2004-11-28. Scriptural Relevance
Rio Rancho #105
Topic: Scriptural Relevance
Group: Rio Rancho TeaM
Teacher: Tomas, Machiventa
TR: Gerdean
Dialogue
Q&A: “This is the Way?” Are you sure? Who loves you? What does it mean to “follow God’s will”? What does it mean to “lean upon the Lord”? What does it mean to “presume upon divine mercy”?
Assignment: Learn to wait upon the Lord.
Music: Andante Adagio Cantabule Second Movement of a Beethoven Sonata
TOMAS: Dear friends, greetings, I am Tomas, your teacher.
Group: Greetings.
TOMAS: It gladdens me to be amidst you.
Thoroah: We missed you, too.
TOMAS: I am working on your language. I appreciate your working on mine.
Last time we met, I made reference to the fact that there would be a new development effective the next time we met, and one of which I was not yet aware. I am still somewhat in the dark about all the new developments, but it would seem there are indeed changes afoot in this (what you call) teaching mission. For you have advanced in your many years of application. This speaks to the subject of scriptures.
The scriptures are something wise men, prophets and elders have relied upon for centuries, for they, scriptures, represent the wisdom of those prophets, seers, believers and leaders who have gone before you, down the path of experiential advancement of spirit.
Jesus referred to the scriptures, often quoting them, and at the same time advising his followers to not depend upon the scriptures, but to develop a relationship with divinity itself, for the kingdom of heaven is within you – as us the Source and Center of all things.
But the hold scriptures have over so many religionists – not just biblical scriptures but the Torah, the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita, and others – have tremendous impact and influence on their creedal followers and on the attitude these followers subsequently have with one another … inside their flock and outside.
Then we had the fifth epochal revelation in book form, which quickly (in some eyes) surpassed the importance of the Bible on the totem pole of religious advancement. And yet, it still stands as an icon of a belief system. To the extent that its followers and devotees regard it as the holy word and the last word, so too has this new generation, this new dispensation, become guilty of exalting scripture instead of the reality of God Himself.
As I speak, I am emitting also scripture. Every week we gather together you are hearing The Gospel According to Tomas (no “h”). Any time you become infused with the spirit and have the opportunity from your bully pulpit to give forth your truths, you are speaking your gospel truth, your scripture.
And this is a natural, normal and desirable aspect of the evolution of God on a world. For eventually the word of God will be in the mouth of every man, woman and child and each will be scripture according to that individual himself. However, all men will be speaking of the Father, and this will be the realization of the brotherhood of man. What we are instructed to do is be about the Father’s business in preparing these scriptures as another manifestation of truth, beauty and goodness to Urantia, and there will be lessons forthcoming to this effect.
The point I must make now is that it is time to recognize the fact of our format, which is about teaching. We are an element of the Melchizedek schools. We are a branch of the Melchizedek University, an institute of higher learning, a place where your minds are fed – the mind that is the key to opening the door of the spirit.
This is not the same as a house of worship or a church. It is a classroom, wherein we are all believers in a divine being. When we pray together and pause in worship for a moment in time, we are engaging in the active spiritual rights we have as sons and daughters of the living God, in whose house is this university, under Father Melchizedek.
The Universities of the Melchizedeks extend from universe to universe. On every universe throughout the spheres, the Melchizedek order of sonship is educating and advancing our progress toward ultimate perfection. It is also true that as you learn new cosmic truths, you will experientially know these in your daily life. The hope is that when we gather together in these formations, there will be a real exchange of information to feed this process. While we are indeed sociable and give ourselves wholly to the socializing aspects of fellowship, my role here with you has been and will continue to be as a Teacher. And so we Teachers are urging you to begin to appreciate the value of the inquiring mind, the mind that delves into this level of reality as something worthy of contemplation, consideration and eventual activation. This is a part of the advancement of your world.
