Bible Me This

What is the deeper meaning of baptism? It is easy to see the symbolic meaning of baptism by water and spirit. Water represents eternally changing truth that yet remains essentially unaltered over time, and the ever-flowing nature of our feelings. Spir

What is the deeper meaning of baptism? It is easy to see the symbolic meaning of baptism by water and spirit. Water represents eternally changing truth that yet remains essentially unaltered over time, and the ever-flowing nature of our feelings. Spirit symbolizes the active principle of our thoughts and our will. We must give these human faculties over to Christ who symbolized what love means through his life and his death. Before a spirit can be reborn, it must repent. If we can’t recognize our own Lower Self, how can be know the harmful effects we are having on others. How would we be motivated to change the error of our ways. When we decide to do this, our feelings will change, our thoughts and will direction will shift, and we shall truly be reborn of water and spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. When we use the expression “in the spirit of Jesus Christ,” or “in the name of Jesus Christ,” we are saying that we take this action the way Jesus would: with the same attitude, thoughts, loving nature, willingness to forgive, abiding positive intention, devotion to God, and sacrificing of the little me-me-me ego—all for the greater good. We’re not just saying we have a simplistic belief in this historical person named Jesus Christ who gives us salvation—although this is actually often just what’s meant. It really doesn’t matter whether an actual dunking in water took place. If it did, it was a ritual and the purpose of doing so would have been to express the inner meaning. Later such a ritual, as is often the case, may become an empty gesture. Then people blindly believe that the act creates the transformation. But that, of course, can never be the deal, no matter how much lip service is given to praising the Lord and pronouncing undying devotion to him. Inner transformation takes hard work. And it takes time. We can’t do this without the help of the Lord. But with his help, all things are possible. When an inner baptism takes place—meaning an inner transformation and a total commitment to aligning with the will of God—a magnificent light springs up in the Spirit World. This light adds to the great reservoir of all-things-good-and-wonderful, rejoining the glory of eternal life. Listen and learn what the Pathwork Guide taught us. Bible Me This, Chapter 8: Baptism

The truth of reincarnation was on Jesus’ mind when he spoke of how we need to be reborn. It’s not hard to see that we will stagnate if we’re not constantly rediscovering and rebirthing aspects of our true selves as we do this work to know ourselves better. Physical rebirth is an unalterable component of this same process. It would be pure folly to assume that we could complete all of the development we need to do in one short life. This defies any logic and all common sense. So Holy Scripture hints at the truth of reincarnation in the concept of being reborn. But it’s stated as a boldface fact in the clear expression that John the Baptist was a reincarnation of Elijah. In the early years after the life and death of Jesus Christ, in fact, teaching reincarnation was a normal part of the Christian religion. So early Christians knew perfectly well that reincarnation was a true reality. It was later on that church fathers saw how the knowledge of the truth of reincarnation was misused in Eastern traditions. So they took action to remove this danger; they took it out of the Bible. The misuse they witnessed in Eastern cultures was that of a fatalistic attitude toward life: “It doesn’t matter what I do—it’s karma. I have to go through this and there’s not a thing I can do about it.” It’s not hard to imagine how this set people back. But the opposite extreme is no winner either. Denying this truth brought about a different damaging attitude. We placed an overemphasis of free will on ourselves, but did so with a superficial finger-wagging attitude of “I’d better behave or I’m going straight to you-know-where.” So then the fear of just about everything—fear of God, fear of not being good enough, fear of not fulfilling “the law”—caused just as much harm. Listen and learn more. Bible Me This, Chapter 7: Reincarnation in the Bible

The truth of reincarnation was on Jesus’ mind when he spoke of how we need to be reborn. It’s not hard to see that we will stagnate if we’re not constantly rediscovering and rebirthing aspects of our true selves as we do this work to know ourselves bette

The Guide offers insight for deeper understanding through the following commandments explained: 2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. 4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5) Honor thy father and thy mother. 6) Thou shalt not kill. We can apply all of the commandments on all levels of our personalities. So this commandment, number six, is not just about the act of physically killing someone. The terms “life” and “death” apply to more than just the body. Thoughts and emotions, too, can snuff another out. There is also a way that we deaden ourselves by darkening our own life force. All of our destructive aspects, including our images and unresolved problems, have a negative impact on us and everyone around us, essentially killing life. The more we advance, the more we’ll see this. Here’s an example of how “emotional killing” looks. When we feel rejected and insecure, we tend to try to please the very ones whose acceptance we crave but don’t have. We often do this by despising anyone we think is also despised by the one whose attention we want so badly. This might be subtle, but it’s not uncommon. Such a betrayal hurts and rejects others while bringing us the opposite of what we originally wanted. This may not manifest through our word or deeds, but rather lays hidden in a well-camouflaged attitude. We might even bend over backwards to hide it. Nevertheless, it’s in there, causing damage. Our entire being can’t be filled with love and truth unless we uncover all these areas where we aren’t really being loving and aren’t so much in truth either. That’s the doorway that leads to real salvation, and the only way to get there is through this work of fully understanding ourselves. There are no shortcuts, no magic formulas, no mantras, no miracles, and no easy ways to do this. Only utter self-honesty in everything we do—major, minor and seemingly insignificant—will get us there. But if we persevere in this goal, our whole beings will become more and more healthy and of benefit to ourselves, to others and to this entire amazing universe. Listen and hear commandments explained by the Pathwork Guide. Bible Me This, Chapter 6: Commandments Explained