A: Well, of course, it can’t be wrong to have health. But, since health is the normal state of being, one doesn’t ever desire health. One is always desiring to be themselves, to be under God’s grace, to be under God’s law; health is a natural fulfillment.
If one dwells on the desire for bodily health, it is only another step to desiring the perfect body, and then that starts a whole routine of diets and exercises and controls until one has the perfect body. And then after they have it, what? Just what? Look in the papers these coming weeks and watch some of those perfect bodies over at the Olympics and ask yourself if you’d like to change places with them.
The perfect body in and of itself is nothing. It hasn’t even the assurance of being able to live until tomorrow. The body in and of itself, if it were perfectly healthy, would never carry you one step nearer the kingdom of heaven.
I think on this whole idea, there is no better example than that of John the Baptist. Do you remember John the Baptist, who was so pure that he would only eat honey and whatever? He was so pure that he would never touch anything that defiled. He was so good that he was considered the greatest of the Hebrew prophets. And do you remember what the Master said about him? That the least, the very least, of spiritual people would get into heaven before John the Baptist. The very least of them would get into heaven before this greatest of all Hebrew prophets. Why? Because this man was merely great in the human sense. He obeyed the letter of the law; he lived up to the holidays and the holy days and the feast days. And he only took into his mouth, that which was absolutely pure in his sight, and yet actually, as even the greatest Hebrew prophet, he was less than the least spiritual being.
And so it is that regardless of what you may attain on the human path, regardless of what service you may be to humanity, if you still are living only in the human sense of service, or the human sense of health, or the human sense of achievement, you are not promoting your spiritual welfare one bit. It is only when your devotion to man is the product of your devotion to God; when in your service to God, you are led to serve man, that your service then becomes a spiritual dedication.
So it is that if you attain health, physically or mentally, you’ll feel very comfortable. But, when you have come to taking no thought for what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, or wherewithal you shall be clothed; when you have come to the point of taking no thought about your physical welfare but rather are seeking the kingdom of God, you will find all things added unto you. All things added unto you, but don’t seek them. Seek only the kingdom of God.
[Please Note: We have posted the recording, 359B, on which Joel leads this meditation. You are welcome to hear the entire recording, but if you wish to simply go through the meditation, begin at time 10:23 and continue through 36:31.]
So it is that, while your thought is out here on your desires, fears, or hopes, you are not centering yourself in the kingdom of God within you to receive the guidance, the direction, the support, the government of the Spirit. But watch what happens now as you release yourselves. Close your eyes and be comfortable and begin consciously to release yourself from the outer world. And you may follow me in doing it this way:
I am seeking nothing in the outer realm. I release all desire for persons, for things, for conditions. I drop all of my hopes and my ambitions into Thy lap, Father. Take all that I have, for all that I have is Thine. I release myself from all fears, knowing that Thou art in me, and I am in Thee—that where I am, Thou art.
Therefore, I fear not. I fear not what mortal man can do to me. I fear not what human thoughts can do to me. I fear nothing, for I am in Thee, and Thou art in me. Where Thou art, I am, and where Thou art, no fear can abide. Is there anything with power destructive to Thy child? Is there any power greater than Thy power of protection, of care, of support? Are there powers greater than God? Are there any powers beside God?
Ah, this is it: God is the only power; there are no powers to fear—no powers of sin, of disease, of lack. No powers. No weapon that is formed against me shall prosper, for I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.
Therefore, easily, gladly, do I surrender fear. And I surrender hope, for what need I to hope for? God is the greatest gift, and God has given Himself to me. All that the Father hath is mine. What is there left to hope for? So, I surrender my hope to Thee.
If I desire God with all my heart and with all my soul, and with all my mind, do I have room left to desire anything else? And is there anything for me to desire after I have given my whole desire to God?
I desire only God: to know Thee aright, to live consciously in Thy presence. This is my desire, and all other desires I surrender unto Thee. No longer do I have any desire but to know Thee aright.
