39th Day of Lent - “My God, My God, This was my Destiny.”

“As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us.” (John 17:21) During this Lenten Season, we have walked with Jesus as he showed us, through the major events of his life, how to become One with the Father (our I AM PRESENCE). Initiation means an ever-increasing attunement to the higher levels of consciousness … to the One Truth in all its unfathomable magnitude. Initiation is the realization of how much we do not know and the encouragement to seek more Truth without ceasing. Once we recognize this fact, we are freed to search and find … to embark on the most exciting journey possible!nnOur spiritual evolution is not as straightforward as Jesus’ example because we tend to take two steps forward and one backwards, plus the first 3 Initiations tend to blend together as we accomplish them. Prior to Jesus revealing the initiatory process to the general public—so we can all engage in it—the ancient rites took place in secret. Those students studying for initiation lived in the temples and were not subject to the many distractions that we experience in the work-a-day world. Even today, many monasteries and convents exist—allowing those who so choose to live out their lives in protected environments. nnToday, those of us making the spiritual journey are in a unique position for two reasons. First, we learn about and participate in the initiatory process while living in the world and being faced with a multitude of temptations that can be extremely subtle. Living within this confusing environment, where discernment between truth and non-truth is vital, we learn to fine-tune our intuitive powers. We learn to claim our own inner God-power and to use it positively.nnSecond, those of us living on Earth today have the opportunity to complete the 5th Initiation of Ascension into higher realms of consciousness without shedding our physical bodies. Our entire planet and solar system is ascending. This fact is a part of the One Truth only recently revealed to the public. Heretofore, we have thought in terms of Earth being the entirety of God’s world and have not known how to integrate the rest of the cosmos into God’s Divine Plan. Just one example of how much we do not know. Humankind is destined to achieve “full consciousness” during this present lifetime and within our physical bodies—if we so choose. No one, not even God, can lawfully interfere with the gift of freewill our Creator bestowed upon us. Freewill is cosmic law. nnIt is within this unique setting that we consider the 4th Initiation—the Crucifixion. As we have seen throughout this 40 day Lenten journey, Jesus lived to fulfill his mission … he spoke the words of his Father and did the works of his Father. Jesus consciously intended to be the vehicle through which the Father could speak and work. Any time someone attempted to give him credit, he deflected the attention away from himself and toward the Father. Jesus emptied his personality self so that the Father could become visible through him. nn“Then Jesus cried aloud: ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.” (John 12:44-46)nnLikewise, we are to empty ourselves. This is the meaning of the Crucifixion Initiation—to crucify the lower self so that we can resurrect and ascend into a Christed being. (See the 32nd – 33rd Days of Lent Devotional for information on the Christed being.) We crucify the lower self not by mistreating the Temple of God—our physical body, but by re-creating it into a sanctuary of Light and Love through the Transfiguration Initiation. The same is true of our emotional and lower (intellectual) mental bodies. We transform our emotions and thoughts into vehicles through which God can speak unconditional love for all humankind, through which God can create avenues of loving service to all peoples.nnWe crucify the lower self through the spoken fiat “THY WILL, NOT MINE, BE DONE!” and by living a life in accordance with that fiat. We must BE THE WILL OF GOD IN DAILY EXPRESSION. nnA lot has been made of Jesus’ words on the cross, especially when he cried out: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” This is an error in translation, as we can see in Lamsa’s translation of the language Jesus spoke—Aramaic. Jesus never felt forsaken by God. That was impossible for Jesus to experience and is impossible for us to experience. God cannot forsake Jesus or us because God dwells within us—there is no separation between us and God. We may “feel” forsaken at times, but that is symptomatic of our own misinformed level of conscious awareness of our indwelling God—our I AM PRESENCE. We can never be forsaken or separated from God.nnWe are a part of God.nnThe correct translation of the Aramaic is: “My God, my God, this was my destiny.” (Matthew 27:46) This statement is essential to the Initiatory process. nnIn the words of Jesus: “He who wishes to follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 16: 24-25)nnEach of us incarnated with a soul mission—a destiny to assist in restoring Earth back to its original status as the Garden of Eden … to help in lifting our planetary consciousness into the higher realms of awareness. Like Jesus, we must complete this destiny … we must take up our cross and follow him. The Crucifixion Initiation goes hand in hand with fulfilling our destiny. nn“When Jesus drank the vinegar, he said, ‘It is fulfilled’; (Lamsa, from the Aramaic) and he bowed his head and gave up the spirit.” (John 19:30) Jesus fulfilled his destiny. We are to fulfill ours. nnWhat is your destiny? If you have followed your dreams, then you are in the process of fulfilling your destiny. We can know the mission of our soul by listening to the deepest longings of our being. Jesus knew and spoke of his destiny throughout his ministry. If we are listening to our I AM PRESENCE, we know our destiny too.