There are times, I realize, that you are not interested in exhausting yourselves in study, that there are times when you want to play as children and be left alone to play as children do. These opportunities are periodically provided in order to allow levity to bond you in yet deeper folds of family love for, after all, laughter is a great release and humor is the antidote to an exalted ego. As I attempt to expand your sense of self, balance is necessary to remind you of smallness of self. As you are lifted up on one hand, it is natural to be let down on the other, in order for you to carry yourself forward in a steady gait rather than by fits and starts as the toddler who is only learning to walk.
We are called upon to grow up in spirit capacity, and without discussing various degrees of attainment, it is nonetheless important to recognize that we are right where we need to be at this time in order for us to go forward. And that is true in terms of individual experience, as well as our group experience, as well as the experience of those of us in this vanguard, those other light workers who are sharing with us the platform for advancement of humanity, and those within the body of humanity who are rallying to the herald, “Awake and rejoice, for the kingdom is at hand.”
I want you to learn how to ask questions. I want you to learn to be good students. I know how well you socialize. I know how well you pray. I am here to help you learn. I am not an administrator, nor am I a Melchizedek, but I am assisted by those beings – Ham, Abraham, Machiventa and his receivers – by my fellow teachers in the Teacher Corps, and all the angelic hosts that seek to assist you in your spirit awakening, as well.
I believe Merium will be coming to companion you on occasion. She has been my sidekick before. She is not spiritually sophisticated in a philosophic or scholastic sense. She is a child, in many ways, and so for those occasions when you yearn to be childlike, I will invite her in and you can frolic to your hearts’ delight. But in the meantime, ponder these words for our future sessions. What is important today, to your way of thinking? Knowing what you know now, having been exposed to what you have been exposed to, what would you yearn to know and contribute to the next set of evolutionary scripture that will lead us into the next phase of growth?
It has been a long time since we gathered together and no doubt much of this time has been spent allowing the seeds of our earlier course of study to germinate in your mind, heart and soul. Have any of you reports of progress or questions about your growth?
Elena: I do. I feel kind of stumped. I feel like I’m in a process of transition and I really am frustrated. I don’t know … I feel a need to create a new dream and yet I seem, I’m finding that, even beginning to think about what that might be. And just have a real strong need or request for guidance here, and … I don’t know. Is that clear enough? Or do I need to elaborate?
The uncertainty, too. That’s another uncertainty, that the need to create my vision and to come up with a new idea, a new dream, a new direction, and I just am stymied.
TOMAS: There are different schools of thought for this juncture. There are those who would have you make up a list and notate all that you would like to have come to be. And this is certainly an experiential method of learning, for when you set our your expectation or your wish, you may get it. And this may be what your ego craves. It may be what is necessary to teach you certain lessons. But it may also be a waste of time for those of you who have already done enough of forcing your will on life in apposition to it forcing its will upon you.
The middle ground, center position, would wait upon the Lord for good orderly direction, although the human mind does not like to wait, and fear feels the pressure to act, even unwisely, in order to not sit there inert as if vulnerable to attack from any direction.
I propose another avenue of faith walking. You know you must do certain things in life. Most of them are going through the motions. You brush your teeth, you go to work. You service your automobile. You take care of personal hygiene and feed yourself. These comprise most of humanity’s major if not sole existence. There is nothing to consider there, except to do it, and do it in a detached manner, so that you are not swallowed up by it, and watch with the other part of your consciousness, your superconsciousness in faith that God will lead you to that which shows you the greater reality, the one which you yearn to have.
I taught this many years ago in terms of the swamp. The lesson of the swamp is about emotions, and that if you can learn to stand on one lily pad of faith, you are safe from the quicksand, the alligators, the mosquitoes and all the elements of the unknown, the bothersome, the titillating, the demanding and the distracting that surrounds you. And stay there until you know where you are, and when you know where you are, you can operate therefrom still without sinking into the quicksand, without being carried away. Until the next opportunity, the next lily pad, the next piece of divine guidance is presented before you.
Walk therein. This is how the Father leads you through your life’s journey. You do what you need to do and ask him to lead you. Not only into the swamp but beyond the swamp, beyond the dunes, beyond the world. In all ways, learn to follow.
