Lesson 123
I thank my Father for His gifts to me.
1. Today let us be thankful. ²We have come to gentler pathways and to smoother roads. ³There is no thought of turning back, and no implacable resistance to the truth. ⁴A bit of wavering remains, some small objections and a little hesitance, but you can well be grateful for your gains, which are far greater than you realize.
It is good to pause long enough to recognize that we have indeed made progress. The ego is quick to point out the errors and call them sins, or to self inflate in its arrogance at whatever we have accomplished. But let us just be honest. We have made progress, real progress, and let us not disregard it just because it is not complete.
2. A day devoted now to gratitude will add the benefit of some insight into the real extent of all the gains which you have made; the gifts you have received. ²Be glad today, in loving thankfulness, your Father has not left you to yourself, nor let you wander in the dark alone. ³Be grateful He has saved you from the self you thought you made to take the place of Him and His creation. ⁴Give Him thanks today.
Jesus is asking us to devote today to gratitude for what we have gained and for the Creator who loves us so. He has not turned His back on us. He has not left us alone in the dark world of our thoughts. We made a self to take the place of His creation and yet, He did not blame us or punish us. He simply saved us from this false self. We will give thanks today.
3. Give thanks that He has not abandoned you, and that His Love forever will remain shining on you, forever without change. ²Give thanks as well that you are changeless, for the Son He loves is changeless as Himself. ³Be grateful you are saved. ⁴Be glad you have a function in salvation to fulfill. ⁵Be thankful that your value far transcends your meager gifts and petty judgments of the one whom God established as His Son.
God created us like Himself in every way. He gave all of Himself to us in our creation and He established that nothing can change this. No matter what we have tried to do in making a different self, we remain the perfect creation we were made to be. We are His Son forever. May we be grateful today for What We are and What We will remain to be for all of eternity. May we be grateful for our Creator Who made this so.
4. Today in gratitude we lift our hearts above despair, and raise our thankful eyes, no longer looking downward to the dust. ²We sing the song of thankfulness today, in honor of the Self that God has willed to be our true Identity in Him. ³Today we smile on everyone we see, and walk with lightened footsteps as we go to do what is appointed us to do.
I am singing a song of gratitude today and I am joyful as I do so. God created me like Himself and assured this could never change. How could I be anything but grateful? My gratitude goes before me like a beacon light to others showing them the way to joy and to peace. I am saved from my own foolish desire for separation and specialness and my salvation is everyone’s salvation.
5. We do not go alone. ²And we give thanks that in our solitude a Friend has come to speak the saving Word of God to us. ³And thanks to you for listening to Him. ⁴His Word is soundless if it be not heard. ⁵In thanking Him the thanks are yours as well. ⁶An unheard message will not save the world, however mighty be the Voice that speaks, however loving may the message be.
My Friend, the Holy Spirit, speaks to me all through the day, bringing me comfort and guidance and joy. I am so very grateful for this Voice. He is grateful to me, too, for listening. His Voice would not save if it was not heard. It is funny to me to think of my Friend being grateful to me for listening but I do understand. I hear and I believe and my belief is shared with others and so through me, He is heard again and again.
6. Thanks be to you who heard, for you become the messenger who brings His Voice with you, and lets It echo round and round the world. ²Receive the thanks of God today, as you give thanks to Him. ³For He would offer you the thanks you give, since He receives your gifts in loving gratitude, and gives them back a thousand and a hundred thousand more than they were given. ⁴He will bless your gifts by sharing them with you. ⁵And so they grow in power and in strength, until they fill the world with gladness and with gratitude.
Not only am I listening to His Voice and sharing it with others, but this sharing also gives it back to me strengthened. Jesus these gifts given to me and shared by me come back a thousand and a hundred thousand more than they were given. In fact, he says that …they grow in power and in strength, until they fill the world with gladness and with gratitude. Can you imagine?!
7. Receive His thanks and offer yours to Him for fifteen minutes twice today. ²And you will realize to Whom you offer thanks, and Whom He thanks as you are thanking Him. ³This holy half an hour given Him will be returned to you in terms of years for every second; power to save the world eons more quickly for your thanks to Him.
8. Receive His thanks, and you will understand how lovingly He holds you in His Mind, how deep and limitless His care for you, how perfect is His gratitude to you. ²Remember hourly to think of Him, and give Him thanks for everything He gave His Son, that he might rise above the world, remembering his Father and his Self.
These last two paragraphs fill my heart with gratitude and love and it overflows onto everyone who is ready for it. There is no way to know how many are affected by this love and gratitude. It makes me cry in thankfulness to even think about it.