Series 1 - Lesson 3 - Annotation 7
How may we become conscious of substance?
7. Primarily, we are conscious of anything when we feel it within our own being. Our soul is composed of the substance of God; therefore, all the God elements (ideas) are inherent within us in a latent or potential state, awaiting the soul's claim upon them.
Mentally, we may become conscious of substance through meditation, affirmation, contemplation, concentration, which result in the illumination that comes through the Silence bringing the light of understanding, or knowing, in our own human consciousness.
Spiritually we may become conscious of substance by entering our "inner chamber" and seeking an understanding of the law that governs the use of substance for the good of all creation. In "the secret place of the Most High" (Psalms 91:1) within us, we identify ourselves with the nature or substance of God by dwelling in thought and feeling on the reality of substance which contains the underlying elements (ideas) of Being. We must come to the understanding of ourselves as fundamentally and elementally all that the nature of God is, because we were created in the "image" and after "the likeness" of God. We need to behold the one creative Spirit as the only Source and know our oneness with it.
Recognizing the source, God indwelling, ("his kingdom"), we affirm the presence of divine substance in and around us. We claim its power to clothe our thoughts with that which is substantial and lasting. With every silent thought and every spoken word we are "telling" the omnipresent substance what to do, and it carries out whatever commands we project into it. Understanding of the law governing substance leads to faith in it. Faith becomes assurance and conviction; acknowledgment develops into praise of God as the one source of substance and ourselves as heir to it.
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Preceding Entry: What is the truth back of the command, "Lay not up . . . treasures" (Matt. 6:19)?
Following Entry: Give three affirmations of your own for the realization of divine substance.
