A Course in Miracles, Reading

LESSON 242 This day is God’s. It is my gift to Him.I will not lead my life alone today. I do not understand the world, and so to try to lead my life alone must be but foolishness. But there is One Who knows all that is best for me. And He is glad to make no choices for me but the ones that lead to God. I give this day to Him, for I would not delay my coming home, and it is He Who knows the way to God.And so we give today to You. We come with wholly open minds. We do not ask for anything that we may think we want. Give us what You would have received by us. You know all our desires and our wants. And You will give us everything we need in helping us to find the way to You.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/242.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

What is the world? The world is false perception. It is born of error, and it has not left its source. It will remain no longer than the thought which gave it birth is cherished.When the thought of separation has been changed to one of true forgiveness, will the world be seen in quite another light; and one which leads to truth, where all the world must disappear and all its errors vanish. Now its source has gone, and its effects are gone as well. The world was made as an attack on God. It symbolizes fear. And what is fear except love’s absence? Thus the world was meant to be a place where God could enter not, and where His Son could be apart from Him. Here was perception born, for knowledge could not cause such insane thoughts. But eyes deceive, and ears hear falsely. Now mistakes become quite possible, for certainty has gone. The mechanisms of illusion have been born instead. And now they go to find what has been given them to seek.Their aim is to fulfill the purpose which the world was made to witness and make real. They see in its illusions but a solid base where truth exists, upheld apart from lies.Yet everything that they report is but illusion which is kept apart from truth. As sight was made to lead away from truth, it can be redirected. Sounds become the call of God. And all perception can be given a new purpose by the OneWhom God appointed Savior to the world. Follow His light and see the world as He beholds it. Hear His Voice alone in all that speaks to you. And let Him give you peace and certainty, which you have thrown away, but Heaven has preserved for you in Him. Let us not rest content until the world has joined our changed perception. Let us not be satisfied until forgiveness has been made complete.And let us not attempt to change our function.We must save the world. For we who made it must behold it through the eyes of Christ, that what was made to die can be restored to Everlasting Life.LESSON 241 This holy instant is salvation come.What joy there is today! It is a time of special celebration. For today holds out the instant to the darkened world where its release is set. The day has come when sorrows pass away and pain is gone. The glory of salvation dawns today upon a world set free. This is the time of hope for countless millions. They will be united now, as you forgive them all. For I will be forgiven by you today.We have forgiven one another now, and so we come at last to You again. Father, Your Son, who never left, returns to Heaven and his home. How glad are we to have our sanity restored to us, and to remember that we all are one.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/241.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 240 Fear is not justified in any form.Fear is deception. It attests that you have seen yourself as you could never be, and therefore look upon a world which is impos­sible. Not one thing in this world is true. It does not matter what the form in which it may appear. It witnesses but to your own illusions of yourself. Let us not be deceived today. We are the Sons of God. There is no fear in us, for we are each a part of Love Itself.How foolish are our fears! Would You allow Your Son to suffer? Give us faith today to recognize Your Son, and set him free. Let us forgive him in Your Name, that we may understand his holiness, and feel the love for him which is Your Own as well.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/240.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 239 The glory of my Father is my own.Let not the truth about ourselves today be hidden by a false humility. Let us instead be thankful for the gifts our Father gave us. Can we see in those with whom He shares His glory any trace of sin and guilt? And can it be that we are not among them, when He loves His Son forever and with perfect constancy, knowing he is as He created him?We thank You, Father, for the light that shines forever in us. And we honor it, because You share it with us. We are one, united in this light and one with You, at peace with all creation and ourselves.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/239.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 238 On my decision all salvation rests.Father, Your trust in me has been so great, I must be worthy. You created me, and know me as I am. And yet You placed Your Son’s salvation in my hands, and let it rest on my decision. I must be beloved of You indeed. And I must be steadfast in holiness as well, that You would give Your Son to me in certainty that he is safe Who still is part of You, and yet is mine, because He is my Self.And so, again today, we pause to think how much our Father loves us. And how dear His Son, created by His Love, remains to Him Whose Love is made complete in him.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/238.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 237 Now would I be as God created me.Today I will accept the truth about myself. I will arise in glory, and allow the light in me to shine upon the world throughout the day. I bring the world the tidings of salvation which I hear as God my Father speaks to me. And I behold the world that Christ would have me see, aware it ends the bitter dream of death; aware it is my Father’s Call to me.Christ is my eyes today, and He the ears that listen to the Voice for God today. Father, I come to You through Him Who is Your Son, and my true Self as well. Amen.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/237.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 236 I rule my mind, which I alone must rule.I have a kingdom I must rule. At times, it does not seem I am its king at all. It seems to triumph over me, and tell me what to think, and what to do and feel. And yet it has been given me to serve whatever purpose I perceive in it. My mind can only serve. Today I give its service to the Holy Spirit to employ as He sees fit. I thus direct my mind, which I alone can rule. And thus I set it free to do the Will of God.Father, my mind is open to Your Thoughts, and closed today to every thought but Yours. I rule my mind, and offer it to You. Accept my gift, for it is Yours to me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/236.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 235 God in His mercy wills that I be saved.I need but look upon all things that seem to hurt me, and with perfect certainty assure myself, “God wills that I be saved from this,” and merely watch them disappear. I need but keep in mind my Father’s Will for me is only happiness, to find that only happiness has come to me. And I need but remember that God’s Love surrounds His Son and keeps his sinlessness forever per­fect, to be sure that I am saved and safe forever in His Arms. I am the Son He loves. And I am saved because God in His mercy wills it so.Father, Your Holiness is mine. Your Love created me, and made my sinlessness forever part of You. I have no guilt nor sin in me, for there is none in You.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/235.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 234 Father, today I am Your Son again.Today we will anticipate the time when dreams of sin and guilt are gone, and we have reached the holy peace we never left. Merely a tiny instant has elapsed between eternity and timeless­ness. So brief the interval there was no lapse in continuity, nor break in thoughts which are forever unified as one. Nothing has ever happened to disturb the peace of God the Father and the Son. This we accept as wholly true today.We thank You, Father, that we cannot lose the memory of You and of Your Love. We recognize our safety, and give thanks for all the gifts You have bestowed on us, for all the loving help we have received, for Your eternal patience, and the Word which You have given us that we are saved.