Elena: Well, Tomas, that is very helpful. There is only one kind of other little part that I wanted to ask you, and that is that sometimes it seems like I doubt my perception of things and you think, “Okay, seek first the kingdom of god, and all else will be supplied to you.” And sometimes I’m not sure if I am or not. Sometimes I think that that’s the thing that I want the most, and I think the story about the man who wanted to follow Jesus and Jesus said, “Well, come with me,” and he said, “Oh, anything but that,” or something to that effect, or leaving his possessions, or whatever. So there’s sometimes where you doubt. I guess I’m saying that I doubt if I’m doing the right thing. I want to do the right thing, but I’m not certain. That’s what I was talking about when I mentioned the word ‘uncertainty’.
The other things that you said are good and I will follow them, but is there something that you would say about this uncertainty of whether we are following the right way?
TOMAS: You who have one foot in the material world and one foot in the spiritual world are doomed to experience uncertainty. You must make a wholehearted commitment to live the spirit-led life in order to have certainty. And most of you are unable to live a completely spirit-led life because you have other loyalties. In your way of thinking, you need to have other loyalties in order to survive this existence. But the truth remains that if you depend solely on Jesus you will be provided for. You will be given the knowledge of how to turn. It is only when you hold back and waver in your commitment that these intersections are in front of you in which you must make a choice of how to go.
Not so much an intersection, as a “Y” in the road. (Yes, I see the poem, Gerdean, thank you. ‘two roads diverged into a wood’. Robert Frost.) This is not inappropriate, but it is not quite the same as a mortal choice of how to go about your life path. My message is how to make and when to make and if to make a whole-hearted decision. Until you make the supreme decision, all your decisions will lead to naught but greater experiential learning. Your effectiveness and your supreme happiness are only allocated in and through your relationship with your indwelling Adjuster … with that divine and eternal aspect of infinity whose job it is to secure your cooperation for its personality survival through you. Your Adjuster is fighting for its life. And yours. And as you dally and waver and hedge, you forestall this wondrous opportunity.
It is true, child, that you will be given every opportunity to make this choice. But I am urgent enough in my integrity to suggest you not overlong presume upon divine mercy to carry you when you know full well you are capable of standing erect as a Daughter of God in all things.
Elena: Well, I’ll sure try to think about that and re-read that when it comes out in written form. Thank you, Tomas.
TOMAS: Thank you, daughter, for your courage to face the challenge in front of you. There is no greater commitment, nothing more fulfilling or effective than the supreme commitment to do His will. This is not a nebulous outside your personal consciousness theory; this is a living way.
As you advance, you automatically advance the collective consciousness. All of us are en route to greater perfection.
MACHIVENTA: This is Machiventa. I am coming here today to wrap my arms around you and remind you of the love we have for you, how much faith we have in your ability to be part of the reign of Michael. Your willingness to participate in this unfoldment of divine light is appreciated, and your yielding of your will to the divine will is something we are inspired by.
We are grateful for these small enclaves of mortal beings who seek to know more about the spirit that indwells them and that activates their lives, that upholds them and cradles them in infinity. We are glad, too, for the spirit helpers in the seraphic realms who look to you for enrollment in their realm of work for the mortals of the realm, and the midwayers who help bridge the gap between the veil that separates us to (from) the mortal consciousness.
All of this is set in motion by the Universal Father because of His love for His extended creation, for the potential inherent in the minds of all men and women, on all the worlds of space. Our Father loves us with an infinite and abiding love, and there is no part of His universe that is not swathed in His embrace. Abide with our Teacher Tomas here in good cheer and enjoy the visitors who occasionally stop by to generate association for you in the spirit, the spirit that lives in both worlds – visible and invisible. Shalom.
TOMAS: This is Tomas. Are you asleep? Are you awake?
Group: No, we’re awake!
TOMAS: Do you want to ask questions? What would you like to do now?
