Divine Grace

Here are a few spiritual quotes from the teachings of the Living Light Philosophy on Divine Grace.

This article is extracted from a special class, AS 1, and is presented verbatim:

"And let’s get to this divine grace. How does that law work? We are the instruments through which Intelligent Energy, known as God, is directed to a world of creation. We are those instruments. That is why we are in charge and, therefore, in control of all creation. That is the Law of Evolution and what we have merited and earned.

Now we go to work and we believe that we’re working for God, trying to do what is right. Therefore, surely God has some reward for us. Well, I have always felt, and I continue to feel, that working so hard to do what is right and hoping for that reward of goodness—it takes too long. That’s not in keeping with any law that I’ve ever been able to perceive. The goodness of life is an effect of what we do and it’s not dependent upon twenty centuries from now from some partial God that will finally hand it out to us. Of course, in keeping with our various beliefs shall that be, and certainly is in many realms of consciousness.

When we take control of our mind, energy flowing through that mental being, being under control of the light of reason, is uncontaminated. It is not siphoned off or censored by mental substance. It goes out into the universe. That’s when you put God in it. You don’t have to say “Oh God, God, God.” God is in it, for you are out of it. This limit is out. The mental substance is out. You become an unobstructed vehicle through which this divine Intelligent Energy flows out into the universe. Being that unobstructed vehicle through which it flows, it goes out into the universe and, like the great circle, all things return unto their source. And so, it returns unto you. Now how does this work? Say that only 20 percent of mental substance was out of the way, only 20 percent was out of the way. The other 80 percent went to mental substance. Well, 20 percent of that energy flowing through you, as you are working, now goes into what you understand, later, the effect of, as divine grace.

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You’ve got yourself in a real problem [and] you need some help from somewhere. So you have to draw that back into your universe. Well, you can relate best to the banks that you have in your world. You go to the bank and you make a deposit. And you go, frequently, and you make your little deposits. And some day there’s a little amount there for you to draw on in your time of need. Through the transgressions of natural law, we always experience something called need. Now you go to that bank and you need to withdraw $20,000, but you find out you’ve only got $3,000. So you’re $17,000 short. But the disaster that you have stepped into is going to cost you $20,000. You [have] got to get $17,000 from somewhere. Now stop and think. Every moment of every day energy flowing through you is going into a mental bank account or a spiritual bank account. Now if it’s going into a spiritual bank account, in your times of mental disasters you can draw from that spiritual bank account and experience what is known as divine grace.

Now some people, they pray to the saints and the various angels for divine grace. And they take a look in that bank account and they say, “They need 20,000. There’s only 3,000 there. They’re 17,000 short.” And so a person, their faith strengthens or it weakens in keeping with what they believe that the saints have brought them through that particular situation. Well, you can’t blame the saints. You can’t blame the angels. They go to the bank, the spiritual bank, and see how much deposit you have. Well, are they supposed to take it out of their pockets? No, they’re not even in a realm like that. That’s what we’re down here for.

Now what happens is simple. So a person prays to God and the angels and the saints. Nothing happens in this terrible disaster they’re in or not enough happens. So they go to their mother or father and to their friends for them to pray, too. And it’s very wise. Very wise, if they’re sincere, because now, maybe, they [have] got fifteen or twenty people praying over their situation. So then, in keeping with the law, they go to fifteen or twenty bank accounts in these spiritual realms of consciousness, you know. They’re not up there or down there. They’re just right there. And they all withdraw. Now they got $20,000 to bail the poor soul out from his transgression of natural law and he doesn’t have this disastrous experience.

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So you see, so much of this, you know, that some people think is superstition, there’s truth there. There are those who know about those things. And that’s what happens when you put God in it or forget it. You are making deposits in bank accounts [and] in your time of need—for no one is perfect in an old mental world of creation—that can be withdrawn to help you through that. Now if you have a friend and you go to them for help, because the truth of the matter is you don’t have enough on deposit, and if they’re willing to help you, what really takes place [is] they start withdrawing from their bank account to add to what you have withdrawn. And if there’s enough, you say “My God, I had divine grace. Here I had this horrible accident and I didn’t get killed.” Yes, you had divine grace; you had enough on deposit.

Now the thing is, you don’t have to go to a church, you don’t have to be religious, to make deposits in the divine bank and experience its return [as] divine grace. All you have to do is to be a good person and not be thinking of yourself when you’re working all the time. I mean, after all, you could be out selling newspapers and making spiritual deposits in the bank account that you may have when you have a time of need and divine grace. Many people are doing it. They never even heard of a church, let alone a religion. It’s not dependent upon those things. It is the goodness within you [that] is not obstructed by over self-identification, so in your great time of need, there’s something there and there’s enough on deposit. And a wise man makes sure he has enough on deposit by doing something about it every day, at least once a day, because you never know when you’re going to need to be bailed out."

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And from CC 49, which is available in The Living Light Dialogue Volume 3, the following understanding of Divine Grace is offered. Please note that questions from students are in italics.

 In this study, is there such a thing as the law of grace? Do things that you may do here on this planet, or if you have lived before---and the things that you have done and you merit a working out? Is there a law of grace or must you work out everything here and now?

Thank you very much. There is a divine law known as divine grace. Now, that is not an exception to the divine Law of Merit, no. What it means is this: every soul has so much so-called good stocked up in life and so much of its so-called lesser good. Now, when a person transgresses certain laws and they are about to experience the effect of their error of transgression, if they have what in this understanding we call a spiritual bank account, they may draw upon that substance, which is known as divine grace. Now, that means for the selfless good that they have done in their soul's expression, there is that deposit made in a universal spiritual bank, so to speak. Do you understand? This is why, my friends, we're all given the opportunity to serve God and to do some spiritual good in the world. And when that opportunity is brought to us, according to the natural law of our seeking, and we need to take material substance or supply for our efforts---don't you see?---we're robbing our spiritual bank account. And then, when the time comes that we are in need of grace, there's nothing in that bank to draw upon. And so wisdom herself dictates to do a little something in this old world without seeking a material recompense and a material or mental reward. Because if that's the way we do things, we're going to find ourselves, if we haven't already, spiritually bankrupt.

And when, as it always does, it comes time for our prayers and seeking and beseeching for a divine grace to bring us through a certain experience and disaster that we find ourselves entering, well, we find there is no divine grace because we haven't made any deposit up there. And what deposit was made---how many incarnations ago---has been all used up, you see. There's one thing, my dear friends, I can assure you of: there's no credit in spiritual dimensions. It's all cash on the line. I haven't found a credit system yet in the world of spirit. So be good, students, and build up a substantial spiritual bank account, just for plain old common sense, because you never know when you're going to need to draw a little bit. That's divine grace.

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