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/234.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 233 I give my life to God to guide today.Father, I give You all my thoughts today. I would have none of mine. In place of them, give me Your Own. I give You all my acts as well, that I may do Your Will instead of seeking goals which cannot be obtained, and wasting time in vain imaginings. Today I come to You. I will step back and merely follow You. Be You the Guide, and I the follower who questions not the wisdom of the Infinite, nor Love whose tenderness I cannot comprehend, but which is yet Your perfect gift to me.Today we have one Guide to lead us on. And as we walk together, we will give this day to Him with no reserve at all. This is His day. And so it is a day of countless gifts and mercies unto us.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/233.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 232 Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake, and shine on me throughout the day today. Let every minute be a time in which I dwell with You. And let me not forget my hourly thanksgiving that You have remained with  me, and always will be there to hear my call to You and answer me. As evening comes, let all my thoughts be still of You and of Your Love. And let me sleep sure of my safety, certain of Your care, and happily aware I am Your Son.This is as every day should be. Today, practice the end of fear. Have faith in Him Who is your Father. Trust all things to Him. Let Him reveal all things to you, and be you undismayed be­cause you are His Son.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/232.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

What is salvation? Salvation is a promise, made by God, that you would find your way to Him at last. It cannot not be kept. It guarantees that time will have an end, and all the thoughts that have been born in time will end as well. God’s Word is given every mind which thinks that it has separate thoughts, and will replace these thoughts of conflict with the Thought of peace. The Thought of peace was given to God’s Son the instant that his mind had thought of war.There was no need for such a Thought before, for peace was given without opposite, and merely was. But when the mind is split there is a need of healing. So the Thought Which has the power to heal the split became a part of every fragment of the mind that still was one, but failed to recognize its oneness. Now it did not know itself, and thought its own identity was lost. Salvation is undoing in the sense that it does nothing, failing to support the world of dreams and malice.Thus it lets illusions go. By not supporting them, it merely lets them quietly go down to dust. And what they hid is now revealed; an altar to the holy Name of God whereon His Word is written, with the gifts of your forgiveness laid before It, and the memory of God not far behind. Let us come daily to this holy place, and spend a while together. Here we share our final dream. It is a dream in which there is no sorrow, for it holds a hint of all the glory given us by God.The grass is pushing through the soil, the trees are budding now, and birds have come to live within their branches. Earth is being born again in new perception. Night has gone, and we have come together in the light. From here we give salvation to the world, for it is here salvation was received.The song of our rejoicing is the call to all the world that freedom is returned, that time is almost over, and God’s Son has but an instant more to wait until his Father is remembered, dreams are done, eternity has shined away the world, and only Heaven now exists at all.LESSON 231 Father, I will but to remember You.What can I seek for, Father, but Your Love? Perhaps I think I seek for something else; a something I have called by many names. Yet is Your Love the only thing I seek, or ever sought. For there is nothing else that I could ever really want to find. Let me remember You. What else could I desire but the truth about myself?This is your will, my brother. And you share this will with me, and with the One as well Who is our Father. To remember Him is Heaven. This we seek. And only this is what it will be given us to find.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/231.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 230 Now will I seek and find the peace of God.In peace I was created. And in peace do I remain. It is not given me to change my Self. How merciful is God my Father, that when He created me He gave me peace forever. Now I ask but to be what I am. And can this be denied me, when it is forever true?Father, I seek the peace You gave as mine in my creation. What was given then must be here now, for my creation was apart from time, and still remains beyond all change. The peace in which Your Son was born into Your Mind is shining there unchanged. I am as You created me. I need but call on You to find the peace You gave. It is Your Will that gave it to Your Son.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/230.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 229 Love, which created me, is what I am.I seek my own Identity, and find It in these words: “Love, which created me, is what I am.” Now need I seek no more. Love has prevailed. So still It waited for my coming home, that I will turn away no longer from the holy face of Christ. And what I look upon attests the truth of the Identity I sought to lose, but which my Father has kept safe for me.Father, my thanks to You for what I am; for keeping my Identity untouched and sinless, in themidst of all the thoughts of sin my foolish mind made up. And thanks to You for saving me from them. Amen.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/229.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 228 God has condemned me not. No more do I.My Father knows my holiness. Shall I deny His knowledge, and believe in what His knowledge makes impossible? Shall I accept as true what He proclaims as false? Or shall I take His Word for what I am, since He is my Creator, and the One Who knows the true condition of His Son?Father, I was mistaken in myself, because I failed to realize the Source from which I came. I have not left that Source to enter in a body and to die. My holiness remains a part of me, as I am part of You. And my mistakes about myself are dreams. I let them go today. And I stand ready to receive Your Word alone for what I really am.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/228.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 227 This is my holy instant of release.Father, it is today that I am free, because my will is Yours. I thought to make another will. Yet nothing that I thought apart from You exists. And I am free because I was mistaken, and did not affect my own reality at all by my illusions. Now I give them up, and lay them down before the feet of truth, to be removed forever from my mind. This is my holy instant of release. Father, I know my will is one with Yours.And so today we find our glad return to Heaven, which we never really left. The Son of God this day lays down his dreams. The Son of God this day comes home again, released from sin and clad in holiness, with his right mind restored to him at last.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/227.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 226 My home awaits me. I will hasten there.If I so choose, I can depart this world entirely. It is not death which makes this possible, but it is change of mind about the purpose of the world. If I believe it has a value as I see it now, so will it still remain for me. But if I see no value in the world as I behold it, nothing that I want to keep as mine or search for as a goal, it will depart from me. For I have not sought for illusions to replace the truth.Father, my home awaits my glad return. Your Arms are open and I hear Your Voice. What need have I to linger in a place of vain desires and of shattered dreams, when Heaven can so easily be mine?- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/226.