Infinite Way Letter

January 1956

By Joel Goldsmith

Part 2 of 7

WITHINNESS

Your good does not come to you—your good is the reflex action of the spiritual Presence. By way of illustration: suppose, in some miraculous manner, I could bring God Himself right here beside me as I speak to you. Would you not immediately say: “Lucky fellow! Your problems are over. You have God, and with God all things are possible. You have that which multiplies the loaves and fishes; that which is the healer, the resurrection. You have life eternal. You have God, what more can you have?” And you would be absolutely right! If I can become quiet and still within until I feel the divine spiritual impulse as an actual reality, a Presence and Power within me, then I am indeed a lucky fellow. From that time on nothing of a negative nature can happen to me, because the presence of God is annihilation to even a suspicion of a belief of a selfhood apart from God. This is the secret of the entire message of The Infinite Way, but each student must achieve for himself this realization of the actual presence of God, and henceforth let good unfold from within his own being.

We have no need to demonstrate supply, companionship, home, employment, or anything else on the face of the globe. We have but one demonstration to make, and that is the conscious awareness or “feeling” of oneness or union with God. This is not an easy matter, but it can be accomplished by each one of you, even if, in the beginning, it may seem to be only a tiny degree of awareness. However, as you continue in the practice, the degree of God consciousness increases and becomes greater, more assured and sustained, until undoubtedly the day will come when you can be like unto the Master who always maintained conscious union with the Father within. If you will remember, the Master did not have to turn the stones into bread: He just waited, and let the Father perform whatever miracles were necessary.

Many, many times in the writings and recordings of the message of The Infinite Way, you will read and hear these scriptural truths: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee”; “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”; “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” If you abide in the Word of God, and let this Word abide in you, you will be as a branch that is one with the Vine, that is one with the Godhead, and you will bear much fruit. As you continue to dwell “in the secret place of the most High,” you will find that it is not a matter of God’s doing something for you—it is a matter of maintaining conscious oneness with God, keeping your mind stayed on God, acknowledging God in all your ways, abiding in the Word and letting the Word abide in you.

In actual practice, this means awakening each morning and veritably bringing the presence of God right into the room with you in the realization that “This is the day the Lord hath made.” Instead of bringing to consciousness your problems, sins, and inharmonies, bring God into your awareness in the realization that God is with you throughout the day. You can face any problem or task in the realization that you do not face it alone, “For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me.”  God is your supply, forgiveness, life, love Emmanuel—God with us—is that which enables you to be, to do, to prosper. Consciously realize that God’s presence goes before you, and when going about your affairs consciously know that the Christ is greeting you through every individual encountered.Acknowledge Him in all thy ways and you will be obeying Paul’s injunction to “pray without ceasing.” In God you will have a friend, a big brother, the Father within; and you will come into the realization, as did Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

As you persist in the practice of the Presence you are carried along by its beauty and harmony, and a day will dawn when “you” no longer exist. Then there will be no need to think about God—there will be only God functioning as your individual being, thinking, being, knowing, living through you. And then it is literally true: “… I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God….”

As you behold these unfolding glories you may be inclined to wonder what you have done to deserve such blessings. You have done nothing. God’s grace never is bestowed upon the human being, but upon the spiritual being which is revealed when the limited, finite, human self has been dissolved. When we let God through in order that He may function as our being, we are no longer human beings. When we no longer hold the splendors of love and trust and faith imprisoned in reserve; when we cease to condemn and find fault with the people of the world, but meet them in a spontaneous feeling of love and joy; when we have learned to forgive the offenses that are aimed at us personally, religiously, racially, nationally; when we acknowledge that the world is returning exactly what we send out to it—then it is that we are children of God.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you… For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Romans 8:9, 14

End Part 2