Sunday Message for April 3, 2022

EVERY DAY IS JUDGMENT DAY

This month we are studying the faculty of Wisdom, Discrimination or Judgment. This is represented by the disciple James the son of Zebedee. And the color that coordinates with this faculty is Yellow, which is great because yellow is my favorite color. What we want to learn and practice this week is that our wisdom or judgment ability is our power to choose. God is not our judge. There is no last judgment of God. Our sins and mistakes punish us or limit us; we are not punished for them. So, we want to learn to "judge with right judgment."

CALL IT WHAT YOU WILL
Call life what you will have it be. (Joshua 24:15) "...choose this day whom you will serve, ... as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."^a

Our choices determine our lives. We are the umpires in the game of life. The way we "call them" is the way they are for us. What do we call ourselves, others, the day, our work, our surroundings? It is extremely important to use good judgment.

In (Genesis 2:19-20) it says, "So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; ..."^b

In the Bible the name of a thing signifies its nature. The name of every person or thing represents its character. So when Adam named "every living creature" he was deciding what it would be to him. He was deciding what it's meaning in his world would be.

Every name in the Scriptures has an inner meaning. They give much importance to the naming and numbering of the prophets and peoples. The Lord always gave the wise men and leaders new names when they achieved some spiritual victory.

So what we call things is what they will be to us in our experience. You will fulfill your purpose here, and you have complete choice about whether to view the experience as a blessing or a burden. You get to choose whether to learn by wisdom or by woe.

Here are important guidelines for "calling" the experiences we have:

It is a mistake common among truth students that we are supposed to call everything that happens to us "good." Think how this goes against safety, justice, and plain common sense! Everything that happens is not "good" but we are basically good. There is good in us as a divine potential no matter what happens to us or what we have done.

And the second guideline is that we base our thinking and judgment on the premise that "There is only One Presence and One Power active in my life and in the Universe: God, the good, Omnipotent." This is Unity's basic teaching and model of the Universe. We use the Power-Energy according to our understanding. We interpret everything that happens according to our understanding. This basic, primal Power we consider "Good," but not all of the expressions or manifestations are desirable, just, healthy, or the best that can be.

YOU ARE THE JUDGE IN THE COURTROOM OF YOUR MIND
You are the judge in the courtroom of your mind. God is not our judge. God has endowed us with the spiritual faculty of judgment. Our judgment faculty is our ability to choose or make choices. The choices are ours, and we always have a choice as to what we are going to think and do. There is a Spanish proverb which states: God says, "Choose what you will and pay for it."

Carolyn Myss wrote, "... I believe that we have a deeply intimate relationship with the Divine and a very impersonal relationship with cosmic order." The laws of the universe such as cause and effect and magnetic attraction apply equally to all. We actually embody the laws of the universe whenever we exercise our power of choice: I make a choice, and it has a consequence, regardless of who I am. But I can influence the quality of that consequence if I am mindful in my intention.

The fact that we can determine our own motivations reflects our intimate connection with God. My intentions do not change the laws, because all my choices will still have consequences. But if my motivations are compassionate and sincere, the consequences are more likely to be positive. And a single action can result in an immeasurable cascade of physical, emotional, and spiritual effects.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS IN THE STATE OF MIND
The Kingdom of Heaven is in the state of mind. There is no place called "hell" where some go after death. There is no heaven "up there" in the skies. There is no "last judgment." We are not going to be punished for our sins. God does not judge and punish us. There are no pearly gates. These states of heaven and hell do exist, but they are here and now conditions, and we have the ability to enter them according to choices (judgments) we make.

According to reports on July 28, 1999 in newspapers and on TV, Pope John Paul, a week after telling Roman Catholics that heaven is not a place up in the clouds, declared that hell was not a physical place either. It exists, he said, but it is more a state of mind. "Hell is not a punishment imposed externally by God, but the condition resulting from attitudes and actions which people adopt in this life," he said. The Pope explained that artists pictured heaven and hell as literal places, but he said it is not Catholic teaching.