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 225 God is my Father, and His Son loves Him.Father, I must return Your Love for me, for giving and receiving are the same, and You have given all Your Love to me. I must return it, for I want it mine in full awareness, blazing in my mind and keeping it within its kindly light, inviolate, beloved, with fear behind and only peace ahead. How still the way Your loving Son is led along to You!Brother, we find that stillness now. The way is open. Now we follow it in peace together. You have reached your hand to me, and I will never leave you. We are one, and it is but this oneness that we seek, as we accomplish these few final steps which end a journey that was not begun.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/225.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 224 God is my Father, and He loves His Son.My true Identity is so secure, so lofty, sinless, glorious and great, wholly beneficent and free from guilt, that Heaven looks to It to give it light. It lights the world as well. It is the gift my Father gave to me; the one as well I give the world. There is no gift but this that can be either given or received. This is reality, and only this. This is illusion’s end. It is the truth.My Name, O Father, still is known to You. I have forgotten It, and do not know where I am going, who I am, or what it is I do. Remind me, Father, now, for I am weary of the world I see. Reveal what You would have me see instead.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/224.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 223 God is my life. I have no life but His.I was mistaken when I thought I lived apart from God, a sepa­rate entity that moved in isolation, unattached, and housed within a body. Now I know my life is God’s, I have no other home, and I do not exist apart from Him. He has no Thoughts that are not part of me, and I have none but those which are of Him.Our Father, let us see the face of Christ instead of our mistakes. For we who are Your holy Son are sinless. We would look upon our sinless­ness, for guilt proclaims that we are not Your Son. And we would not forget You longer. We are lonely here, and long for Heaven, where we are at home. Today we would return. Our Name is Yours, and we acknowledge that we are Your Son.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/223.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 222 God is with me. I live and move in Him.God is with me. He is my Source of life, the life within, the air I breathe, the food by which Iam sustained, the water which renews and cleanses me. He is my home, wherein I live and move; the Spirit which directs my actions, offers me Its Thoughts, and guarantees my safety from all pain. He covers me with kindness and with care, and holds in love the Son He shines upon, who also shines on Him. How still is he who knows the truth of what He speaks today!Father, we have no words except Your Name upon our lips and in our minds, as we come quietlyinto Your Presence now, and ask to rest with You in peace a while.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/222.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

What is forgiveness? Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. It does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees there was no sin.And in this view are all your sins forgiven.What is sin except a false idea about God’s Son? Forgiveness merely sees its falsity, and therefore lets it go. What then is free to take its place is now the Will of God. An unforgiving thought is one which makes a judgement that it will not raise to doubt, although it is not true. The mind is closed, and will not be released.The thought protects projection, tightening its chains, so that distortions are more veiled and more obscure; less easily accessible to doubt, and further kept from reason. What can come between a fixed projection and the aim that it has chosen as its needed goal? An unforgiving thought does many things. In frantic action it pursues its goal, twisting and overturning what it sees as interfering with its chosen path. Distortion is its purpose and the means by which it would accomplish it as well. It sets about its furious attempts to smash reality, without concern for anything that would appear to pose a contradiction to its point of view. Forgiveness, on the other hand, is still, and quietly does nothing. It offends no aspect of reality, nor seeks to twist it to appearance that it likes. It merely looks and waits and judges not. He who would not forgive must judge, for he must justify his failure to forgive. But he who would forgive himself must learn to welcome truth exactly as it is. Do nothing, then, and let forgiveness show you what to do through Him Who is your Guide, your Savior and Defender, strong in hope, and certain of your ultimate success. He has forgiven you already, for such is His function, given Him by God. Now must you share His function, and forgive whom He has saved, whose sinlessness He sees, and whom He honors as the Son of God.LESSON 221 Peace to my mind. Let all my thoughts be still.Father, I come to You today to seek the peace that You alone can give. I come in silence. In the quiet of my heart, the deep recesses of my mind, I wait and listen for Your Voice. My Father, speak to me today. I come to hear Your Voice in silence and in certainty and love, sure You will hear my call and answer me.Now do we wait in quiet. God is here, because we wait together. I am sure that He will speak to you, and you will hear. Accept my confidence, for it is yours. Our minds are joined. We wait with one intent; to hear our Father’s answer to our call, to let our thoughts be still and find His peace, to hear Him speak to us of what we are, and to reveal Himself unto His Son.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/221.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 220I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(200) There is no peace except the peace of God.Let me not wander from the way of peace, for I am lost on other roads than this. But let me follow Him Who leads me home, and peace is certain as the Love of God.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/220.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 219I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(199) I am not a body. I am free.I am God’s Son. Be still, my mind, and think a moment upon this. And then return to earth, without confusion as to what my Father loves forever as His Son.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/219.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 218I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(198) Only my condemnation injures me.My condemnation keeps my vision dark, and through my sightless eyes I cannot see the vision of my glory. Yet today I can behold this glory and be glad.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/218.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 217I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(197) It can be but my gratitude I earn.Who should give thanks for my salvation but myself? And how but through salvation can I find the Self to Whom my thanks are due?I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/217.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 216I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(196) It can be but myself I crucify.All that I do I do unto myself. If I attack, I suffer. But if I forgive, salvation will be given me.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/216.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 215I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(195) Love is the way I walk in gratitude.The Holy Spirit is my only Guide. He walks with me in love. And I give thanks to Him for showing me the way to go.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/215.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 214I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(194) I place the future in the Hands of God.The past is gone; the future is not yet. Now am I freed from both. For what God gives can only be for good. And I accept but what He gives as what belongs to me.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/214.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 213I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(193) All things are lessons God would have me learn.A lesson is a miracle which God offers to me, in place of thoughts I made that hurt me. What I learn of Him be­comes the way I am set free. And so I choose to learn His lessons and forget my own.