Welcome to the first of five lessons in tapping spiritual resources to meet your daily needs! Before we begin, please read the following four notes carefully:
- 1. Only the King James version of the Bible is used. You will need a copy for each of the lessons. For convenience, you may wish to read the Bible references on the Internet at the following site, being sure to bookmark it for regular use during class:
Click here for King James Version
- 2. Some of the Bible references are followed by special notations:
- a. I John 3:2 (to 2nd ,) - This signifies that you are to read the second verse of Chapter 3 in the book of First John, stopping at the second comma.
- b. Matthew 6:33 seek - This signifies that you are to read the thirty-third verse of Chapter 6 in the book of Matthew, beginning with the word "seek."
- 3. A hyphen is used between verse numbers to indicate that a sequence of verses is to be read, as in Psalm 112:1-3. This signifies that you are to read only verses one, two and three.
- 4. A self-grading Final Examination appears at the end of these five lessons. Upon completion of the course, it provides a good way to check on your understanding of the material studied.
FEAR NOT!
Read:
Luke 12:32
Central to all the spiritual work you will learn to do in this course is a command you should adopt as your most important rule of mental conduct: FEAR NOT! Say it aloud several times right now. FEAR NOT! This is a mandate to your own consciousness to lock out fear. Why should fear concern you at this point? Because it is fear, in a multitude of disguises, that sneaks in and tries to rob you of your good!
It is fear that says to you, "Never ask for material things in prayer! God will punish you!"
It is fear that attacks if your income suddenly stops, if you are laid off or fired from your employment. "What do I do now?" you cry.
It is fear that strikes first if you discover that you've lost your billfold or purse. "My credit cards! My paycheck! My keys! All that cash I got at the ATM! Oh, my God, what do I do?"
FEAR NOT!
You will come to see in these lessons that prayer is a vigorous activity calling up every bit of imagination you possess. You will see that prayer can be an argument as vivid and electrifying as any performance by a million-dollar lawyer in the highest courts. You will see that creating your prayer can conjure up a genius in you that you never knew existed.
But it all begins with FEAR NOT!
Take a piece of paper and a pencil. On the left margin, from top to bottom, write the letters F-E-A-R like this:
- F
- E
- A
- R
- Then, after "F," write A-L-S-E
- Next, after "E," write V-I-D-E-N-C-E.
- And after "A," write P-P-E-A-R-I-N-G.
- Finally, after "R," write E-A-L.
You have just written the spiritual definition of "fear":
- FALSE
- EVIDENCE
- APPEARING
- REAL
False evidence appearing real! Is that all there is to "fear"? Yes! It is false evidence, a lie, that manages sometimes to look very real. If you let it, fear can seem so real that it will scare you to death!
Fear is a trick that tries to scramble your thoughts so you can't think clearly. Don't let it happen to you! Don't let fear bear false witness against you by scaring you into believing that there is no way out of the problem of lack. Don't let fear convict you of poverty when it is within your power to solve the problem of not having enough money to meet all your needs.
Be your own jury. When false evidence, fear, is used against you, reject it, no matter how real it appears. Stand up and shout, "Not guilty!"
BE A GOOD SHEPHERD
Read:
Matthew 18:12,13
Luke 2:8,9 (to :)
"Fear not, LITTLE FLOCK....." (Luke 12:32).
What is a shepherd? Isn't he (or she) someone who is careful of his flock, who controls their movements, who looks after them lovingly? In the Bible, a shepherd is symbolic of the kind of person who, like the sheep herder, is attentive to his flock of thoughts, who never permits one of them to go astray without going to great lengths to bring it back into the fold. That sort of person is a "good shepherd."
Matthew 18:12 begins with a statement we each ought to ask ourselves constantly, "How think ye?" And in Luke 2, when the shepherds were host to the angels of heaven, we discover the reward for clear, controlled thinking is "the glory of the Lord shone round about them."
In other words, keeping watch over your flock of thoughts "by night," or in the face of arguments of lack and worry and fear, finally leads to illumination, or answered prayer.
Always interesting to note is that the Three Kings, type and symbol of worldly thought, had to "follow the star" to seek out their good, but to the shepherds, those who "tended their flocks," the message of God's love for man sought THEM out in a direct line of light from the source of all goodness.
PROMISES OF PROSPERITY
Read
Psalm 34:10
Psalm 112:1-3
Luke 15:31 Son
Luke 12:32 says, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom!"
It's as simple as that!
- FEAR NOT! Looking to God for your good is your protection.
- BE A GOOD SHEPHERD. Prove your worthiness by controlling thought.
- EVERYTHING GOD HAS CAN BE YOURS! Does that include money? Find out in Lesson Two!
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