TODAY IS ALWAYS THE "DAY OF JUDGMENT"
Today is always the "Day of Judgment." The old teachings of hellfire & damnation are inconsistent with what we know of Jesus' life and teachings. We are the judges in the courtroom of our minds. According to the choices we as individuals and as humanity make, we live a "heaven" or a "hell" of a life.

Matthew 25:31-40
"'When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."
Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?"
And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.""^c

The "king" in Jesus' story from Matthew 25:31-40 is not God but each of us. The "king" ("queen", "prince," "princess") who makes the choice is each of us. We are appointed as rulers in the state of our minds, emotions, actions and reactions. We are not punished for our sins or mistakes, but by them.

The king is the Christ within us, the I AM which approves of our spiritual ideas and promises us all good but condemns unworthy thoughts and warns us of trials ahead if we indulge in negative thinking. We don't have to worry about a judgment if we preserve our divine ideas and deny error thoughts.

We are carried along by all types of thoughts until we reach the consciousness of our I AM power. We do not know we are building ourselves, our environment, our world, until we reach this consciousness. Then judgment of our world begins and is passed on our thought creations.

All things are in the consciousness, and you have to learn to separate the erroneous from the true, darkness from light. The I AM must separate the sheep from the goats. This sifting begins right now and goes on until the perfect child of God is manifest and you are fully rounded out in all your Godlike attributes.

Notice also in the scripture reading the strong imperative to feed, clothe, visit, be concerned, help, shelter, and serve.

The "Day of Judgment" is every day because we must choose the quality and nature of our thoughts in every single day and minute. The point is for us to use "kingship" or divine authority given to us by God in wise, loving, and constructive ways. We choose what is worthwhile, helpful, healing, wise, for the highest good of all concerned, and peace making.

The parable of the sheep and goats says, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory." This portrays the action of man as he begins to realize his divine sonship and develop his faculty of discernment and wisdom. So, we must learn to separate the true spiritual thoughts from the unredeemed vicious ones, even as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

During these wisdom lessons, we will not look on God "as my judge," but on God as being the Intelligence in which we derive the wisdom to discern, evaluate, make decisions, judge rightly and compassionately what is best for each of us, all humanity and Mother Earth.

If any thought rises which tells us that we do not know, or tells us we cannot accomplish, we have to silence the negative arguments by using ones which are directly opposed to them. We need to hold on to our consciousness that there is but One Presence, One Law, and One Power. This Presence, Law, and Power is ours in Its entirety.

A prayer is not complete until you know that all the Power there is, is flowing through it. There can't be a sense of chance about it. When Jesus, standing at the tomb of Lazarus, said, Take away the stone, he was communing with the Spirit within him and establishing the consciousness that Lazarus was not dead. Then he was able to tell Lazarus to come forth.

We are continually standing before the grave of some inactive thought, some dead hope, some apparently lost cause whose door is sealed with fear, doubt, despair, and uncertainty. So how do we roll away the stone and tell the dead hope to come forth, to be resurrected, to be born again? We speak with assurance and certainty.

We can't pray with despair or uncertainty, for the tomb gives up its dead not to the dead, but to the living. Scripture says that Jesus spoke as one who had authority - and we, too, must speak with authority if we are to raise the dead hopes and dreams that we have sealed away.

SOLOMON
One of the representations of Wisdom in the Old Testament is Solomon. Though his name means "peace" or "prosperity" - King Solomon was internationally revered as being exceptionally wise and just.

Not long after he ascended the throne, the young king, perhaps about 20 years old, received his first divine vision at the ancient altar at Gibeon, where he often made 1,000 burnt offerings at a time.

In a dream, God said, "Ask what I should give you." Solomon requested an "understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil." The Lord was so pleased that he not only granted the wish but also promised riches and honor that would be unsurpassed among all the other rulers of the day.

