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, 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; 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.

Ah yes “if I were to speak of myself, I bear witness to a lie.” “I of my own self can do nothing;” I have no powers. But everything that is performed through me is a showing forth of Thy glory, of Thy wisdom, of Thy light, of Thy life, of Thy strength, of Thy peace, of Thy power.

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.”

And this which is so sacred, this which is the most sacred experience an individual can ever know—to be locked up within himself with the whole outside world shut out. To be here tabernacling with God, feeling God’s presence, feeling the assurance that comes with the realization of God’s presence.

This most sacred experience must also be a secret experience, for the Master teaches: “when you pray, close the door, go within your secret sanctuary and close the door” which we are doing now.

Just think, each one of us is as if there were no one else in this room. Each one of us is alone, locked up inside himself with God—only God, in communion with God. This is a secret, a secret which we have from the world, but a secret which we share with those who prove their readiness for the experience.

We do not give our pearls to the unprepared thought. We do not teach the deepest and most sacred part of our work, except to those who have given indication that their desire is for a life of the Spirit. Those who have shown to us that they too desire to live a life tabernacling with God, living by the grace of God. Not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God within.

And so you come to the great mystery, and that is this: when you have this Spirit of God consciously alive in you, you have the substance, the law, and the activity of all form. And you will find that this recognition, this realization of the presence and the power of God within you will appear outwardly as every form of activity, every form of supply, every form of health, every form of infinite good that you could possibly dream of, and far beyond your ability even to dream.

One need not desire health, just desire to know the Father within you. Close the eyes and rest in the assurance of My presence: “For I will never leave thee nor forsake thee; I will be with thee unto the end of the world; whithersoever thou goest I will go—whether it is up to heaven or down to hell, or through the valley of the shadow of death; fear not, fear not, it is I—I here in the midst of you.”