Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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We Choose to Accept God’s Help Today

Unless the past is over in my mind, the real world must escape my sight. For I am really looking nowhere; seeing but what is not there. …what can be forgiven but the past, and if it is forgiven it is gone.

Father, let me not look upon a past that is not there. For You have offered me Your Own replacement, in a present world the past has left untouched and free of sin. Here is the end of guilt. And here am I made ready for Your final step. Shall I demand that You wait longer for Your Son to find the loveliness You planned to be the end of all his dreams and all his pain?

This the day I seek my present happiness, and look on nothing else except the thing I seek.

With this resolve I come to You, and ask Your strength to hold me up today, while I but seek to do Your Will. You cannot fail to hear me, Father. What I ask have You already given me. And I am sure that I will see my happiness today. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 289-290, W-pII.289.1:1-2,6;2:1-5;290.1:6-2:4. See also ACIM Lesson 289 Insights.)

Forgiveness is the key to happiness. Yet the world we experience with the body seems to make forgiveness difficult. It appears that harm is actually possible, and we are weak and vulnerable. Some things that appear to happen seem unforgivable. The means for true forgiveness cannot be found in the world.

But we can call upon the strength of God in us to help us let go of the false images that seem to justify fear and guilt. We are not alone. God’s Teacher is ever present in our minds to help us recognize that what we thought endangered us has no substance whatsoever.

We need only ask for His help and all God’s strength and Love are given us. Through the vision of Christ to see that we remain invulnerable and safely in the Arms of Love. As we accept this vision, we forgive the mistaken images, for we recognize their nothingness. Each time we truly forgive, an imagined barrier is released and we step closer to the real world that total forgiveness brings. We choose to accept His help today.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Accepting Holy Spirit’s Happy Lessons

Each day, each hour and minute, even each second, you are deciding between the crucifixion and the resurrection; between the ego and the Holy Spirit. The ego is the choice for guilt; the Holy Spirit the choice for guiltlessness. The power of decision is all that is yours. What you can decide between is fixed, because there are no alternatives except truth and illusion. And there is no overlap between them, because they are opposites which cannot be reconciled and cannot both be true. You are guilty or guiltless, bound or free, unhappy or happy.

Guiltlessness is invulnerability. Therefore, make your invulnerability manifest to everyone. Teach him that, whatever he may try to do to you, your perfect freedom from the belief that you can be harmed shows him that he is guiltless.

God is the only Cause, and guilt is not of Him. Teach no one he has hurt you, for if you do, you teach yourself that what is not of God has power over you. The causeless cannot be. Do not attest to it, and do not foster belief in it in any mind. Remember always that mind is one, and cause is one. You will learn communication with this oneness only when you learn to deny the causeless, and accept the Cause of God as yours. The power that God has given to His Son is his, and nothing else can His Son see or choose to look upon without imposing on himself the penalty of guilt, in place of all the happy teaching the Holy Spirit would gladly offer him. (A Course in Miracles, T-14.III.4;7:1-3;8. See also ACIM Text Q & A.)

The ego is the belief that separation (harming Oneness) is possible. Guilt is inevitable when this belief is accepted. The Holy Spirit’s lesson is that separation (harm) is impossible, and guilt is causeless. If we believe we or anyone else is vulnerable to harm, we have chosen the ego. We will feel guilty and see guilt everywhere.

The Holy Spirit teaches us how to forgive. Each time we accept the Holy Spirit’s lesson, we open the self-made prison door built by guilt. The fear and depression that comes with guilt is replaced by the peace and happiness of remembering our innocence and unity with God’s Love. Forgiveness is the key to happiness because it removes the barrier to awareness of Love’s presence.

Today we open our minds and hearts to the Holy Spirit’s happy lessons in forgiveness. For we would teach our brothers of their innocence and learn that we are innocent.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Let Peace Guide Us Moment by Moment

Let this day be a day of stillness and of quiet listening. Your Father wills you hear His Word today. He calls to you from deep within your mind where He abides. Hear Him today.

