The Revealing Word, by Charles Fillmore, [1959], at sacred-texts.com
The Revealing Word, by Charles Fillmore, [1959], at sacred-texts.com
garden--The spiritual body in which man dwells when he brings forth thoughts after the pattern of original divine ideas. This "garden" is the substance of God.
Garden of Eden--Represents a region of Being in which are provided all primal ideas for the production of the beautiful; the elemental life and intelligence placed at the disposal of man, through which he is to evolve.
Man's body temple is the outer expression of the Garden of Eden. God gave it to man "to dress it and to keep it." (see Gen. 2:15) Man's primary work in the earthly consciousness is to use his creative power to preserve harmony and order in his world and to conserve his powers for divine direction. (see Eden, Garden of)
garment--The radiation or aura that surrounds the body.
garment, Jesus' seamless--The indivisible garment that Jesus wore next to His body. It was a thought garment woven without a break of His high realizations of Truth. These realizations of Truth not only infolded Him but firmly interlaced the substance of both His spiritual and body consciousness.
gate, narrow--The spiritual mind, which requires absolute conformity to Truth and measures all things by the gauge of Truth. The way is "straitened" because it requires only Truth to be recognized, and it rules out untruth or evil.
gate, wide--The easy, negative way by which men conform to sense consciousness and the pleasures of the world, with the result that their mind-muscle becomes soft and flabby. When trials come men find that they are not able to cope with them.
gates, twelve--The twelve faculties of mind. Before these faculties become avenues through which we enter into
the city of God, they must be purified according to the standards of Spirit.
Gehenna--Represents the cleansing fire of Spirit, which consumes all the dross of sense and materiality. (see hell)
generation--Procreation. The law of generation is undoubtedly the mystery of mysteries in human consciousness. Men have probed, with more or less success, all the secrets of nature, but of the origin of life they know comparatively nothing. It is only when the inquiring mind transcends the human and rises into the spiritual realm that light comes.
generic--"Pertaining to, or having the rank of, a genus" (Webster). Family; kind. Adam was generic man, the whole human race epitomized in an individual man idea. "Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind" (Gen. 1:11).
Genesis--Source or origin. The first of the "five books of Moses," giving an account of creation from a metaphysical viewpoint.
genius--One who lets Spirit within him speak out, regardless of how different the utterances may be from those of persons who pose as authorities. He has absolute faith in his spiritual revelations and fearlessly proclaims them. He is a pioneer and a leader. He listens to his own inner voice and has faith in his God-given ability.
ghosts--Thoughts objectified. They are nothing except mind projections.
giants--The Philistines and all the other giants of the Promised Land represent the untrained or undeveloped states of mind in the subconsciousness that Truth is to subdue and to discipline. When they become obedient to the law of Being they will be man's servants, gladly doing his bidding.
gift--"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights" (James
1:17). God's greatest gift to man is the power of thought, through which he can incorporate into his consciousness the Mind of God.
gift, spiritual--The manifestation of Spirit in each of the members of the Christ body according to each man's receptivity; giving to each member a particular work in the redemption of the individual.
gifts, of the Magi--Offerings of love to the Christ; inner resources open to the Christ Mind.
giving, and receiving--It is necessary to give freely if we are to receive freely. The law of receiving includes giving. The knowledge that substance is omnipresent and that man cannot, therefore, impoverish himself by giving (but rather will increase his supply) will enable man to give freely and cheerfully. "Freely ye received, freely give" (Matt. 10:8).
glorify--To magnify with praise; to enhance with spiritual splendor; to adorn. Glorification is the highest spiritual state of consciousness attainable by man.
glory--Realization of divine unity; the blending and merging of man's mind with God-Mind.
goat--Metaphysically, the goat symbolizes resistance and opposition. It is a phase of personality. We resist Spirit on one hand and we resist fellow men on the other. Resistance to the Lord is to be killed out entirely, and resistance to our fellowmen is to be sent into the wilderness (denied a place in consciousness).
God--The almighty One; the Creator; the ruler of the universe; the Infinite; the Eternal. God is not person but Principle. He is the underlying, unchangeable Truth "with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning" (James 1:17). God as principle is absolute good expressed in all creation. When men know God and worship Him "in spirit and truth" (John 4:24), they recognize Him as this great goodness, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. "Blessed be . . . God . . . the
Father of mercies and God of all comfort" (II Cor. 1:3)
God is personal to us when we recognize Him within us as our indwelling life, intelligence, love, and power. There is a difference between a personal God and God personal to us. Since the word personal sometimes leads to misunderstanding, it would probably be better to speak of God individualized in man rather than of God personal to man.
When we identify ourselves with Him as our indwelling Father, He seems to us to be personal; however, it is not in a personal sense, but in the universal identification of ourselves with Him that we come into the God consciousness. The personal is limited. The universal, or God consciousness, is unlimited.
