible for any man to receive such a blessing. All he has to do is to take hold of his own deep and holy desires and live for them. Within his own soul is engraved the pattern of his own individual calling and perfection. It is his own hopes or vision that reveals the pattern which the sublime essence of creation is destined to fulfill in holiness and truth. It will take time and patience. But is only waiting to "BECOME" as the individual begins to lay hold of it -- the best gift, his own anointment completed.
"Mind is the arbiter of life; it is the creator and the shaper of conditions, and the recipient of its own results."
"Mind is the infallible weaver of destiny."
"Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil."
"He who has conquered doubt has conquered failure."
"A man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man can ascend to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master."
(The five quotations above are all from James Allen's little book "AS A MAN THINKETH.")
And it is true: "They are recognized as Gods unto whom the Word of God comes. And the scriptures cannot be broken." Live the Promises of God for they are His Word. "And His Word will become flesh!" Your own flesh!
And as you become "just and true" you will receive His Holy Spirit of PROMISE, for the Father bestows it upon all such. It will be your eternal, unfailing guide as you open up your souls to receive it. This Holy Spirit of Promise is the Spirit of Revelation and will lead you into all Truth and fulfilment as you become a God or a Creator of Truth and Perfection and beauty within yourself.
"Dream! Dream nobly! Dream manfully and your dreams will be your prophets!" (Heber J. Grant).
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God -- the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ." (Romans 8:14, 16-17).
"Let this same mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." (Phil. 2:5-6).
It is only as FAITH IS EXERCISED to manipulate the LIGHT that one becomes a true creator as he fulfills, knowingly and with complete understanding, the designs FAITH holds forth for such divine fulfilling.
This is why it is "Impossible to please God without FAITH!" For God Himself gave man the ability to fashion and to form and to bring forth from the universal substance the fulfilment of his glorified hopes. In this creating the element of LIGHT or Spirit is transformed into the very atoms of fulfilling as they take shape in the material world.
HOPE is composed of the divine element of LIGHT as it is generated into the activity of its own forming by the divine power of FAITH.
It is the element of the divine, primal substance of Creation, as it is stamped with the image or pattern of one's own desiring or thought pictures or hopes that produces and brings forth. And it is also with this divine power that the world, or the inhabitants thereof, create their own miseries and ills. And each man is the designer of his own calamities and his own downfall, as well as the creator of his own glories. And in this truth is contained the knowledge which Christ endeavored to reveal: "Any man who looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart." The pattern has been formed and established. And that pattern is real.
But man can change himself from a creature of evil and corruption and destruction and become a divine instrument worthy of his own perfection if so be he chooses to accept the responsibility of his own thinking processes. As one changes his thinking habits he also changes himself.
Man not only has free access to the divine element of creation, he has the power and the ability to decree what it is he will bring forth. This is the power of true creatorship or god-hood.
"Whatsoever you desire when you pray, believe that you receive it and you shall have whatsoever you ask!"
"If you do as I say then am I bound; but if you do not as I say then YOU HAVE NO PROMISE." To PROVE anything one has to LIVE the laws pertaining to its fulfilling. Nothing can be proved or disproved by denying.
You are a God -- a divine Creator -- a fashioner of the Primal element of Faith-engendered LIGHT as you receive HIS WORD and so fulfill HIS PROMISES.
And "NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO HIM WHO BELIEVES!"
And it is possible to "Deck oneself in majesty and excellence and to array oneself in glory and beauty" as God demanded of Job. To accomplish this it is quite necessary that one become completely spiritualized as Christ explained to Nicodemus in St. JOHN 3:3-12.
When Christ spoke to Nicodemus about the need to be born of the water and of the spirit before it would be possible to see the "Kingdom of God" He was speaking of the Waters of Life which were to flow forth through the very heart centers of the children of men. And these holy waters are LOVE perfected.
When He was speaking of being "Born of the Spirit" He was explaining not only the possibility but the necessity of "being born again" or of having the carnal flesh changed or perfected or spiritualized. Then only is it possible to "see the Kingdom of God." No earthly ordinance can possibly achieve this divine, holy accomplishment except being "Born of the Spirit" with the power to travel with the speed of Light giving service wheresoever it is required.
And then Christ demanded of Nicodemus an explanation of his dead and lifeless works of futility in these words: "Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?" In other words He was asking, "How dare you go forth professing to be a teacher without knowing these things?" and remember, to KNOW anything one must experience it. Nicodemus was professing to be a master or teacher in Israel and had never even heard of this required power and so consequently had never believed in it.
Then Christ testified: "Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, we speak what we do KNOW, and testify that we have seen; and you receive not our witness.
"If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not how shall ye believe if I told you of heavenly things?"
This law of being "Born of the Spirit" is truly an earthly achievement. It must be accomplished here on this earth as one hungers and thirsts after righteousness and so changes his carnal flesh to flesh divine without descending through the gates of death. And only from this earth plain can this divine accomplishment be achieved. And if one cannot believe in this earthly wonder and fulfill it how can he possibly be prepared to be told or see or believe the heavenly things?
The fulfilling of this divine Law of Spiritual Power will indeed clothe one in majesty and excellence and array him in glory and beauty and everlasting life.