Ambition? What ambition is there? What is there that one could be ambitious for after one has known God? Is there something in the world of greater value than God? Is there something of greater benefit than God? No, no. Knowing God, having God, I can have no further ambition, and I can surrender my ambition unto Thee.
Hope, desire, ambition, fear—all of these I surrender. And now, there is nothing left in the external world for me to be attached to.
To love my neighbor as myself—this is natural, this is normal, this is spiritual. To love my friends, to love my family—this is normal, this is natural. But nothing external attracts me now. Nothing outside of me is greater than my love for God, my desire for God, my realization of what God-government means.
And so now, here I am, inside of myself, alone with God, tabernacling with God, living in the kingdom of God within me and looking to this deep withinness, this deep pool of contentment within myself for whatever it is that God is to impart to me.
Remember, there is no contentment for the mind that is stirred by desire for something outside. There is no contentment, there is no peace to the mind that is living in fear of something outside.
The only peace there is, and the only contentment is in the realization: I and my Father are one, and here within me is the entire kingdom of God. Here within me, God’s grace is functioning; here within me, God has placed His son, His beloved son, and this beloved son is the reality of my being. This child of God is within me.
Now I am within, and the rest of the world is without, and I have no desire now to go beyond my eyelids. I’m happy to stay inside for everything real, and everything true is right here inside of me, within me. My thoughts do not go outside, for there is nothing there greater than that which I have within me.
And now that I am at peace within, I can turn to the Father within and say, “Speak, Lord; thy servant heareth.” I wait for the impartation that is to come from Thee to me. Deep down within me is the kingdom of God. Deep down with me is His presence, and in His presence is fullness of life. His presence within me is fulfillment. All that I shall ever need in my daily life is provided for from within me through this Presence. Thy presence within me is the fulfillment of my entire life.
Thy presence within me is life eternal. Thy presence within me is bread, the staff of life. Thy presence within me is wine, water, meat. In Thy presence is fulfillment. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And here, now, within me, is the Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. The Spirit of the Lord God is within me. The Spirit of the Lord God has ordained me to show forth God’s glory. The Spirit of God within me is my liberty, my freedom from fear, my freedom from care, my freedom from danger. Thy presence within me is my freedom from care. Out in the world, there is care and trial and tribulation. But in Thy presence within me, there is peace, freedom, joy, safety, security, abundance.
Thy presence is my abundance. Thy presence within me is the activity of grace. Thy presence within me is the fulfillment of my career on earth. Whatever it is that I am to do on earth is now successful because Thy presence within me goes before me to make the crooked places straight, to prepare a place for me, to prepare mansions for me.
Thy presence within me is the substance, the law, and the activity of life harmonious. Thy presence within me is divine wisdom. Thy presence within me is divine love. Where Thou art, only love can be expressed. Where Thou art, only wisdom can be expressed. Where Thou art only peace can be known, and Thou art within me. I and my Father are here, together, in communion with each other, tabernacling with each other, for the Father and I are one, but the Father is greater than I. And the Father has made my soul His dwelling place; the Father has made my consciousness His dwelling place. The Father dwells within me, and I dwell in Him, for we are one.
Thy presence is the activity of divine grace, and Thy grace is my sufficiency in all things. Where is Thy grace? Thy grace is not out in a room; Thy grace does not function out in the air. Thy grace is not somewhere between heaven and earth. Thy grace is within me. Thy grace is within my consciousness, really within the consciousness of all mankind, awaiting the recognition that I am now giving.
This is life eternal: to know that Thy grace is functioning within me, that Thy grace satisfies me in all directions. Thy grace is the law of love and of life unto me; Thy grace is my bread and meat and wine and water, and Thy grace is functioning here and now within me.
I and my Father are here, together, in communion with each other, tabernacling with each other, for the Father and I are one, but the Father is greater than I. And the Father has made my soul His dwelling place; the Father has made my consciousness His dwelling place. The Father dwells within me, and I dwell in Him, for we are one.
Thy presence is the activity of divine grace, and Thy grace is my sufficiency in all things. Where is Thy grace? Thy grace is not out in a room; Thy grace does not function out in the air. Thy grace is not somewhere between heaven and earth. Thy grace is within me. Thy grace is within my consciousness, really, within the consciousness of all mankind, awaiting the recognition that I am now giving.