Today He speaks to you. His Voice awaits your silence, for His Word can not be heard until your mind is quiet for a while, and meaningless desires have been stilled. Await His Word in quiet. There is peace within you to be called upon today, to help make ready your most holy mind to hear the Voice for its Creator speak.

He speaks from nearer than your heart to you. His Voice is closer than your hand. His Love is everything you are and that He is; the same as you, and you the same as He.

As every hour passes by today, be still a moment and remind yourself you have a special purpose for this day; in quiet to receive the Word of God. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 125, W-pI.125.1:1-4;6:1-4;7:2-4;9:5. See also ACIM Lesson 125 Insights.)

In the world there seems to be a lot of chaos, uncertainty and conflict. But beneath this appearance is the certainty of God’s changeless Love. His Love is in us now and forever. His peace is our natural state.

In times of external disturbance, we can find clarity by going to the peace that is in us now. In this peace we can receive the Word of God through His Voice in our minds. It will guide us to the truth of our unity and peace in the Heart of God. In peace we receive the vision of Christ that sees past the appearances of the world. In peace we remember that we are safe in the changelessness of Love. In peace we remember we love our brothers who are one with us. In peace we are inspired to extend that Love to all.

The practice of stepping back from our disturbed and disordered mind into the peace within will lead us to freedom from the dream of separation. It will lead us back to our Home in Love.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Releasing the Illusion of Pain and Guilt

My holy brother, think of this awhile: The world you see does nothing. It has no effects at all. It merely represents your thoughts. And it will change entirely as you elect to change your mind, and choose the joy of God as what you really want.

Here will you understand there is no pain. Here does the joy of God belong to you. This is the day when it is given you to realize the lesson that contains all of salvation’s power. It is this: Pain is illusion; joy, reality. Pain is but sleep; joy is awakening. Pain is deception; joy alone is truth.

And so again we make the only choice that ever can be made; we choose between illusions and the truth, or pain and joy, or hell and Heaven. Let our gratitude unto our Teacher fill our hearts, as we are free to choose our joy instead of pain, our holiness in place of sin, the peace of God instead of conflict, and the light of Heaven for the darkness of the world. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 190, W-pI.190.6:1-4;10:1-11:2. See also ACIM Lesson 190 Insights.)

It is helpful to know that the world we perceive is a projection of our thoughts and beliefs. This means that the world is giving us instant feedback about what is in our minds. If we are perceiving pain, guilt or fear, we are believing in a false image of what we are. But we can choose to change what we believe.

We can choose the joy and peace of God, which is already given us. Suffering is not God’s Will for us. If we experience pain, sorrow, conflict or guilt, we can remind ourselves, “This is not God’s Will for me. I am willing to accept the help I need to let go of the belief that has made this perception. I am willing to see this differently. I am willing to accept God’s gifts of happiness and Love.” This practice will help us release the false ideas that have made the illusion of pain and guilt seem real.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Choosing to Be Happy

We have seen that there are only two parts of your mind. One is ruled by the ego, and is made up of illusions. The other is the home of the Holy Spirit, where truth abides. There are no other guides but these to choose between, and no other outcomes possible as a result of your choice but the fear that the ego always engenders, and the love that the Holy Spirit always offers to replace it.

Think about the many forms the illusion of your function has taken in your mind, and the many ways in which you tried to find salvation [happiness] under the ego’s guidance. Did you find it? Were you happy? Did they bring you peace? We need great honesty today. Remember the outcomes fairly, and consider also whether it was ever reasonable to expect happiness from anything the ego ever proposed. Yet the ego is the only alternative to the Holy Spirit’s Voice.

You will listen to madness or hear the truth. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 66, W-pI.66.7:2-5;9:2-10:1. See also ACIM Lesson 66 Insights.)

The ego is the idea of sacrificing Love to have a separate domain it can call its own where Love cannot enter. Because the world we perceive is a projection of the ego thought system, God is seen as demanding sacrifice. In truth, it is the ego that demands we give up the Love that God has given us. Contrary to the ego’s lies which claim to offer us happiness, it is only God Who can give us true happiness. And He has already given It.

