A Reading from the Bible, the Book of Matthew

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

(The Bible, Book of Matthew 22:36-40)

A Reading from the Bible, the Book of Luke

What Shall I do to Inherit Eternal Life?

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

He said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou?

And he answering, said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.

And he said unto him, Thou has answered right: this do and thou shalt live. (The Bible, the Book of Luke 10:25-28)

What Else Shall I Inherit?

Through following this Great Commandment, or in other words, the path of divine love, I will inherit eternal life, and light, and love. I may also inherit health, wealth, happiness, and a higher consciousness of divine love. I may also inherit friends, a good partner or spouse, a good job or vocation, the fulfillment of my divine plan or mission, the forgiveness of sin, the resolution of my psychology, and far more.

I may find great joy in walking the path of divine love.

Also, I may be led to unveil the mysteries of life.

In this lesson we will take up the study of the first and great commandment – Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. In the next lesson, we shall study the teaching on the second commandment – Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

The question is -- How do we love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind? How do we love God above all things?

The first thing to consider is that God made us in his image and likeness. God made us in bliss, happiness, and in His love. We were not conceived in sin, but in joy, happiness, bliss, in God’s image and likeness, in God’s love. We are immaculately conceived in God. We were conceived “in heaven” before we took incarnation on earth.

In the Bible, the Book of Jeremiah 1:5, God said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” I believe that God said a similar thing to each of us when he conceived us, but he may have ordained us to be a teacher, a healer, a mother of many children, a homemaker, an artist, a plumber, a painter, a carpenter, or any other worthwhile calling that we could have.

Furthermore, Jesus said, “Ye are gods.” (The Bible, the Book of John 10:34) I believe that God only creates “gods” – sons and daughters of God, angels of God, individualized as “gods,” as the Presence of God, or the Presence of Love. So what are we? We are the “individualized Presence of God,” “the individualized Presence of Love, and we can affirm, I AM the Presence of God, and I AM the Presence of Love. I AM God individualized. And I AM one with God and I AM “god.” I AM conceived in bliss, in happiness, in love. I AM immaculately conceived in the Heart of God.

We can affirm, “As above, I AM that Presence of Love, so below, I AM that Love everywhere I go.” This is one of the greatest statements we can make – one of the greatest statements of who we are and what we should be everywhere we go – be love in action.

The Personal Great Commandment

Thou shalt love thy Individualized God Presence, the Beloved Mighty ‘I AM’ Presence, the Beloved Presence of Love with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

“Every individual’s first duty is Adoration and Love to the “One Mighty I AM Presence,” which is everywhere present.” (The “I AM” Discourses, Vol. 3, pg. 271)

“The Ascended Master’s Way of Life is to give, give, give: first, Love and Adoration to his own ‘Mighty I AM Presence,’ and then expand Love and Perfection by pouring It out to everybody and everything. To send out Divine Love without limit all the time, is the Whole of the Law applied. If mankind could only understand this, the Individual would realize, that he must pour out This Flame of Divine Love, before the Perfection which he desires can flow into his world, and release—things—into his use.

Divine Love is a Feeling, an actual Ray of Light which flows out from the Flame within the Heart. It can be sent forth so powerfully, that this Ray of Light-Substance is both visible and tangible. It is the most invincible power in the Universe. Use It, Beloved Ones, without limit, and nothing is impossible to you.” (The Magic Presence, Godfre Ray King, pgs. 345, 346)

More specifically, how do we give adoration and love to the beautiful Presence of Love within us?

We can begin by saying, O God (O Beloved Presence of Love), I love You above all things.

Or we may say, O God, I love You, I love You, I love You I do, let the love of our hearts ever renew.

Or we may say, thank you God, I love You.

Or if this is a problem for us, we may say something like this, O God teach me to love You above all things. O God help me to love with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind.

Or we may say, and repeat often during the day, O God, You are so magnificent (3 times), I AM, I AM, I AM adoring Thee. (3 times)

Or we may use the following affirmations: I AM God Love, I AM pure Love, I AM all Love, I AM in Love, I do Love you.

“Again I must remind you that this Limitless, Mighty Power of God cannot intrude Its Wondrous Powers into your outer use – except by your invitation. There is only one kind of invitation that can reach it and loose it, and that is your feeling of deep devotion and Love.” (I AM Discourses, Vol. 3, pg. 28)

When Jesus said: “ ‘I AM’ the Open Door which no man may shut,” he meant humanity to understand that he referred to the “Great I AM,” which is the Life of every individual manifest in form. He did not wish to convey that the personal Jesus was the only one to whom this great privilege was ordained. Each of the beloved children of the one Father has the same Mighty Presence within him, the “Great I AM,” that Jesus has, and that Jesus had at that time, by which he achieved the final and eternal victory.

“Beloved, the world is upon the verge of the ushering in of such an age of enlightenment! The gentle turning of each individual toward his God, toward his I AM Presence, with that meditation and utter love, I tell you, in the twinkling of the All-Seeing Eye of God you would see what change upon planet earth.” (Pearls of Wisdom, March 27, 1988)

“The greatest romance is with the Infinite. You have no idea how beautiful life can be. When you suddenly find God everywhere, when He comes and talks to you and guides you, the romance of divine love has begun.” (Paramahansa Yogananda – Man’s Eternal Quest)

Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,

and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.