Conversion

SUN., JULY 7, 1991, 6:04 AM
FARM, STUDY

An opportunity lies ahead. From My perspective it is your best of the summer season. At Synod School you shall lead the worship service and shall preach the evening sermon on the first full day of the School. I knew you would seek My help with this task, so I’ve decided to volunteer a bit early. You should be giving this assignment some thought now, and these Teachings shall insure that you do.

You shall, of course, use your three Scriptural passages, for they are important ones in your conversion. But first, what is conversion? It is the change from being an unconscious child of God to being a conscious child, growing toward a mature relationship with Me. It is birth from one form of human into another. This can be a rather slow process or one that happens with explosive suddenness.

Your conversion was a rather slow process, the details of which you do not remember with accuracy. After all these years… for it did commence in your thirties… the process continues, even as your consciousness of Me and My choice of you are both rather clear to you. You just still have a bit too much of your humanistic self still evident… still too much of the sense that you have to be responsible for your life and your future and too little of the trust that I hold you in the hollow of My hand, the safest place to be.

The passage from Ecclesiastes says that your conversion thinking must be both/and. There is a time for… and a time for… In years past I have given you insights on the varying natures of these times, and it will be important for you to reread these Teachings and that Ruminations. Conversion means that time becomes a less serious factor in your life because you know that the life of the spirit is timeless, and what appears to be is not necessarily so. Yours is not yet a time to heal, and though you wish it were you know you must live this time of pain as positively as possible.

The passage from John is My promise, as Jesus, of Myself, the Holy Spirit. I am the Comforter. I am the Teacher, the One Who helps you understand what life is and what it could be. You are never alone, for I am with you. The conversion experience is one of taking My extended hand and being in relationship with Me. This doesn’t mean that you never stray or sin. It does mean that My grace is the supreme reality, and you always turn back to Me. I am Ultimate Other, and I am an integral part of your spirit. I am around and about you, and I am the One Who directs you from within. And I also tell you that I want you to be who you are, rather than some automaton of Mine.

You did not choose Me, but I chose you. Worry not about those who appear not to be chosen or who can’t seem to respond to being chosen. You have been chosen to offer this sermon. You don’t know why, and you didn’t so inquire. You just accepted the call, with eagerness. You were named Teacher of the Year, and you didn’t try to find out why you were so designated. You just accepted the honor, in proud humility, as I directed.

Life, for you now, is much a matter of responding to opportunities, many of which I send your way. You know that there will be a time, as your life goes on, when opportunities will cease to come as they are now. This could be disconcerting, but it need not be. Rather, you can just enjoy the recollections of the past and be aware of even small chances to offer service.