We need only accept the gift that is already ours to know that we already have perfect happiness. Happiness is an inside job. As we are willing to accept the loving guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will learn of the perfect happiness that is already in us. Today we choose to follow the Holy Spirit’s Voice, for today we choose to be happy.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Opening to the Light of Love Within

We do not choose the way in which we go to Him. But we do choose to let Him come. And with this choice we rest. And in our quiet hearts and open minds, His Love will blaze its pathway of itself. What has not been denied is surely there, if it be true and can be surely reached. God knows His Son, and knows the way to him. He does not need His Son to show Him how to find His way. Through every opened door His Love shines outward from its home within, and lightens up the world in innocence.

Father, we do not know the way to You. But we have called, and You have answered us. We will not interfere. Salvation’s ways are not our own, for they belong to You. And it is unto You we look for them. Our hands are open to receive Your gifts. We have no thoughts we think apart from You, and cherish no beliefs of what we are, or Who created us. Yours is the way that we would find and follow. And we ask but that Your Will, which is our own as well, be done in us and in the world, that it become a part of Heaven now. Amen. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 189, W-pI.189.9-10. See also ACIM Lesson 189 Insights.)

The Home of God’s Love is within us. It is our true Self. We are unaware of this Presence within because we have closed it off with beliefs and images that we are separate from God’s Love. These beliefs and images define what we think we are, leaving us feeling that we lack Love. Without Love, the world we perceive is dark and we seem vulnerable to myriad outside forces. Yet all the time the Love and strength of God is in us.

We open the inner doors and windows to let the Light of Love shine forth by letting go of our beliefs that make us seem separate and alone. The Light of Love shines away the shadow images in the darkness revealing the presence of Love everywhere, in everything. The Love within us joins with that Love that is everywhere and we experience the joy of the eternal flow of Love. The Love of God is already in us. We simply need to remove the barriers that have hidden It from our awareness. God’s plan for salvation is the means to release us from the self-imposed limitations that have kept us in fear and guilt.

Today we acknowledge that only His plan will work. We are willing to lay aside all our ideas about how to be safe and happy. We are willing to receive His plan and accept the Holy Spirit’s help to follow His plan and open to the eternal Light of Love within.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Recognizing Our True Value

When you are still an instant, when the world recedes from you, when valueless ideas cease to have value in your restless mind, then will you hear His Voice. So poignantly He calls to you that you will not resist Him longer. In that instant He will take you to His home, and you will stay with Him in perfect stillness, silent and at peace, beyond all words, untouched by fear and doubt, sublimely certain that you are at home.

Rest with Him frequently today. For He was willing to become a little Child that you might learn of Him how strong is he who comes without defenses, offering only love’s messages to those who think he is their enemy. He holds the might of Heaven in His hand and calls them friend, and gives His strength to them, that they may see He would be Friend to them.

Be still an instant and go home with Him, and be at peace a while. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 182, W-pI.182.8:1-9:3;12:9. See also ACIM Lesson 182 Insights.)

It is what we judge as valuable that binds us to the world of form. If we think a certain kind of relationship is important, we feel lack if we believe we don’t have it or fear that we may lose it. If we believe that status or certain things are important, we spend our time trying to acquire them or protect them. These values keep us unsettled, for they are never completely satisfied because we know that forms can change in an instant.

There is another way of being that is always at peace, always happy and always fulfilled. When we value the Truth of What we are — the Love of God — we are always at peace. We inherently know that this will never change. We can trust Its constancy and Its strength. And in the awareness of that Love, we see the same Love in everyone and know them as our Friend.

This state of being is always ours to claim as our own. We claim this state by forgiving the values we have given to the changeable and valueless. There is no loss when we let go of what we recognize as valueless. This recognition comes when we let our inner Teacher help us learn where our true Value lies and release our attachment to the valueless.

Today we dedicate to paying attention to the lessons offered us to learn where our true Value lies.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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