Thoroah: Well, I had a thought on what you were talking with Elena about, and that longing that probably all of us have felt for some kind of direction in making our choices, and we’ve all heard that if we yield to the Father’s will, that is the key. And that is easy to say “yield to the Father’s will.” It’s kind of confusing on this end, trying to figure out what that might be. How do you “yield to the Father’s will”? If you’re not supposed to sit and wait for it, what are you supposed to do? And I’m gathering from what you’re saying that assuming that we have committed to doing the Father’s will, that basically whatever we do, as long as we do something, is the best thing. Because we’re going to find out if we’re not doing the right thing by doing it and we can always sit back and guess if we’re not doing anything. I try to practice that myself. And also, to add some patience in there, because sometimes I think we look for answers, clues, hints in certain ways and we get clues and hints but we’re not necessarily looking in the right direction. And that probably ties back to seeking the Father’s will, but I think sometimes we super-impose what we expect, when we’re getting directions. And so, what I found is that if I’m going to do something, that’s usually the best way to find out if I’m on the right path or not, because I’ll soon know.
TOMAS: You have established a method, yes. It is a rather ‘hit and miss’ method, but in-as-much as your heart is in the right place, it is likely you win more than you lose and so it is not a bad method of advancement, but it is certainly an evolutionary way as compared to a revelatory way.
Thoroah: I’m sure it is.
TOMAS: There is this – they have said — about the 10 Commandments, how can anyone follow a “thou shalt not” regime. Well, there is some merit to a “thou shalt not” regime for those who have not complete trust in the Lord, and that is to look at that which comes at you and, by process of what has gone before, eliminate them from your receptors.
I am trying to say, if you sit still, having no idea which way to turn, and opportunities are shown to you, that you do not know whether or not it is God’s will. If you have done it before and it did not work, do not do it again. Thereby, through a process of elimination, limit your choices until such time as there is no way to go but “up”. That way will be the right way. Yet you can save yourself all that time by waiting until you see “what’s up” in the first place.
There are those who say that God will send you a message, and there is the story about the fellow on the roof in the flood. The boat came by, which he rejected; the helicopter came by, which he rejected; and when he drowned, he said, “you didn’t save me!” And God said, “I sent you a boat! I sent you a helicopter.” But it’s “what’s up” that would save him. It well may have been time for him to drown. Allow yourself to drown on occasion and be reborn to the new situation.
You don’t have to constantly seek for your own survival, find your own way home, fix it. Allow yourself, in faith, to just believe that God knows what He is doing, and he will lead you home. Many of you have adventurous natures and sufficient health to experiment all along the way and say, “Whoops! That wasn’t the right way!” “Whoops! Better not do that again!” But there are also many of you who make major error simply because you can. This is what I mean about presuming upon divine mercy. This is sheer willfulness.
Because you have free will, and have been gifted with these options, does not mean you have to utilize them interminably. You could (and I speak to you as a Dutch Uncle here) get it into your heads that the Father loves you and knows what’s best for you. If you don’t want what’s best for you, but what you want, then follow what you want. Lean upon your own understanding, but as long as you lean upon your own understanding, you will discover what not to do. When you lean upon the Lord, He will show you the way.
Thoroah: What does that mean, Tomas? What does that mean, to “lean upon the Lord?” I mean, that whole thing to me, that is so confusing. I know what it means to be good and truthful and honest and loving, but to lean upon the Lord or to try to follow God’s will, just confuses me.
TOMAS: It is to live within Him.
Thoroah: I do, but I don’t know that I know what God’s will is for me, other than whatever it is that I intuit. I mean, it’s a teamwork effort. It’s not either/or. I’m not necessarily relying on my own resources and not relying on God. It’s a teamwork thing.
TOMAS: All right. I heard you use the word “intuit”. Intuit is the initial impulse, the first adjutant mind spirit. It is perhaps the lowest of God’s nudges, but it is, even so, a reality. If you are intuiting something, you are having a response to God. Listen to it.
Thoroah: Of course.
TOMAS: Follow that until it is made clear. Until it is made clear, wait. That is what I mean. It sounds like that is our assignment for this next period of time.
Elena: To wait?
TOMAS: To learn to wait upon the Lord. To find that “Y” in the road, and to find out which way is God’s way for you to take.
Thoroah: We can do that and then on your end, you guys can figure out a better way to explain it to us.
TOMAS: No question about the fact that we will persevere.