God is that from which all love springs. His character is taught in the name Father, representing the love, protection, and providing care of God for man, His offspring. He is life and love and wisdom and power and strength and substance.
We do not see God with our physical eyes except as He manifests Himself through His works. His attributes are, therefore, brought into expression by man, who is His son and who is like Him in essence. If we would make of ourselves channels through which He can come forth into expression and manifestation, we must endeavor to raise our thought and feeling to God's level.
God, accessibility of--God is approachable, available, and usable to all who draw nigh unto Him. God is Spirit, the principle of intelligence and life, everywhere present at all times. He is, forever, as accessible as a principle of mathematics or music. "The Father abiding in me" (John 14:10).
God as health--God is absolute wholeness and perfection. Man's recognition of his oneness with this perfect wholeness through Christ brings him into the consciousness of his indwelling life and health. "I in them, and
thou in me, that they may be perfected into one" (John 17:23).
God as law--Principle in action.
God as lawgiver--The law of God in action is the Holy Spirit; in that action He appears as having individuality. When prophets and mystics come into conscious mental touch with this executive lawgiver, He uses them as mouthpieces by which He guides and directs His people.
God as life--God as life is made manifest in the living. Life cannot be analyzed by the senses. It is beyond their grasp; hence, it must be cognized by the higher consciousness.
God as mind--The connecting link between God and man. God-Mind embraces all knowledge, wisdom, and understanding and is the source of every manifestation of true knowledge and intelligence. God as principle cannot be comprehended by any of the senses. But the mind of man is limitless, and through it he may come into touch with Divine Mind. The one Mind is a unit and cannot be divided. The individual mind is a state of consciousness in the one Mind.
God as principle--The unchangeable life, love, substance, and intelligence of Being. Principle does not occupy space; neither has it any limitations of time or matter, but it eternally exists as the one underlying cause out of which come forth all true ideas.
God as Spirit--God is Spirit, and Spirit is located and appears wherever it is recognized by an intelligent entity. It thus follows that whoever gives his attention to Spirit and seals his identification with it by His word, starts a flow of Spirit life and all the attributes of Spirit in and through his consciousness. To the extent that man practices identifying himself with the one and only source of existence, he becomes Spirit, until finally the union attains a perfection in which he can say with Jesus, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).
God as substance--This does not mean matter, because matter is formed while God is the formless. The substance that God is lies back of all matter and all forms. It is that which is the basis of all form yet enters not into any form as finality. It cannot be seen, tasted, or touched. Yet it is the only enduring substance in the universe.
God as Truth--The eternal verity of the universe and man.
God, centered in--To have the attention focused on spiritual ideas and ideals.
God, creative process of--Christianity describes God as Spirit, creating by a process comparable to the mental processes, with which we are all familiar. First, mind, then the idea (word) in mind of what the act shall be, then the act itself. God planned man and the universe, and through the expression of His word projected them into creation, as ideal principles and imminent energies acting behind and within all visibility. The creative processes of Divine Mind are continuously operative; creation is going on all the time, but the over-all plan, the design in Divine Mind, is finished.
God's creations are always spiritual. This includes spiritual man (God-man) through whom all things, including personal man (Adam man) are brought into manifestation. Spiritual man is the acme or pinnacle of God's creation--the image and likeness of God. "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased" (Mark 1:11).
God, demonstrating--To demonstrate God means to make His Spirit manifest in one's life.
God immanent--This refers to the all-pervading and indwelling presence of God, the life and intelligence permeating the universe. Jesus lovingly revealed that the Father is within man, forever resident in the invisible side of man's nature. Paul also set forth this truth when he
wrote of "one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all" (Eph. 4:6).
God, jealous--God is not jealous as men count jealousy, but He is jealous of principle, from which no lapses are tolerated. Man's failure to observe divine law causes it to react on him.
God-man--The man that God created in His image and likeness, and present within all men.
God manifest--God manifest is really greater than God principle; the man who has demonstrated the God character is greater than the untried man. Jesus proclaimed, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). He had all the possibilities of Principle and, in addition, He demonstrated a large degree of its possibilities. In this respect, Jesus is the great Way-Shower and helper for all men.
God presence, unity with--To make oneself conscious of the presence of God, one must consistently affirm oneness with this presence. Say: "I have faith in God; I have faith in Spirit; I have faith in things invisible. I am one with God."
God, reconciliation with--To be reconciled with God means to be willing that His will be done; that is, that limitations, personality, ignorance shall give way so that the perfection and righteousness of Divine Mind may be expressed. Reconciliation takes place by man's surrender of an adverse will and an acceptance of that "mind . . . which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5).
God, responsibility to--Truth is implanted in us by divine intelligence. To the degree that we awaken to the consciousness of the inherent wisdom, to this degree are we responsible to the Father and required to render unto Him the fruitage of our wisdom. Each of us unfolds according to understanding and realization. Whether our understanding is little or great, we must demonstrate the Truth we know. If our understanding is much, much is required of us.