An example of King Solomon's wisdom in judging his people is given in the famous story of the two harlots. These women gave birth to male infants at the same time; when one boy died, each claimed the living child as her own. Solomon listened to their stories, then asked for a sword, "Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other." he said. One woman agreed to this decision, but the other offered to give up the baby rather than see it slaughtered. It was the latter, of course, who was the real mother, and she was awarded the child.

When we develop our power of wisdom, then we, too, can trust God to give us direction and wisdom when we need it.

RULES TO LIVE BY
In Og Mandino's book A Better Way To Live. He writes that these are the 10 rules to live by:

1. Count your blessings.
2. Today, and every day, deliver more than you are getting paid to do.
3. Whenever you make a mistake or get knocked down by life, don't look back at it too long.
4. Always reward your long hours of labor and toil in the very best way, surrounded by your friends or family.
5. Build this day on a foundation of pleasant thoughts.
6. Live this day as if it will be your last.
7. Laugh at yourself and at life.
8. Never neglect the little things.
9. Welcome every morning with a smile.
10. Search for the seed of Good in every adversity^d

Let's end with a meditation. Meditation is communing with the Source of all Life. Through meditation we can leave this outer world and go into the joyous Reality of Life. This world will wait for you to return to it - and you will be better able to cope with it when you return. The time you spend in meditation is the most valuable time you will ever spend. It is never wasted.

Today we are going to do the Power of Wisdom Visualization from the Twelve Powers in You book:

Now close your eyes and shut the world of effects out. Jesus called this going into the closet and shutting the door. If your mind wanders, do not be harsh with yourself but patiently bring it back by repeating silently: Be still and know.

Claim for yourself: I am relaxed. Every muscle, every cell, every atom of my body is relaxed. I am letting go and letting God direct and maintain my life and affairs. I am resting on the Everlasting Arms. I am taking dominion and giving the order to relax to my body.

Picture in your mind the symbol for justice, which is a blindfolded woman holding a sword in one hand and a scales in the other. This indicates that she does not judge only by outer facts and appearances, but she also intuitively and psychically senses what is right and just. In her hand, she holds a balance scale in order to wisely judge what is required to bring a condition into proper balance, harmony and equilibrium.

Now say to God, as Solomon did, "Spiritually, I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in... Give me therefore an understanding mind ..., able to discern between good and evil; ..."

Now envision yourself as a balance scale. Visualize a vertical pole of light that goes from the base of your spine up to and above the top of your head. Then visualize a horizontal pole that travels through the temples of your head, which intersects the vertical pole in the area of the pituitary gland. Here is the primary seat of judgment in the courtroom of your mind. The horizontal pole extends a couple feet to both sides of your head. Hanging down from each end of it are three chains that hold a pan or balancing station.

Consider a major decision or evaluation you need to make now. It may involve a relationship with a loved one, a possible move or change of jobs, or a health challenge. As you ponder this situation, place all of the facts and figures involved in making your judgment in the balance station on the right side. Consider all the pros and cons of whatever you might decide and how it would affect you and all those close to you. Carefully analyze and think through all of the many levels, ramifications and possibilities involved.

Next, in the left balance station, place all of your "gut" feelings, dreams, visions, heart's desires and inner promptings that help you to make a wise judgment. These dreams and intuitive impressions may be contrary to your conscious analysis or may add a facet or dimension that you have not considered or given enough weight to in your deliberations. Until now, maybe you suppressed these feelings or were blind to them. Perhaps in the stillness, you receive a more insightful and expansive interpretation of a dream, or a new and healthier way to view a past experience.

Just as it takes time for a balance scale to reach its equilibrium, give yourself enough time to weigh all the many factors involved, to move back and forth amongst the many considerations until you find yourself coming to your center. Then, call upon Spirit or Creative Energy to reveal its higher wisdom, judgment and justice. This inspired guidance flows down the vertical pole of light into your head and pituitary gland. From within, you know that this insight is right and just, that it is the best possible judgment. Having asked, you have received. You have used right judgment and balanced the scales of justice.^e

When you are ready bring yourself back to this room and open your eyes.