This is life eternal: to know that Thy grace is functioning within me, that Thy grace satisfies me in all directions. Thy grace is the law of love and of life unto me; Thy grace is my bread and meat and wine and water, and Thy grace is functioning here and now within me.
I and the Father are here together; we are one—I in Him and He in me. And my recognition of the Father within me, my recognition that the Father within me, He doeth the works, this leaves me free—free of desire, free of hope, free of ambition but alive and alert in the realization: “I can do all things through Christ. I can do all things through the presence of God that is within me. I can do all things. Everything, every… I can satisfy every demand that is made upon me: physical, mental, moral, financial, by the grace of God that dwelleth in me.”
I live, yet not I; the Father within me is living my life. The Father within me is fulfilling my life. The Father within me giveth me work to do, and then He performeth that which is given me to do.
The Father within me leadeth me into green pastures, beside still waters. The Father within me giveth me work to do, and I work as the Father giveth me to do. And yet He performeth that which He giveth me to do, for the Father within me doeth the works. I alone of my own self can do nothing. Only by the grace of the Father within me is my life fulfilled. Only by the grace of the Father within me am I led to where I can best serve God and man.
Oh yes, I must serve man; I must be a servant unto man. I must dedicate my life to my neighbor because if I say that I love God whom I have not seen, but do not love my fellow man whom I have seen, then I am a liar. And so in loving God supremely, I love my fellow man and love to help and to serve and to enlighten. But only by the grace of God am I led to those whom I can serve. Only by the grace of God can I succeed in serving them after I have met them. And how do I experience the grace of God? By turning within silently, secretly, sacredly, and realizing: “Here within me now, the whole world shut out, no longings external to myself. Here am I, Father, and we are one.”
In this silence, I pledge my life to God. Having surrendered desires, hopes, fears, ambitions, I have surrendered myself to God. And now God, fill me, enlighten me, teach me, instruct me, guide me, lead me, direct me, feed me—feed me, sustain me from within.
Thou hast revealed of old: I am the bread and the meat and the wine and the water. And so I know that Thy infinite source of supply is forever feeding, clothing, and housing me. I know all this comes from within, so I need not look without. Thy wisdom is my wisdom; Thy love is my love. My whole life is lived that Thy glory may be made manifest unto man.
Every bit of good that is made manifest through my earthly life is a testimony to Thy glory, to Thy presence, and to Thy power. Without Thy presence and without Thy power, I would be as a branch of a tree that is cut off and withereth.
Acknowledging Thy presence within me, acknowledging Thy power, I am one with the source of all life, of all wisdom, all strength. Acknowledging Thy presence and Thy power within me, I am one with immortality, eternality, infinity, and all of this shows forth Thy glory.
If I am healthy—this is an evidence of Thy presence within me. If I have abundance—this is an evidence of Thy presence within me. If I have joy, peace, harmony—this bears witness to Thy presence within me.
If I serve, if I help, if I benefit anyone—this is the testimony that Thou art with me. Thou art with me; Thou art in me as I am in Thee, and we are one. And all that is performed through me is Thy own glory being made manifest to the world.
Thy presence. I feel it; I feel it. It is here within me; It goes before me; It walks beside me, behind me, and always It looks over my shoulder, showing me which way to go. Therefore, by Thy grace, I walk uprightly. By Thy grace, I walk confidently. By Thy grace, I serve humbly and sincerely. Thy grace is my sufficiency in all things.
1This copyrighted excerpt is from Recording Recording 359B: 1960 New York Closed Class, “A Meditation on the Presence.” It is posted with kind permission from the Estate of Joel Goldsmith, which holds the copy protection on the recorded classes and the copyright on the transcripts. The full transcript of this recording is available from The Infinite Way website or by calling 1-800-922-3195.
Goldsmith Global has permission to provide this material to Goldsmith Global participants for educational and study purposes. Please respect the copyright on this material.