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/213.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 212I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(192) I have a function God would have me fill.I seek the function that would set me free from all the vain illusions of the world. Only the function God has given me can offer freedom. Only this I seek, and only this will I accept as mine.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/212.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 211I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(191) I am the holy Son of God Himself.In silence and in true humility I seek God’s glory, to behold it in the Son whom He created as my Self.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.-A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/211.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 210I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(190) I choose the joy of God instead of pain.Pain is my own idea. It is not a Thought of God, but one I thought apart from Him and from His Will. His Will is joy, and only joy for His beloved Son. And that I choose, in­stead of what I made.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/210.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 209I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(189) I feel the Love of God within me now.The Love of God is what created me. The Love of God is everything I am. The Love of God proclaimed me as His Son. The Love of God within me sets me free.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/209.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 208I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(188) The peace of God is shining in me now.I will be still, and let the earth be still along with me. And in that stillness we will find the peace of God. It is within my heart, which witnesses to God Himself.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/208.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 207I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(187) I bless the world because I bless myself.God’s blessing shines upon me from within my heart, where He abides. I need but turn to Him, and every sorrow melts away, as I accept His boundless Love for me.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/207.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 206I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(186) Salvation of the world depends on me.I am entrusted with the gifts of God, because I am His Son. And I would give His gifts where He intended them to be.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/206.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 205I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(185) I want the peace of God.The peace of God is everything I want. The peace of God is my one goal; the aim of all my living here, the end I seek, my purpose and my function and my life, while I abide where I am not at home.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.https://iamacim.com/205.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 204I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(184) The Name of God is my inheritance.God’s Name reminds me that I am His Son, not slave to time, unbound by laws which rule the world of sick illu­sions, free in God, forever and forever one with Him.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/204.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 203I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(183) I call upon God’s Name and on my own.The Name of God is my deliverance from every thought of evil and of sin, because it is my own as well as His.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.-A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/203.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 202I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(182) I will be still an instant and go home.Why would I choose to stay an instant more where I do not belong, when God Himself has given me His Voice to call me home?I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/202.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 201I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.(181) I trust my brothers, who are one with me.No one but is my brother. I am blessed with oneness with the universe and God, my Father, one Creator of the whole that is my Self, forever One with me.I am not a body. I am free.For I am still as God created me.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/201.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 200 There is no peace except the peace of God.Seek you no further. You will not find peace except the peace of God. Accept this fact, and save yourself the agony of yet more bitter disappointments, bleak despair, and sense of icy hopeless­ness and doubt. Seek you no further. There is nothing else for you to find except the peace of God, unless you seek for misery and pain.This is the final point to which each one must come at last, to lay aside all hope of finding happiness where there is none; of being saved by what can only hurt; of making peace of chaos, joy of pain, and Heaven out of hell. Attempt no more to win through losing, nor to die to live. You cannot but be asking for defeat.Yet you can ask as easily for love, for happiness, and for eternal life in peace that has no ending. Ask for this, and you can only win. To ask for what you have already must succeed. To ask that what is false be true can only fail. Forgive yourself for vain imaginings, and seek no longer what you cannot find. For what could be more foolish than to seek and seek and seek again for hell, when you have but to look with open eyes to find that Heaven lies before you, through a door that opens easily to wel­come you?Come home. You have not found your happiness in foreign places and in alien forms that have no meaning to you, though you sought to make them meaningful. This world is not where you belong. You are a stranger here. But it is given you to find the means whereby the world no longer seems to be a prison house or jail for anyone.Freedom is given you where you beheld but chains and iron doors. But you must change your mind about the purpose of the world, if you would find escape. You will be bound till all the world is seen by you as blessed, and everyone made free of your mistakes and honored as he is. You made him not; no more your­self. And as you free the one, the other is accepted as he is.What does forgiveness do? In truth it has no function, and does nothing. For it is unknown in Heaven. It is only hell where it is needed, and where it must serve a mighty function. Is not the escape of God’s beloved Son from evil dreams that he imagines, yet believes are true, a worthy purpose? Who could hope for more, while there appears to be a choice to make between success and failure; love and fear?There is no peace except the peace of God, because He has one Son who cannot make a world in opposition to God’s Will and to his own, which is the same as His. What could he hope to find in such a world? It cannot have reality, because it never was cre­ated. Is it here that he would seek for peace? Or must he see that, as he looks on it, the world can but deceive? Yet can he learn to look on it another way, and find the peace of God.Peace is the bridge that everyone will cross, to leave this world behind. But peace begins within the world perceived as differ­ent, and leading from this fresh perception to the gate of Heaven and the way beyond. Peace is the answer to conflicting goals, to senseless journeys, frantic, vain pursuits, and meaningless endeavors. Now the way is easy, sloping gently toward the bridge where freedom lies within the peace of God.Let us not lose our way again today. We go to Heaven, and the path is straight. Only if we attempt to wander can there be delay, and needless wasted time on thorny byways. God alone is sure, and He will guide our footsteps. He will not desert His Son in need, nor let him stray forever from his home. The Father calls; the Son will hear. And that is all there is to what appears to be a world apart from God, where bodies have reality.Now is there silence. Seek no further. You have come to where the road is carpeted with leaves of false desires, fallen from the trees of hopelessness you sought before. Now are they underfoot. And you look up and on toward Heaven, with the body’s eyes but serving for an instant longer now. Peace is already recognized at last, and you can feel its soft embrace sur­round your heart and mind with comfort and with love.Today we seek no idols. Peace can not be found in them. The peace of God is ours, and only this will we accept and want. Peace be to us today. For we have found a simple, happy way to leave the world of ambiguity, and to replace our shifting goals and solitary dreams with single purpose and companionship. For peace is union, if it be of God. We seek no further. We are close to home, and draw still nearer every time we say:There is no peace except the peace of God,And I am glad and thankful it is so.