"God said"--The same as "Mind thought," by which all things were brought forth. (see 1st chapter of Genesis)
God transcendent--This suggests God as above and beyond His creation. That God is remote from the practical affairs of man or from man's own experience is a false belief. God (perfection) is not out of reach of His offspring; neither is He something beyond and above man. Tennyson tells us that "closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet."
God, will of--God's will is always perfection and all good for all His children; perfect health in mind and body; abundance of every good thing including joy, peace, wisdom, and eternal life. He does not will suffering or imperfection in any form.
The belief that God wills both good and evil is false; the truth is that God is all good and only good can come to man from Him. If man experiences error and inharmony, he brings them upon himself by his failure to harmonize his thoughts, words, and acts with the Lord, or divine law.
God's name--God's name represents wholeness. It is holy, perfect. God is everywhere present. When we think of God as being anything less than that which is perfect and whole, we are taking His name in vain. "Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain" (Exod. 20:7).
gold--Metaphysically, gold represents spiritual gifts; the riches of Spirit. The gold that the Wise Men brought to the Christ child was a consciousness of the omnipresent richness of substance. To follow Jesus in the demonstration of prosperity, we must charge our mind with wise and rich ideas.
golden candlesticks--Receptacles of spiritual light.
golden scepter--A rod; symbol of wisdom held out when the king (the will) is willing to listen to reason.
Golgotha--"The place of a skull" (Matt. 27:33). The skull is the place where the intellect is crossed out, so that Spirit may win eternal ascendancy. Jesus (the intellectual) was crucified at "The place of a skull," so that Christ (Truth) might become all in all.
good, the--The Absolute; the incomparable; that which is godly in its character. God is omnipresent All-Good. "Why callest thou me good? none is good save one, even God" (Mark 10:18).
good and evil states of consciousness--Good and evil states of consciousness form the heavens and the hells of the race. We go in mind to heaven or hell every time we mentally project thoughts that "chord" with that particular state. When we establish an enduring consciousness of good, evil disappears as darkness before light.
goodness, reward of--There is always a saving grace in divine goodness; and if we have ever done a kind act, it has been preserved in the careful records of memory and will come forth when we most need it.
gospel--An Anglo-Saxon word derived from God (good) and spell (story, tidings). It is now universally identified with Jesus' mission and the doctrine that has grown out of it--that system of religious beliefs centered about the teachings of Jesus.
The gospel of Jesus is that every man can become God incarnate. It is not alone a gospel of right living, but also shows the way into dominion and power equal to and surpassing that of Jesus of Nazareth. "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father" (John 14:12).
grace--Good will; favor; disposition to show mercy; aid from God in the process of regeneration. "By grace have ye been saved" (Eph. 2:5).
"Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17); that is, the real saving, redeeming, transforming
power came to man through the work that Jesus did in establishing for the race a new and higher consciousness in the earth. We can enter into this consciousness by faith in Him and by means of the inner spirit of the law that He taught and practiced.
gratitude--Gratitude and thanksgiving are both necessary in demonstrating prosperity through divine law. Be grateful to God and thankful to the friends whom He uses to supply you.
All metaphysicians have found by experience that being thankful for what they have increases the inflow. Gratitude is a great mind magnet, and when it is expressed from the spiritual standpoint it is powerfully augmented. The saying of grace at the table has its origin in this idea of the power of increase through giving thanks.
graven image--Idol. We set up a graven image when we image God as a material form or location in substance. (see image)
gravitation--The love force in nature; the power of attraction among physical bodies.
greatest in God's kingdom--When Jesus washed the feet of His apostles He brought home to His followers that he who willingly performs lowly, humble service for others, with no thought of personal distinction, is greatest in God's kingdom.
greed, freedom from--A result of the habit of tithing, which establishes a consciousness of giving and keeps one's mental channel free from material selfishness.
Greek--Metaphysically, a term for intellectual reasoning. In Acts 11:20-24, the truth regarding the new teaching of Jesus is beginning to reach the old reasoning of the intellect, and the wall of old ideas is being broken down.
ground, holy--Substance in its spiritual wholeness, or the idea of substance in Divine Mind. When we realize
this idea we let go of all limitation and are conscious only of the Absolute.
growth--Increase by assimilation of new substance; multiplication. We grow by incorporating spiritual substance into our consciousness. The law of growth is in beholding. When we behold the body as anything other than its divine idea, we hold it there (in error, sin, discord). To behold ourselves free from these keeps us manifesting freedom.
growth, spiritual--The increase of God in man. All growth is first in mind and depends on the standards we are holding in mind. A high spiritual standard has lifting power. All growth and unfoldment are based on the law. What we earnestly desire and persistently affirm will be ours if we "faint not" (Gal. 6:9).
guidance, spiritual--The impressions that come from the Spirit of truth within man.