Lesson 314
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Heaven is Your Will
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES 
CH 30 THE NEW BEGINNING 
III. FREEDOM OF WILL

33 Do you not understand that to oppose the Holy Spirit is to fight yourself? He tells you but your will; He speaks for you. In His divinity is but your own. And all He knows is but your knowledge, saved for you that you may do your will through Him. God asks you do your will. He joins with you. He did not set His Kingdom up alone. And Heaven itself but represents your will, where everything created is for you. No spark of life but was created with your glad consent, as you would have it be. And not one Thought that God has ever had but waited for your blessing to be born. God is no enemy to you. He asks no more than that He hear you call Him "Friend." 
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
WORKBOOK for STUDENTS
The Last Judgment
WHAT IS THE LAST JUDGMENT?

<AUDIO> <VIDEO>   
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio

*IAMBIC PENTAMETER* Example MP3
 
   Christ's Second Coming gives the Son of God
   the gift to hear the Voice for God proclaim
   that what is false is false, and what is true
   has never changed. And this the judgment is
   in which perception ends. At first you see
   a world which has accepted this as true,
   projected from a now corrected mind.
   And with this holy sight, perception gives
   a silent blessing and then disappears,
   its goal accomplished and its mission done.
 
   The final judgment on the world contains
   no condemnation. For it sees the world
   as totally forgiven, without sin,
   and wholly purposeless. Without a cause,
   and now without a function in Christ's sight,
   it merely slips away to nothingness.
   There it was born, and there it ends as well.
   And all the figures in the dream in which
   the world began go with it. Bodies now
   are useless, and will therefore fade away,
   because the Son of God is limitless.
 
   You who believed that Gods last judgment would
   condemn the world to hell along with you,
   accept this holy truth: God's judgment is
   the gift of the Correction He bestowed
   on all your errors, freeing you from them,
   and all effects they ever seemed to have.
   To fear His saving grace is but to fear
   complete release from suffering, return
   to peace, security and happiness,
   and union with your own Identity.
 
   God's final judgment is as merciful
   as every step in His appointed plan
   to save His Son, and call Him to return
   to the eternal peace He shares with him.
   Be not afraid of Love. For It alone
   can heal all sorrow, wipe away all tears,
   and gently waken from his dreams of pain
   the Son whom God acknowledges as His.
   Be not afraid of this. Salvation asks
   you give it welcome. And the world awaits
   your glad acceptance, which will set it free.
 
   This is God's final judgment: "You are still
   My holy Son, forever innocent,
   forever loving and forever loved,
   as limitless as Your Creator, and
   completely changeless and forever pure.
   Therefore awaken and return to Me.
   I am Your Father, and you are My Son.
 
    ~ Original Hand Script  
 
  
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSONS
SonShip Workbook
L e s s o n 314
I seek a future different from the past.

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   From new perception of the world, there comes
   a future very different from the past.
   The future now is recognized as but
   extension of the present. Past mistakes
   can cast no shadows on it, so that fear
   has lost its idols and its images,
   and being formless it has no effects.
   Death will not claim the future now, for life
   is now its goal, and all the needed means
   are happily provided. Who can grieve
   or suffer when the present has been freed,
   extending its security and peace
   into a quiet future filled with hope?
 
    Father, we were mistaken in the past,
    and choose to use the present to be free.
    Now do we leave the future in Your hands,
    leaving behind our past mistakes, and sure
    that You will keep Your present promises
    and guide the future in their holy light.
 
     ~ Original Handscript of ACIM     
  
          
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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections 
ACIM Edmonton, CA
LESSON 314
I seek a future different from the past.

Sarah's Commentary:    
   
By its very definition, when the present is freed from past mistakes and the guilt that accompanies them, then our experience is one of total peace with no fear of the future. Our guilt "casts a shadow" on the future and keeps us in fear of punishment for past sins. Yet the Lesson says, when we release the past, "Death will not claim the future now, for life is now its goal, and all the needed means are happily provided." (W.314.1.4) This can be said because death is the belief in punishment for past sins, but when there are no past sins, then there is only recognition of the purity and innocence of our being. With this recognition comes the knowledge we are eternal beings where death does not play a part. Everything is happily provided. There is nothing we need to strive for or to try to get. Life is a series of miracles, holy instants, holy relationships, and holy encounters. As said in the Bible, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all else will be provided you."
 
"Father, we were mistaken in the past, and choose to use the present to be free." (W.314.2.1) Our stories of the past and our judgments and self-attacking thoughts are not the truth. We are coming to recognize how wrong our perceptions about everything have been. It comes about as we become more willing to be wrong and to see everything in a new way. When we use everything in our day to free ourselves by forgiving our misperceptions, we free everyone around us. Our past does not determine the future. "Past mistakes can cast no shadows on it, so that fear has lost its idols and its images, and being formless, it has no effects." (W.314.1.3) We can choose to release all these past "idols and images" that occupy our minds and instead place them on the altar for healing.
 
When we judge our brothers, we see guilt in them and attack them. We are then haunted by our guilt, which casts a shadow on our future. Our feelings of guilt, which we hold in our minds, keep us hostage to the ego, so we walk this world with the belief we have done something wrong and now must atone for past sins. Now we expect bad things to happen to us. If we want a future different from the past, we must choose to see differently. As we bring our attack thoughts to the Holy Spirit, we see a future where the timelessness of God's Love is extended through us and we become a clear and shining light, reflecting His Love in this dark world.
 