-A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/200.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 199 I am not a body. I am free.Freedom must be impossible as long as you perceive a body as yourself. The body is a limit. Who would seek for freedom in a body looks for it where it can not be found. The mind can be made free when it no longer sees itself as in a body, firmly tied to it and sheltered by its presence. If this were the truth, the mind were vulnerable indeed!The mind that serves the Holy Spirit is unlimited forever, in all ways, beyond the laws of time and space, unbound by any preconceptions, and with strength and power to do whatever it is asked. Attack thoughts cannot enter such a mind, because it has been given to the Source of love, and fear can never enter in a mind that has attached itself to love. It rests in God. And who can be afraid who lives in Innocence, and only loves?It is essential for your progress in this course that you accept today’s idea, and hold it very dear. Be not concerned that to the ego it is quite insane. The ego holds the body dear because it dwells in it, and lives united with the home that it has made. It is a part of the illusion that has sheltered it from being found illusory itself.Here does it hide, and here it can be seen as what it is. Declare your innocence and you are free. The body disappears, because you have no need of it except the need the Holy Spirit sees. For this, the body will appear as useful form for what the mind must do. It thus becomes a vehicle which helps forgiveness be extended to the all-inclusive goal that it must reach, according to God’s plan.Cherish today’s idea, and practice it today and every day. Make it a part of every practice period you take. There is no thought that will not gain thereby in power to help the world, and none which will not gain in added gifts to you as well. We sound the call of freedom round the world with this idea. And would you be exempt from the acceptance of the gifts you give?The Holy Spirit is the home of minds that seek for freedom. In Him they have found what they have sought. The body’s purpose now is unambiguous. And it becomes perfect in the ability to serve an undivided goal. In conflict-free and unequivocal response to mind with but the thought of freedom as its goal, the body serves, and serves its purpose well. Without the power to enslave, it is a worthy servant of the freedom which the mind within the Holy Spirit seeks.Be free today. And carry freedom as your gift to those who still believe they are enslaved within a body. Be you free, so that the Holy Spirit can make use of your escape from bondage, to set free the many who perceive themselves as bound and helpless and afraid. Let love replace their fears through you. Accept salvation now, and give your mind to Him Who calls to you to make this gift to Him. For He would give you perfect freedom, perfect joy, and hope that finds its full accomplishment in God.You are God’s Son. In immortality you live forever. Would you not return your mind to this? Then practice well the thought the Holy Spirit gives you for today. Your brothers stand released with you in it; the world is blessed along with you, God’s Son will weep no more, and Heaven offers thanks for the increase of joy your practice brings even to it. And God Himself extends His Love and happiness each time you say:I am not a body. I am free. I hear the Voice that God has given me, and it is only this my mind obeys.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/199.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 198 Only my condemnation injures me.Injury is impossible. And yet illusion makes illusion. If you can condemn, you can be injured. For you have believed that you can injure, and the right you have established for yourself can be now used against you, till you lay it down as valueless, unwanted and unreal. Then does illusion cease to have effects, and those it seemed to have will be undone. Then are you free, for freedom is your gift, and you can now receive the gift you gave.Condemn and you are made a prisoner. Forgive and you are freed. Such is the law that rules perception. It is not a law that knowledge understands, for freedom is a part of knowledge. To condemn is thus impossible in truth. What seems to be its influ­ence and its effects have not occurred at all. Yet must we deal with them a while as if they had. Illusion makes illusion. Except one. Forgiveness is illusion that is answer to the rest.Forgiveness sweeps all other dreams away, and though it is it­self a dream, it breeds no others. All illusions save this one must multiply a thousandfold. But this is where illusions end. For­giveness is the end of dreams, because it is a dream of waking. It is not itself the truth. Yet does it point to where the truth must be, and gives direction with the certainty of God Himself. It is a dream in which the Son of God awakens to his Self and to his Father, knowing They are one.Forgiveness is the only road that leads out of disaster, past all suffering, and finally away from death. How could there be an­other way, when this one is the plan of God Himself? And why would you oppose it, quarrel with it, seek to find a thousand ways in which it must be wrong; a thousand other possibilities?Is it not wiser to be glad you hold the answer to your problems in your hand? Is it not more intelligent to thank the One Who gives salvation, and accept His gift with gratitude? And is it not a kindness to yourself to hear His Voice and learn the simple lessons He would teach, instead of trying to dismiss His words, and substitute your own in place of His?His words will work. His words will save. His words contain all hope, all blessing and all joy that ever can be found upon this earth. His words are born in God, and come to you with Heaven’s love upon them. Those who hear His words have heard the song of Heaven. For these are the words in which all merge as one at last. And as this one will fade away, the Word of God will come to take its place, for it will be remembered then and loved.This world has many seeming separate haunts where mercy has no meaning, and attack appears as justified. Yet all are one; a place where death is offered to God’s Son and to his Father. You may think They have accepted. But if you will look again upon the place where you beheld Their blood, you will perceive a mir­acle instead. How foolish to believe that They could die! How foolish to believe you can attack! How mad to think that you could be condemned, and that the holy Son of God can die!The stillness of your Self remains unmoved, untouched by thoughts like these, and unaware of any condemnation which could need forgiveness. Dreams of any kind are strange and alien to the truth. And what but truth could have a Thought which builds a bridge to it that brings illusions to the other side?Today we practice letting freedom come to make its home with you. The truth bestows these words upon your mind, that you may find the key to light and let the darkness end:Only my condemnation injures me.Only my own forgiveness sets me free.Do not forget today that there can be no form of suffering that fails to hide an unforgiving thought. Nor can there be a form of pain forgiveness cannot heal.Accept the one illusion which proclaims there is no condemna­tion in God’s Son, and Heaven is remembered instantly; the world forgotten, all its weird beliefs forgotten with it, as the face of Christ appears unveiled at last in this one dream. This is the gift the Holy Spirit holds for you from God your Father. Let today be celebrated both on earth and in your