Men-O-Pah: I’ve quoted from the poet Longfellow before. I know that I have read these lines over to you, Elena, at least once, that there – it’s at the end of one of his poems. It says, “Let us then be up and doing with a heart for anything, still believing, still pursuing, learn to labor and to wait.”
We’re used to instant gratification these days, and we want it to happen right now. But that’s not God’s schedule. You know, his ways are so high above ours. That’s why we’re here, to try to find out. But, we need to be patient when we do it. As the poet said, “learn to labor and to wait.” And I think perhaps that we will eventually understand it.
TOMAS: Thank you, Men-O-Pah.
Elena: This has been really helpful to me because – in the wait part – because I had — (group chuckle) … No really, I’m serious! Actually that had even come to me, to “wait upon the Lord.” I honestly had thought about that phrase, or scripture, and had written it down, I think, in my journal. But I was just concerned that I might be deluding myself somehow, and I didn’t want to be on the wrong path. I wanted to be on the right one. And I am content to wait, I really am, which is something that I do need to learn. I am not good at it at all. I mean, I’m horrible at it. So that’s something I’m certainly willing to try to look into. But the other part … that I might be on the wrong path … that’s disturbing, I guess. That being the uncertainty that I was talking about.
TOMAS: No one wants to make a mistake and have to learn a lesson, but that is how it goes. Eventually, the mistakes are less noticeable, less problematic. More and more you will be able to see them coming and avert them. These are opportunities to mold your soul, as the apostles were often devastated by what Jesus said, only to, the next moment, be lifted up and exalted again before, once more, being crushed and then again lifted up. This process of molding you is a part of the humbling process, the taming of the shrew, the disempowering of those who have a sense of competence undeserved, and so forth, until such time as you begin to develop some substance.
Just like the teenage years are troubling for so many, so are these troublesome times when you are grappling with these momentous soul-making decisions. Spiritual growth can be turbulent and conflicting, but once resolved, you have peace, sublime peace.
Elena: But Tomas, when you were in your other answer, you said that I had relied on divine mercy too long or something like that. That was kind of disturbing to me in your answer. Because I feel like I try really hard! I don’t think that I—it doesn’t feel like I’m flying off—maybe I am, but … I don’t know. But I understand Ready To Stand Up As A Daughter of God. That, you know, that makes sense, and I can hear some truth, too, in kind of holding back from that. I can see that. I don’t know how I’m not to do it just yet, but I can see a glimmer of the truth in that, so I’m not saying what you were saying was incorrect. It’s just that it’s hard to, again, trying to figure out how to bridge the gulf.
But! I also heard what you said in “waiting” so I think you’ve given me the tool to find that out.
TOMAS: I know your indwelling Adjuster is ready to minister to you and help you direct your thoughts god-ward in that context, and I am glad to have been instructed to instruct you thusly.
This thing about presuming upon divine mercy is something everyone experiences to some extent or another, and, certainly, at some point or other. And residue effects will echo into the future, but the child who enthusiastically runs to do the Father’s bidding, even before Father has thought to ask, is the one who is cherished, as compared to the one who may try Mother’s patience with balking or sulking, and all of you know that you have all those elements of personality within you at some point and to some degree.
No one wants to be thought of as a shirker, of course, which is partly why you are all so industrious! By being very busy, you can prove that you are engaged in something and so how can you be presuming on anything or anyone? Sit in stillness. Call upon your guides. Call upon your Divine Minister and your Adjuster to align your thoughts and set you right within yourself, so that you are right with God, and then you will be right with all of humanity. It’s a simple program. Too simple for most people who want to make it complicated, sophisticated, complex, elite, and esoteric.
Closing
There will be more ahead. I look forward to seeing your agenda, so as to return to your embrace. I leave you for the afternoon, albeit reluctantly. I miss you when I am not part of you consciously. I do enjoy those times when you allow me into your consciousness when we are not in session, but more important is that which you keep with you at all times, and that is a consciousness of the divine and how you interrelate with that in your very being.
Beautiful friends and students, I will see you next time.
Group: Thank you, Tomas. Farewell.