Jesus reminds us, "To forgive is merely to remember the loving thoughts you gave in the past, and those that were given you. All the rest must be forgotten. Forgiveness is a selective remembering, based not on your selection. For the shadow figures you would make immortal are 'enemies' of reality. Be willing to forgive the Son of God for what he did not do. The shadow figures are the witnesses you bring with you to demonstrate he did what he did not. Because you bring them, you will hear them. And you who keep them by your own selection do not understand how they came into your mind, and what their purpose is. They represent the evil that you think was done to you. You bring them with you only that you may return evil for evil, hoping that their witness will enable you to think guiltily of another and not harm yourself." (T.17.III.1.1-10) (ACIM OE T.17.IV.14)
 
Our part is to look at and forgive everything we judge and condemn in ourselves. In holding onto the idols and images of the past, we continue to create more pain and suffering for ourselves. We are keeping the ego's program going, but through forgiveness, we invite the Holy Spirit's help to heal what was never true. Jesus speaks to us directly when he says, "My holy brother, I would enter into all your relationships, and step between you and your fantasies. Let my relationship to you be real to you, and let me bring reality to your perception of your brothers. They were not created to enable you to hurt yourself through them." (T.17.III.10.1-3) (ACIM OE T.17.IV.26)
 
All Jesus wants for us is peace and happiness. What is required is to first notice our judgments, worry thoughts, unworthiness, and any thought causing us pain, and acknowledge we no longer want to hold onto these thoughts. They are causing us all our suffering. If we want to be free of suffering, we must turn away from the voice of the ego by being willing to no longer listen to the stories of the past or obsessively run the movies of the past in our minds. Instead, we give all our attention to our willingness to be healed. "Father, we were mistaken in the past, and choose to use the present to be free." (W.314.2.1) Jesus can only help us when we bring our dark thoughts to him. We will be motivated to do so when we remember we want to know our divine nature more than we want our stories and the pain that accompany them.
 
Letting go of our stories requires we let go of the blame we place on others and the justification we hold for our lack of forgiveness. The many painful events we hold onto keep us bound to the past. The only way to experience our true Self and with it the innocence, peace, and joy is to release the past. This process may be experienced as painful, for it requires looking at past hurts and feeling the pain of them as well as the pain of our own attacks, but there is no way to get to the love without going through this darkness.
 
What is it that keeps us stubbornly resisting taking responsibility for our attacks and judgments? Jesus says, "Your mind is filled with schemes to save the face of your ego, and you do not seek the face of Christ." (T.4.IV.1.5) (ACIM OE T.4.V.56) While a part of us does want to know who we are and to seek the face of Christ, we also want to defend our positions and our perspectives. We want to be seen as good. We justify our part so we can seem innocent and see others as guilty for our condition and for the way we are feeling.
 
When our desire for the truth is strong, we will sacrifice the shabby image we have tried to hold onto and see that it no longer serves us. "Who can grieve or suffer when the present has been freed, extending its security and peace into a quiet future filled with joy?" (W.314.1.5)
 
In the present, we are free. All our past mistakes can be left behind through forgiveness so we can have a future very different from the past. It does not require anything to change in our world. It only requires that we admit our mistakes and take responsibility for them. We have put a lot of our effort in maintaining the face of innocence. We want to be seen as well meaning. We claim, if others were different, we could be more loving. Not so, says Jesus. The more we defend, the more fear we will have. Byron Katie likes to say that the first act of war is defense of ourselves. Interesting thought! "In my defenselessness my safety lies." (W.153) We must start by acknowledging we were wrong. "Father, we were mistaken in the past." (W.314.2.1) Now we can choose to use the present to be free.

Love and blessings, Sarah 
A Course in Miracles
ACIM Original Edition
III. Freedom of Will
           
33 Do you not understand that to oppose the Holy Spirit is to fight yourself? He tells you but your will; He speaks for you. In His divinity is but your own. And all He knows is but your knowledge, saved for you that you may do your will through Him. God asks you do your will. He joins with you. He did not set His Kingdom up alone. And Heaven itself but represents your will, where everything created is for you. No spark of life but was created with your glad consent, as you would have it be. And not one Thought that God has ever had but waited for your blessing to be born. God is no enemy to you. He asks no more than that He hear you call Him "Friend."
 
34 How wonderful it is to do your will! For that is freedom. There is nothing else that ever should be called by freedom's name. Unless you do your will, you are not free. And would God leave His Son without what he has chosen for himself? God but ensured that you would never lose your will when He gave you His perfect answer. Hear it now that you may be reminded of His love and learn your will. God would not have His Son made prisoner to what he does not want. He joins with you in willing you be free. And to oppose Him is to make a choice against yourself and choose that you be bound.
 
35 Look once again upon your enemy, the one you chose to hate instead of love. For thus was hatred born into the world, and thus the rule of fear established there. Now hear God speak to you through Him Who is His Voice and yours as well, reminding you that it is not your will to hate and be a prisoner to fear, a slave to death, a little creature with a little life. Your will is boundless; it is not your will that it be bound. What lies in you has joined with God Himself in all creation's birth. Remember He Who has created you and through your will created everything. Not one created thing but gives you thanks, for it is by your will that it was born. No light of Heaven shines except for you, for it was set in Heaven by your will.
 
36 What cause have you for anger in a world which merely waits your blessing to be free? If you be prisoner, then God Himself could not be free. For what is done to him whom God so loves is done to God Himself. Think not He wills to bind you, Who has made you co-creator of the universe along with Him. He would but keep your will forever and forever limitless.
 
37 This world awaits the freedom you will give when you have recognized that you are free. But you will not forgive the world until you have forgiven Him Who gave your will to you. For it is by your will the world is given freedom. Nor can you be free apart from Him Whose holy Will you share. God turns to you to ask the world be saved, for by your own salvation it is healed. And no one walks upon the earth but must depend on your decision, that he learn death has no power over him because he shares your freedom as he shares your will. It is your will to heal him, and because you have decided with him, he is healed. And now is God forgiven, for you chose to look upon your brother as a friend.

   
 
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