holy home as well. Be kind to Both, as you forgive the trespasses you thought Them guilty of, and see your innocence shining upon you from the face of Christ.Now is there silence all around the world. Now is there stillness where before there was a frantic rush of thoughts that made no sense. Now is there tranquil light across the face of earth, made quiet in a dreamless sleep. And now the Word of God alone remains upon it. Only that can be perceived an instant longer. Then are symbols done, and everything you ever thought you made completely vanished from the mind that God forever knows to be His only Son.There is no condemnation in him. He is perfect in his holiness. He needs no thoughts of mercy. Who could give him gifts when everything is his? And who could dream of offering forgiveness to the Son of Sinlessness Itself, so like to Him Whose Son he is, that to behold the Son is to perceive no more, and only know the Father? In this vision of the Son, so brief that not an instant stands between this single sight and timelessness itself, you see the vision of yourself, and then you disappear forever into God.Today we come still nearer to the end of everything that yet would stand between this vision and our sight. And we are glad that we have come this far, and recognize that He Who brought us here will not forsake us now. For He would give to us the gift that God has given us through Him today. Now is the time for your deliverance. The time has come. The time has come today.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/198.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 197 It can be but my gratitude I earn.Here is the second step we take to free your mind from the belief in outside force pitted against your own. You make attempts at kindness and forgiveness. Yet you turn them to attack again, unless you find external gratitude and lavish thanks. Your gifts must be received with honor, lest they be withdrawn. And so you think God’s gifts are loans at best; at worst, deceptions which would cheat you of defenses, to ensure that when He strikes He will not fail to kill.How easily are God and guilt confused by those who know not what their thoughts can do. Deny your strength, and weakness must become salvation to you. See yourself as bound, and bars become your home. Nor will you leave the prison house, or claim your strength, until guilt and salvation are not seen as one, and freedom and salvation are perceived as joined, with strength beside them, to be sought and claimed, and found and fully rec­ognized.The world must thank you when you offer it release from your illusions. Yet your thanks belong to you as well, for its release can only mirror yours. Your gratitude is all your gifts require, that they be a lasting offering of a thankful heart, released from hell forever. Is it this you would undo by taking back your gifts, because they were not honored? It is you who honor them and give them fitting thanks, for it is you who have received the gifts.It does not matter if another thinks your gifts unworthy. In his mind there is a part that joins with yours in thanking you. It does not matter if your gifts seem lost and ineffectual. They are received where they are given. In your gratitude are they ac­cepted universally, and thankfully acknowledged by the Heart of God Himself. And would you take them back, when He has gratefully accepted them?God blesses every gift you give to Him, and every gift is given Him, because it can be given only to yourself. And what belongs to God must be His Own. Yet you will never realize His gifts are sure, eternal, changeless, limitless, forever giving out, extending love and adding to your never-ending joy while you forgive but to attack again.Withdraw the gifts you give, and you will think that what is given you has been withdrawn. But learn to let forgiveness take away the sins you think you see outside yourself, and you can never think the gifts of God are lent but for a little while, before He snatches them away again in death. For death will have no meaning for you then.And with the end of this belief is fear forever over. Thank your Self for this, for He is grateful only unto God, and He gives thanks for you unto Himself. To everyone who lives will Christ yet come, for everyone must live and move in Him. His Being in His Father is secure, because Their Will is One. Their gratitude to all They have created has no end, for gratitude remains a part of love.Thanks be to you, the holy Son of God. For as you were cre­ated, you contain all things within your Self. And you are still as God created you. Nor can you dim the light of your perfection. In your heart the Heart of God is laid. He holds you dear, because you are Himself. All gratitude belongs to you, because of what you are.Give thanks as you receive it. Be you free of all ingratitude to anyone who makes your Self complete. And from this Self is no one left outside. Give thanks for all the countless channels which extend this Self. All that you do is given unto Him. All that you think can only be His Thoughts, sharing with Him the holy Thoughts of God. Earn now the gratitude you have denied yourself when you forgot the function God has given you. But never think that He has ever ceased to offer thanks to you.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/197.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 196 It can be but myself I crucify.When this is firmly understood and kept in full awareness, you will not attempt to harm yourself, nor make your body slave to vengeance. You will not attack yourself, and you will realize that to attack another is but to attack yourself. You will be free of the insane belief that to attack a brother saves yourself. And you will understand his safety is your own, and in his healing you are healed.Perhaps at first you will not understand how mercy, limitless and with all things held in its sure protection, can be found in the idea we practice for today. It may, in fact, appear to be a sign that punishment can never be escaped because the ego, under what it sees as threat, is quick to cite the truth to save its lies. Yet must it fail to understand the truth it uses thus. But you can learn to see these foolish applications, and deny the meaning they appear to have.Thus do you also teach your mind that you are not an ego. For the ways in which the ego would distort the truth will not deceive you longer. You will not believe you are a body to be crucified. And you will see within today’s idea the light of resurrection, looking past all thoughts of crucifixion and of death, to thoughts of liberation and of life.Today’s idea is one step we take in leading us from bondage to the state of perfect freedom. Let us take this step today, that we may quickly go the way salvation shows us, taking every step in its appointed sequence, as the mind relinquishes its burdens one by one. It is not time we need for this. It is but willingness. For what would seem to need a thousand years can easily be done in just one instant by the grace of God.The dreary, hopeless thought that you can make attacks on oth­ers and escape yourself has nailed you to the cross. Perhaps it seemed to be salvation. Yet it merely stood for the belief the fear of God is real. And what is that but hell? Who could believe his Father is his deadly enemy, separate from him, and waiting to destroy his life and blot him from the universe, without the fear of hell upon his heart?Such is the form of madness you believe, if you accept the fearful thought you can attack another and be free yourself. Until this form is changed, there is no hope. Until you see that this, at least, must be entirely impossible, how could there be escape? The fear of God is real to anyone who thinks this thought is true. And he will not perceive its foolishness, or even see that it is there, so that it would be possible to question it.To question it at all, its form must first be changed at least as much as will permit fear of retaliation to abate, and the responsibility returned to some extent to you. From there you can at least consider if you want to go along this painful path. Until this shift has been accomplished, you can not erceive that it is but your thoughts that bring you fear, and your deliverance de­pends on you.Our next steps will be easy, if you take this one today. From there we go ahead quite rapidly. For once you understand it is impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts, the fear of God must disappear. You cannot then believe that fear is caused without. And God, Whom you had thought to banish, can be welcomed back within the holy mind He never left.Salvation’s song can certainly be heard in the idea we practice for today. If it can but be you you crucify, you did not hurt the world, and need not fear its vengeance and pursuit. Nor need you hide in terror from the deadly fear of God projection hides behind. The thing you dread the most is your salvation. You are strong, and it is strength you want. And you are free, and glad of freedom. You have sought to be both weak and bound, because you feared your strength and freedom. Yet salvation lies in them.There is an instant in which terror seems to grip your mind so wholly that escape appears quite hopeless. When you realize, once and for all, that it is you you fear, the mind perceives itself as split. And this had been concealed while you believed attack could be directed outward, and returned from outside to within. It seemed to be an enemy outside you had to fear. And thus a god outside yourself became your mortal enemy; the source of fear.Now, for an instant, is a murderer perceived within you, eager for your death, intent on plotting punishment for you until the time when it can kill at last. Yet in this instant is the time as well in which salvation comes. For fear of God has disappeared. And you can call on Him to save you from illusions by His Love, calling Him Father and yourself His Son. Pray that the instant may be soon,—today. Step back from fear, and make advance to love.There is no Thought of God that does not go with you to help you reach that instant, and to go beyond it quickly, surely and forever. When the fear of God is gone, there are no obstacles that still remain between you and the holy peace of God. How kind and merciful is the idea we practice! Give it welcome, as you should, for it is your release. It is indeed but you your mind can try to crucify. Yet your redemption, too, will come from you.-A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/196.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 195 Love is the way I walk in gratitude.Gratitude is a lesson hard to learn for those who look upon the world amiss. The most that they can do is see themselves as better off than others. And they try to be content because another seems to suffer more than they. How pitiful and deprecating are such thoughts! For who has cause for thanks while others have less cause? And who could suffer less because he sees another suffer more? Your gratitude is due to Him alone Who made all cause of sorrow disappear throughout the world.It is insane to offer thanks because of suffering. But it is equally insane to fail in gratitude to One Who offers you the certain means whereby all pain is healed, and suffering replaced with laughter and with happiness. Nor could the even partly sane refuse to take the steps which He directs, and follow in the way He sets before them, to escape a prison that they thought contained no door to the deliverance they now perceive.Your brother is your “enemy” because you see in him the rival for your peace; a plunderer who takes his joy from you, and leaves you nothing but a black despair so bitter and relentless that there is no hope remaining. Now is vengeance all there is to wish for. Now can you but try to bring him down to lie in death with you, as useless as yourself; as little left within his grasping fingers as in yours.You do not offer God your gratitude because your brother is more slave than you, nor could you sanely be enraged if he seems freer. Love makes no comparisons. And gratitude can only be sincere if it be joined to love. We offer thanks to God our Father that in us all things will find their freedom. It will never be that some are loosed while others still are bound. For who can bargain in the name of love?Therefore give thanks, but in sincerity. And let your gratitude make room for all who will escape with you; the sick, the weak, the needy and afraid, and those who mourn a seeming loss or feel apparent pain, who suffer cold or hunger, or who walk the way of hatred and the path of death. All these go with you. Let us not compare ourselves with them, for thus we split them off from our awareness of the unity we share with them, as they must share with us.We thank our Father for one thing alone; that we are separate from no living thing, and therefore one with Him. And we rejoice that no exceptions ever can be made which would reduce our wholeness, nor impair or change our function to complete the One Who is Himself completion. We give thanks for every living thing, for otherwise we offer thanks for nothing, and we fail to recognize the gifts of God to us.Then let our brothers lean their tired heads against our shoulders as they rest a while. We offer thanks for them. For if we can direct them to the peace that we would find, the way is opening at last to us. An ancient door is swinging free again; a long forgotten Word re-echoes in our memory, and gathers clarity as we are willing once again to hear.Walk, then, in gratitude the way of love. For hatred is forgotten when we lay comparisons aside. What more remains as ob­stacles to peace? The fear of God is now undone at last, and we forgive without comparing. Thus we cannot choose to overlook some things, and yet retain some other things still locked away as “sins.” When your forgiveness is complete you will have total gratitude, for you will see that everything has earned the right to love by being loving, even as your Self.Today we learn to think of gratitude in place of anger, malice and revenge. We have been given everything. If we refuse to recognize it, we are not entitled therefore to our bitterness, and to a self-perception which regards us in a place of merciless pursuit, where we are badgered ceaselessly, and pushed about without a thought or care for us or for our future. Gratitude becomes the single thought we substitute for these insane perceptions. God has cared for us, and calls us Son. Can there be more than this?Our gratitude will pave the way to Him, and shorten our learning time by more than you could ever dream of. Gratitude goes hand in hand with love, and where one is the other must be found. For gratitude is but an aspect of the Love which is the Source of all creation. God gives thanks to you, His Son, for be­ing what you are; His Own completion and the Source of love, along with Him. Your gratitude to Him is one with His to you. For love can walk no road except the way of gratitude, and thus we go who walk the way to God.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/195.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 194 I place the future in the Hands of God.Today’s idea takes another step toward quick salvation, and a giant stride it is indeed! So great the distance is that it encompasses, it sets you down just short of Heaven, with the goal in sight and obstacles behind. Your foot has reached the lawns that welcome you to Heaven’s gate; the quiet place of peace, where you await with certainty the final step of God. How far are we progressing now from earth! How close are we approaching to our goal! How short the journey still to be pursued!Accept today’s idea, and you have passed all anxiety, all pits of hell, all blackness of depression, thoughts of sin, and devastation brought about by guilt. Accept today’s idea, and you have re­leased the world from all imprisonment by loosening the heavy chains that locked the door to freedom on it. You are saved, and your salvation thus becomes the gift you give the world, because you have received.In no one instant is depression felt, or pain experienced or loss perceived. In no one instant sorrow can be set upon a throne, and worshipped faithfully. In no one instant can one even die. And so each instant given unto God in passing, with the next one given Him already, is a time of your release from sadness, pain and even death itself.God holds your future as He holds your past and present. They are one to Him, and so they should be one to you. Yet in this world, the temporal progression still seems real. And so you are not asked to understand the lack of sequence really found in time. You are but asked to let the future go, and place it in God’s Hands. And you will see by your experience that you have laid the past and present in His