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Ascending
© 1997 - Carolyn Odom Burleson, Ph.D.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. Genesis 2:1

God's Will is Done

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God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2: 1-3

Though we cannot know the totality of it, there are several conclusions we can draw from Scripture that give clues to understanding the Will of God:

In order to gain insight into this we must follow the instructions of The Master Jesus and look beyond the appearances to what is real.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:2

To begin to discover what God's will for us is, let us go all the way back to the beginning. In Genesis the first chapter we find God busy preparing a place for us. Let us take a look in on this scene and see what God is up to.  


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On the First Day God created heaven & earth, and day & night (a unity of opposites which exists throughout all creation).

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day. - Genesis 1: 1-5

Light is wisdom; and the first day's work is the calling of light or wisdom into expression. Light represents intelligence, and darkness represents undeveloped capacity. Symbolically these are "day" and "night." - Charles Fillmore, Mysteries of Genesis P.14

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On the Second Day God created the firmament, the expanse of sky, to separate the waters above (aspiration) from the waters below (desire).

And God said, "Let there be an expanse [firmament] between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day. - Genesis 1: 6-8

The second step in creation is the development of faith or the "firmament." The "waters" represent the unestablished elements of the mind. ...unexpressed possibilities in mind. There must be a "firm" starting point or foundation established. This foundation or "firmament" is faith "moving upon" the unformed capacities of Spirit consciousness. The divine Logos--God as creative power--gives forth the edict "Let there be a firmament." The first step or "day" in creation involves "light" or understanding, and the second step, faith in the knowing quality of mind. Mysteries of Genesis P.16 -17

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On the Third Day God divided the waters below into dry land and seas (the mineral kingdom) as a provision for the growth of the vegetable kingdom. And the land produced vegetation in bountiful supply, all with the means of reproducing and continuing the creation process.

And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.
- Genesis 1: 9-13

The third step in creation is the beginning of the formative activity of the mind called imagination. This gathers "the waters . . . together unto one place" so that the "dry land" appears. Then the imagination begins a great multiplication of forms and shapes in the mind. Mysteries of Genesis P.18

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On the Fourth Day God created the sun (the greater light) the moon (the lesser light) and the stars . Thus was provided a source of Light and energy. All of this in preparation for what is to come next.

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day. - Genesis 1: 14-19

The fourth step in creation is the development of the "two great lights," the will and the understanding, or the sun (the spiritual I AM) and the moon (the intellect). These are but reflectors of the true light; for God had said, "Let there be light: and there was light"--before the sun and the moon were created. The "firmament of heaven" is the consciousness of Truth that has been formulated and established. Mysteries of Genesis P.19

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On the Fifth Day the animal kingdom emerges as God calls forth the creatures of the sea and sky to feed upon the provisions of the sea and land. They too are blessed with all that is necessary to perpetuate creation as God commands them to be fruitful and multiply.

And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day. - Genesis 1: 20-23

The fifth step in creation is the bringing forth of sensation and discrimination. The "creatures" are thoughts. The "birds . . . in the open firmament of heaven" are ideas approaching spiritual understanding.

"Water" represents the unformed substance of life, always present as a fecundating element in which ideas ("living creatures") increase and multiply, just as the earth produces a crop when sown with seed. The "birds" represent the liberated thoughts or ideas of mind (heavens). Mysteries of Genesis P.22

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On the Sixth Day we see calling forth the creatures of the land to further develop the animal kingdom.

And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1: 24-25

On the sixth day of creation ideas of life are set into activity. "Cattle" represent ideas of strength established in substance. "Creeping things" represent ideas of life that are more subtle in their expression, approaching closer to the realm of sense. They are the micro-organisms. The "beasts" stand for the free energies of life that relate themselves to sensation. Divine ideas are always instantly set into activity: "and it was so." Mysteries of Genesis P.24

Having created all of these things as a provision for God's final creation, the human kingdom is then formed in God's own image and likeness. This spiritual being (which is what we really are) was then given dominion over the three worlds of activity. We were told to rule over the fish of the sea (water element - our emotions) - the foul of the air ( air element - our thoughts) - and everything that moved upon the earth (earth element - our body). We were given dominion over the activity of life, but not over life itself. We were not given dominion over the fire element (spirit). That is God's domain.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Genesis 1: 26-28

God poured out His love into preparing this magnificent place for us. It was created as a place of goodness, bountifully supplied, perfectly balanced and having all the necessary ingredients to perpetuate itself. God created the laws of the Spiritual Universe and the laws of Nature to keep our world operating in Divine Order. Then God created man/woman and left us in charge.

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground -- everything that has the breath of life in it -- I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day - Genesis 1: 29-31

The man that God created in His own image and likeness and pronounced good and very good is spiritual man. This man is the direct offspring of Divine Mind, God's idea of perfect man. This is the only-begotten Son, the Christ, the Lord God, the Jehovah, the I AM. In the 2d chapter this Jehovah or divine idea of perfect man forms the manifest man and calls his name Adam. Mysteries of Genesis - P.12

God took a good look at all that had been created and declared it good and very good. And on the Seventh Day God rested.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2: 1-3

God's Will is already done.


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From Genesis Chapter one we learn that God's will for us is

And we know that all these things have been declared good and very good according to God's perfect will. However, as we look out at the world that we have made, we often see things and situations that do not appear so good , things and people that we do not accept, things and people that appear far from what we would consider perfect. And we ask ourselves, "What happened?"

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This creative mind of ours is free to create whatever we decide.

Somewhere along the line man decreed his ego into power and others bought into it. So now we have egos trying to exert dominion over what only can be controlled by spirit resulting in the appearance of an insane world. There must be a change in our way of thinking and operating in the world. We must reinstate our mind to the condition and position that is was in when it was new, i.e. good, perfect and acceptable according to God's Will. We need to do this in order to prove that the appearance of things which are not good, which are imperfect and unacceptable are not the things that are in truth. The fact that they are appearances means that they can change as we decide. They are illusions created by the ego when we moved away from our realm of dominion and tried to let the ego usurp God's realm. What an insane notion! How, then do we correct this mistake?

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

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We can get a greater understanding of God's Will for us by listening to and obeying the Holy Spirit, which is God communicating with us in a Still Small Voice. You may ask then, "How do I know whether it is the Voice of Spirit or the voice of the ego?" Well, here are a couple of clues:

The ego is a false prophet. It predicts that things will result in good, but the outcome is totally different. The ego seeks to divide, separate and possess. The logical outcome of the ego's reasoning leads to utter confusion. The Holy Spirit seeks to unify and heal. It's reasoning leads us to align us to God's Will, hence to peace. Test your own feelings when trying to make a decision. Do not act on a thought until you experience a peace within yourself. If you are uncertain, you are hearing the voice of the ego. Holy Spirit speaks in a gentle whisper, but with a certainty, a blessed assurance.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

We know that all things work together for good because God created all things good. His Will is already established from the beginning. So we must not judge by appearance. They are affected by what we made and by what we know (which is very limited). We do know that God did not create fear, conflict, disease or limitation. Therefore they are not real. They give a very real appearance but they have no power to sustain themselves aside from the power that we give them in our lives.

To see the perfect will of God working for good in all things requires that we see the total picture. This we cannot see with finite vision. We cannot feel it with our emotions. We cannot reason it with our intellect.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ." - 1st Corinthians 2: 10-16

But with the Spirit of God within us we can rightly direct the realm over which we were given charge. We can align ourselves with the good perfect acceptable Will of God which was established before the world was even made.

The Spirit knows that God's Will is already done.

© 1997 - Carolyn Odom Burleson, Ph.D.


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