Unity Church of Castro Valley
Sunday Message for January 13, 2008
Born Anew
This is the beginning of a new year - and should you choose it - the beginning of a new life. The scripture reading this morning is from (John 3:3) and said, "No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. (or born anew)" Being born anew is a choice. At any time you can choose to let go of the past and move into a new future full of promise. You can be born anew to all the desires of your heart, to all that is good and pure and perfect.
(Isaiah 42:9) "See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them." We bring about a new life by declaring it, by affirming it, and by believing in it. The former things of our lives have come to pass. They are gone, they are history. But right now we can declare new things, true things.
COURSE IN MIRACLES
It says in the Course in Miracles - "The world as you perceive it cannot have been created by the Father, for the world is not as you see it. God created only the eternal, and everything you see is perishable. Therefore, there must be another world that you do not see. The Bible speaks of a new Heaven and a new earth, yet this cannot be literally true, for the eternal are not re-created. To perceive anew is merely to perceive again, implying that before, or in the interval between, you were not perceiving at all. What, then, is the world that awaits your perception when you see it?"
What is the real world? What is God's world, and how do we get to live in it? Well, the clue was in the passage from the Course in Miracles. We perceive it anew. It is as simple as seeing the glass half empty or half full. The world, to you, is as you see it. You create it to be what you believe it is - good, bad, or indifferent.
God's world always has and always will exist - but it is up to us to choose to live in it. In the human world, the perishable world, I may think I have limitations as to what I can accomplish. But if I perceive that I am truly Spirit then I have no limitations. And I can change my perception any time I choose to. I just have to be willing to see things in a new and positive way.
CHARLES FILLMORE
In the book Christian Healing, Charles Fillmore writes, "In this matter of sonship is one important point that we should not overlook; that point is the difference between those who perceive their sonship as a possibility, and those who have demonstrated it in their lives. "Ye must be born anew," was the proclamation of Jesus. The first birth is the human--the self-consciousness of man as an intellectual and physical being; the second birth, the being "born anew," is the transformation and translation of the human to a higher plane of consciousness as the son of God."
The second birth is when we perceive the real world and recognize that we are the Christ. . (Philippians 2:5) "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." This is a process that may take years to accomplish according to Fillmore. But we all go through this process as we grow spiritually
So being "born anew" or "born from above" really isn't a miraculous change that happens to us. Instead, it is when we decide to embrace that which has always existed as the perfect-man idea in Divine Mind.
God created us in His "image" and "likeness." God is Spirit so the man that He creates is spiritual. We are like God and have a creative power which we release through our creative thought. And it is to this spiritual person that we are that God says, "All things that are mine are yours - please take them, please live a joyous life."
And what do we answer? Oh, no thank you, I'd rather be miserable, I'm used to it.
RALPH WALDO TRINE
In the book The Man Who Knew by Ralph Waldo Trine it says, "The good news is what I mean when I say: You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. It is the knowledge of God - the knowledge that God, whom you have been worshipping as afar off, is within you. He is the life, the Spirit of life within you -- the Infinite Spirit of life and power that is behind all, working in and through all, the life of all the life therefore in you.
When you realize this you will find that you are not alone; and the more fully you realize this, the more fully you will find yourself conscious of an enlarging reception of life and light and energy and power. You are born in the sense consciousness with all of the sense limitations. I bring you knowledge of a higher consciousness, which is the consciousness of the spirit, the spirit of God within you. You must be born anew -- you must be born from above; and this new birth opens up, and makes active in your life, possibilities and powers that otherwise lie dormant and dead."
Every one of these authors is saying the same thing. We can live as physical human beings accepting the physical limitations of life - or we can decide to remember that we are spiritual beings created by God with no physical limitations.
Right now in this very minute we can decide to be "born anew" and accept the possibilities and powers that have been in us from the beginning. We can wake up to our spiritual self and live in happiness, joy, peace, love and abundance.
This spiritual awakening can take years or it can take only a split second. This new birth that Jesus spoke of takes place within our soul, within our consciousness. It is a realization that (John 10:30) "The Father and I are one."
Isaiah realized this when he said, (Isaiah 43:19) "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 48:6) "You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forward I make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known."
When we awaken to the Spirit within it always leads us to a better life. AND it doesn't matter what we have been doing with our life up to this point. Truth is only concerned with the now. What is possible in our lives is never bound by what is or what was. So looking back at what you were is never a predictor of what you might become.
Let's all just stop - right now. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Let's pray.
Father/Mother/God, I want to ask, right now, for Truth in my life. God, I know that I am worthwhile. I know that simply because I am your offspring, that you love me unconditionally. I know that I am not separate from You, but that I am a part of you, God.
Help me, God, to feel my oneness with You. Help me to know that I can be born anew in this now moment.
God, I want to know more of You, and I want You to be more active in my life. I am ready, right now, to be the perfect, powerful being that you created me to be. Help me to see through Your eyes and to accept unlimited good in my life. Thank you Father.
AMEN
HOW DO I START?
In the Quest class, the affirmation for this week is, "I'm at Possibility Junction." Think about that - if you are at Possibility Junction, what do you choose? What are the dreams you have for you life? What are YOUR possibilities? If you knew that you could not fail - what would you do or be?
If you are to be born anew, you need to take a look at all the unexplored areas of your life, all those paths that you never risked taking.
When you look at these possibilities, does fear come up for you? Do you find yourself saying that you could never accomplish that? Or that no one in your family has ever tried these things?
What are the barriers that you have thrown up to keep yourself from moving forward in positive ways? Sometimes we are afraid of accomplishing more that our parents did - it feels disrespectful of them. Sometimes we are afraid of succeeding because it would blow all our 'poor little me' stories. And sometimes we are just not too sure we could handle the responsibility that goes along with success. What are your dragons?
But to be fair - let's also look at the flip side of this. What are the treasures? If you were to be born anew and choose to risk fulfilling your dreams, what would be the wonderful riches at the other side of your success? How would you feel? What would you discover about yourself and your abilities?
In Truth there is nothing that you cannot do - because, in Truth, you are not only relying on your own abilities. You are now, and always have been, one with God. So ask yourself, if there anything that God cannot do? Are there any fears that God cannot conquer?
Accept that there is nothing that can come between you and God's desire for your good, except you. So be willing to accept all of God's good into your life now.
TURN, THEN, AND LIVE
(Ezekiel 18:31-32) "Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live."
It is time to 'cast away' all the nonsense of our past. Let loose of it and let it go. Then be born anew with a new heart and a new spirit.
It's got to be a curious thing to God to watch us creating unhappy lives when we don't really need to. He's got to wonder why we would imprison ourselves to all of this negative nonsense when we could choose to have so much better.
The last line of the quote from Ezekiel says, "Turn, then, and live." Turn around, face a different direction, and live your life. Turn from the choices you have made in the past and make new and better choices.
(Romans 12:2) "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect."
We can be transformed simply by the renewing of our minds. We can change our minds and have a beautiful life - good, acceptable and perfect.
That's the will of God, for us to be happy and successful and abundantly supplied with all good things.
Let's do that! Let's not hurt ourselves or each other any more. Consider this moment Possibility Junction. Turn, then, and live.
SCRIPTURE: John 3:3; Isaiah 42:9; Philippians 2:5; John 10:30; Isaiah 43:19; Isaiah 48:6; Ezekiel 18:31-32; Romans 12:2
REFERENCE: Course in Miracles; Christian Healing by Charles Fillmore; The Man Who Knew by Ralph Waldo Trine; The Quest by Richard & Mary-Alice Jafolla.
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Last updated
January 14, 2008