Hands as well, because the past will punish you no more, and future dread will now be meaningless.Release the future. For the past is gone, and what is present, freed from its bequest of grief and misery, of pain and loss, becomes the instant in which time escapes the bondage of illusions where it runs its pitiless, inevitable course. Then is each instant which was slave to time transformed into a holy instant, when the light that was kept hidden in God’s Son is freed to bless the world. Now is he free, and all his glory shines upon a world made free with him, to share his holiness.If you can see the lesson for today as the deliverance it really is, you will not hesitate to give as much consistent effort as you can, to make it be a part of you. As it becomes a thought that rules your mind, a habit in your problem-solving repertoire, a way of quick reaction to temptation, you extend your learning to the world. And as you learn to see salvation in all things, so will the world perceive that it is saved.What worry can beset the one who gives his future to the lov­ing Hands of God? What can he suffer? What can cause him pain, or bring experience of loss to him? What can he fear? And what can he regard except with love? For he who has escaped all fear of future pain has found his way to present peace, and certainty of care the world can never threaten. He is sure that his perception may be faulty, but will never lack correction. He is free to choose again when he has been deceived; to change his mind when he has made mistakes.Place, then, your future in the Hands of God. For thus you call the memory of Him to come again, replacing all your thoughts of sin and evil with the truth of love. Think you the world could fail to gain thereby, and every living creature not respond with healed perception? Who entrusts himself to God has also placed the world within the Hands to which he has himself appealed for comfort and security. He lays aside the sick illusions of the world along with his, and offers peace to both.Now are we saved indeed. For in God’s Hands we rest untroubled, sure that only good can come to us. If we forget, we will be gently reassured. If we accept an unforgiving thought, it will be soon replaced by love’s reflection. And if we are tempted to attack, we will appeal to Him Who guards our rest to make the choice for us that leaves temptation far behind. No longer is the world our enemy, for we have chosen that we be its friend.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/194.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne  

LESSON 193 All things are lessons God would have me learn.God does not know of learning. Yet His Will extends to what He does not understand, in that He wills the happiness His Son inherited of Him be undisturbed; eternal and forever gaining scope, eternally expanding in the joy of full creation, and eternally open and wholly limitless in Him. That is His Will. And thus His Will provides the means to guarantee that it is done.God sees no contradictions. Yet His Son believes he sees them. Thus he has a need for One Who can correct his erring sight, and give him vision that will lead him back to where perception ceases. God does not perceive at all. Yet it is He Who gives the means by which perception is made true and beautiful enough to let the light of Heaven shine upon it. It is He Who answers what His Son would contradict, and keeps his sinlessness forever safe.These are the lessons God would have you learn. His Will reflects them all, and they reflect His loving kindness to the Son He loves. Each lesson has a central thought, the same in all of them. The form alone is changed, with different circumstances and events; with different characters and different themes, appar­ent but not real. They are the same in fundamental content. It is this:Forgive, and you will see this differently.Certain it is that all distress does not appear to be but unforgiveness. Yet that is the content underneath the form. It is this sameness which makes learning sure, because the lesson is so simple that it cannot be rejected in the end. No one can hide forever from a truth so very obvious that it appears in countless forms, and yet is recognized as easily in all of them, if one but wants to see the simple lesson there.Forgive, and you will see this differently.These are the words the Holy Spirit speaks in all your tribulations, all your pain, all suffering regardless of its form. These are the words with which temptation ends, and guilt, abandoned, is revered no more. These are the words which end the dream of sin, and rid the mind of fear. These are the words by which salvation comes to all the world.Shall we not learn to say these words when we are tempted to believe that pain is real, and death becomes our choice instead of life? Shall we not learn to say these words when we have under­stood their power to release all minds from bondage? These are words which give you power over all events that seem to have been given power over you. You see them rightly when you hold these words in full awareness, and do not forget these words apply to everything you see or any brother looks upon amiss.How can you tell when you are seeing wrong, or someone else is failing to perceive the lesson he should learn? Does pain seem real in the perception? If it does, be sure the lesson is not learned. And there remains an unforgiveness hiding in the mind that sees the pain through eyes the mind directs.God would not have you suffer thus. He would help you forgive yourself. His Son does not remember who he is. And God would have him not forget His Love, and all the gifts His Love brings with it. Would you now renounce your own salvation? Would you fail to learn the simple lessons Heaven’s Teacher sets before you, that all pain may disappear and God may be remembered by His Son?All things are lessons God would have you learn. He would not leave an unforgiving thought without correction, nor one thorn or nail to hurt His holy Son in any way. He would ensure his holy rest remain untroubled and serene, without a care, in an eternal home which cares for him. And He would have all tears be wiped away, with none remaining yet unshed, and none but waiting their appointed time to fall. For God has willed that laughter should replace each one, and that His Son be free again.We will attempt today to overcome a thousand seeming obsta­cles to peace in just one day. Let mercy come to you more quickly. Do not try to hold it off another day, another minute or another instant. Time was made for this. Use it today for what its purpose is. Morning and night, devote what time you can to serve its proper aim, and do not let the time be less than meets your deepest need.Give all you can, and give a little more. For now we would arise in haste and go unto our Father’s house. We have been gone too long, and we would linger here no more. And as we practice, let us think about all things we saved to settle by ourselves, and kept apart from healing. Let us give them all to Him Who knows the way to look upon them so that they will disappear. Truth is His message; truth His teaching is. His are the lessons God would have us learn.Each hour, spend a little time today, and in the days to come, in practicing the lesson in forgiveness in the form established for the day. And try to give it application to the happenings the hour brought, so that the next one is free of the one before. The chains of time are easily unloosened in this way. Let no one hour cast its shadow on the one that follows, and when that one goes, let everything that happened in its course go with it. Thus will you remain unbound, in peace eternal in the world of time.This is the lesson God would have you learn: There is a way to look on everything that lets it be to you another step to Him, and to salvation of the world. To all that speaks of terror, answer thus:I will forgive, and this will disappear.To every apprehension, every care and every form of suffering, repeat these selfsame words. And then you hold the key that opens Heaven’s gate, and brings the Love of God the Father down to earth at last, to raise it up to Heaven. God will take this final step Himself. Do not deny the little steps He asks you take to Him.- A Course in Miracles, WorkBookhttps://iamacim.com/193.html© Undefinable And Expansive 501 (c)(3) NONPROFIT © Open And Clear © Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne