Neville 12-02-1968
GOD’S ALMIGHTY POWER
God’s almighty power and wisdom expresses itself most characteristically in the acceptance of what the
world calls weakness or foolishness.
Matthew tells the story of one who – Knowing himself to be the personification of God’s creative power and
wisdom – questions himself, saying: “If you are the Son of God, turn this stone into bread.” (Matthew 4) Then
he quoted the 8th chapter of Deuteronomy, saying: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ “Here we discover that his hunger is no longer for bread
made with flour, but for the hearing of the word of God, with understanding. The conflict recorded in this
chapter is taking place in the mind of the individual, although it appears to be happening on the outside.
Standing on the pinnacle, his adversary quoted the 91st Psalm, saying: “If you are the Son of God cast
yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will give his angels power to lift you up lest you dash your foot
against a stone.’” Then, quoting the 6th chapter of Deuteronomy, he replied: “It is written, ‘You shall not tempt
the Lord your God.’ “
In the third and final temptation he is shown all of the kingdoms of the earth and their glory, when the
adversary said: “All of these are yours if you will bend down and worship me.” Again, quoting the 6th chapter
of Deuteronomy, he replies: “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you
serve.’ “Then the adversary departs, and the great ministry begins. Who is the Lord your God, that you
should worship and serve? Your own wonderful human imagination, he who is one with the God who created
the world. The richest definition of God given to us in scripture is: the Father of the Lord our God. I
discovered I was God’s son by experiencing scripture, but the son and God the Father are one!
Both the Father and the Son are defined as power, with wisdom added to the Son. In the Book of Mark, the
high priest asked: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” and he replied, “I am, and you shall see the
Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power.” Power is capitalized in this passage, as it is the name given to
God. In the Book of Luke, he is first called the Blessed, then Power, I am called the wisdom of God.
Matthew tells of one who knows God has unfolded within him, and all of the characteristics of God as
belonging to him – but he is puzzled and puts himself to the test. Scripture tells the story as though another
being appears; but when God unveils himself, you question yourself, saying: if this is true, I should be able to
do anything, for all things are possible to God. But I must not tempt the Lord. The only way is to trust him.
So again let me repeat: God’s almighty power and wisdom expresses itself most characteristically in the
acceptance of what the world calls weakness or foolishness.
When I was drafted, and we as a country were at war, in the eyes of the world I was foolish to believe that I
could be honorably discharged without going to war. As far as the world was concerned, I was in for the
duration, but I didn’t want any part of it. I firmly believed that Jesus Christ was my own wonderful human
imagination, that he was one with God, and that all things were possible to him. I knew I could not compel
God to do anything. That He would act only as I imagined!
Trusting God, I slept as though I were honorably discharged and out of the army. I did everything in my
mind’s eye that I would do were it a physical fact, and fell asleep in that knowledge. Then, in vision, I saw my
discharge paper with the word “Disapproved” crossed out and the hand of God write “Approved” above it in
bold script. And when I heard the words: “That which I have done, I have done. Do nothing!” I did nothing.
Nine days later I was honorably discharged and back in my home in New York City.
Remembering what I had done to get out of the army, when I was confronted with a similar problem a few
years later, I applied the same principle to get out of the island of Barbados. Like Paul, I knew whom I have
believed; so when I was told I could not leave the island for months, I assumed once more that I am where I
would like to be. I slept in the assumption it was true, and within hours the confirmation was mine. So you
see, I know, from experimental faith, the one in whom I believe. You must believe in your human imagination
and make him the rock upon which you stand. He is the Lord your God, and the only one whom you serve.
If you are going to serve another, then you do not know God. If your boss tells you to do what he says and
eventually you will get a raise, and your trust is in your boss, then you don’t trust the Lord your God. Put your
faith in anyone outside of your own wonderful human imagination and you don’t trust God, for there is no
other creative power!
If you put your trust in knowing the right people, having stocks and bonds, or money in the bank, you are
trusting false gods. In 1925 I was in London, dancing for one hundred pounds a week. That was $480 U.S.
dollars. We had an offer to go to Paris and on to Germany if we would accept payment in marks or francs,
but we declined, for they were of no value. Their money was printed so fast, the paper was more valuable
than that which was printed on it. I had traveled to London with a German family who were American by
adoption. They had enormous securities in marks, and thought themselves very rich; but when we returned,
they were poorer than church mice, as every cent they had was gone. Putting their trust in German marks was
trusting a false god. Your boss is a false god. I don’t care what it is – everything outside of self is false.
Now, after the third temptation we discover the mind is at peace, and there is no more conflict within. There
is no devil, no Satan – only doubts. Doubt, in the mind of one who was born by the grace of God, gives God
the feeling of impossibility. In Blake’s “Vision of the Last Judgment” he so wisely personified doubt, saying:
“Satan thinks that sin displeases God. He ought to know that nothing displeases God but unbelief and eating
of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
Unless you believe you are the one you formerly believed to be up in heaven, and therefore outside of you,
you will continue to miss your mark in life. Believing in himself when confronted by the last temptation, he
said: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” Are you serving him? If so, things
will come to pass, for there is no other channel that one can accept, other than confidence and trust in self!
Believe in the Lord thy God one hundred per cent! If you need a certain amount of money and you have no
collateral or anyone to turn to on the outside, will you trust the Lord your God to provide it for you?
Knowing that all things are possible to God, will you turn to him in absolute confidence and trust, and
mentally assume you had the money? Not being concerned as to how the money will come to you, will you
test God’s power and wisdom by falling asleep aware of having the money? If you will, you are serving God
and in a way your surface mind could not devise, the money will be yours. Then, having tested the depths of
your own being, you will know whom(not what) you have trusted. You will know whom you have believed.
And that sure knowledge will vindicate your past trust. This is how God’s wonderful principle works.
One night in New York City I was on the radio from midnight until 6:00 o’clock in the morning, with a panel
of five men and one moderator. When I spoke of imagination creating reality, a professor said: “If that is true,
turn this white pencil into a yellow one.” I said: “All right. Bring me some yellow paint and I will do it.”
Wanting me to use my imagination and change the pencil instantly, I said: “You know, you are the scoffer of
the Bible. I tell you, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.” Then he questioned: “Are you my God?” and I
replied: “I didn’t say that. You must find the Lord your God, because you are tempting him. You do not know
it, because you haven’t found him yet, but you will.” Every child born of woman will reveal himself as the Son
of God, and know he is God’s power and wisdom. And since all things are possible to God, all things are
possible to him. Then, confronting himself, when his adversary says: “Turn this pencil into a yellow one,” he
will imagine it yellow. If the pencil remains white when he thinks of it, he has not trusted the Lord. But if he
persists in having a yellow pencil, by trusting the Lord completely, someone he may admire or does not want
to offend, will give him a yellow one.
Whatever your desire may be, imagine it is fulfilled, and trust the Lord your God implicitly. If it takes a million
people to play the part they must play in order to produce what you have assumed you are, they will do it.
This is the world in which we live.
Jesus Christ is your own wonderful human imagination! Believe me. The Father’s name is I AM. Everyone
who can say I AM is God’s image, yet there is only one God the Father! Learn to trust your I Amness and
firmly believe in him, and you will know the day when the Lord shall be king over all the earth, and his name
shall be one, and the Lord one! I have found the Lord of whom Moses and the law and the prophets wrote. I
heard of him and learned to trust him, long before He unveiled himself in me in a series of events which belong
only to the Son of God. Then I knew I was the identical being that the world worships on the outside, and
calls Jesus Christ.
Men go to church and pray to a god who does not exist, when the only God makes man alive, for man could
not breathe, were God not housed within him. So when you find God, trust him implicitly; but let me warn
you: He will not accept your orders! Only as you imagine the wish fulfilled, will He act upon it. Tonight, as
you put your head on that pillow, snuggle into the mood of the wish fulfilled in absolute confidence, and trust
that God has ways and means your surface mind knows not of. I urge you to believe me, that you also may
say with Paul: “I know whom I have believed.” You will not fail, when you find the Lord your God, who is
your own wonderful human imagination. You will learn to trust him completely. Knowing there is no need to
help God by devising the means to fulfill your desire, you will move under compulsion, when the time for its
fulfillment appears.
A lady I know took off to Paris with her two children, leaving her maid in charge of her apartment in New
York City. When the lady returned, the apartment was empty, and the maid was no where to be found. The
lady contacted the police, hired private detectives, and did everything humanly possible to find her furniture -
to no avail. Then she came to me. We sat quietly in the silence and she returned to her apartment in her
imagination. She walked through the rooms, feeling conscious of being there, now! She saw the furniture just
as it had been before, touched the keys of her piano, and knew everything was back in place again.
A few days later, this lady went to her bank on Madison Avenue. Leaving the bank, she turned in the wrong
direction and walked one block before she realized what she was doing. Looking down, she saw a familiar
pair of ankles, and suddenly realized she had found her maid. As the light changed, she grabbed the girl and
made her take her to where the furniture was stored. This lady now has her furniture back, every piece intact.
All we did was trust the Lord our God. What would I have done to find the furniture for her, when the New
York police or private detectives could not? But we trusted the Lord, our God. We didn’t get down on our
knees and plead for help, but simply sat in the silence and imagined. I assumed she was telling me she had
found the furniture, and everything was in perfect order. When we broke the silence, I – trusting the Lord to
bring it to pass – simply forgot it.
So I ask: who is the Lord who creates all things? I am! Scripture tells us that all things were made by the
Lord, and without him was not anything made that was made. I know exactly what we did and I know what
happened, therefore, I know exactly how it was made! Man finds it difficult to believe that such a power is
housed within him. He reads the scripture: “Do you not realize that Jesus Christ, the power and wisdom of
God who is one with God is in you?” and still bows before man-made little altars, and believes that someone
on the outside is especially equipped to interpret God for him.
There are those who dare to claim that they are the sole deposit of the wisdom of God. What nonsense! God
is housed in every child born of woman. But, being misled, man worships a false God, one who never existed
and never will exist. There is no intermediary between you and God. Don’t think of God with Jesus Christ as
the intermediary between you and Him. There is only God! He became just as you are, that you may become
as He is! This is the story.
The King James Version of the 20th chapter of the Book of Acts gives the true, literal translation of the
Greek as: “By the blood of God we are redeemed.” The RSV translated the word as “Lord”, which always
means “Jesus”. But redemption comes from God. Becoming just as you are, with all of your weaknesses and
limitations that you may become as He is, God redeems you, for you are his love! Trust God completely. He
uses the weakness and foolishness of man, because the wisdom of this world is foolishness in his eyes. Men
think themselves so wise. Rationalizing everything, man thinks he will find God one day on some planet or in a
corner, but he never will. Man will go to the moon, the stars, and every place he desires, because whatever
man can imagine, man can do!
Someone, today, who knows nothing of science, is dreaming fiction; and tomorrow the so-called scientific
mind will devise the means to fulfill it, because God is the one who is writing the fiction and fulfilling it, and all
things are possible to God. I urge you to dream your fiction and trust the Lord, your God implicitly that you,
too, may say: “I know whom I have believed.” Then let it happen, and it will.
Many years ago my father and brother, Victor, went to see a spot overlooking the water on 35 acres, which
is quite large on the island of Barbados. Three sisters lived in a home there, and sold their cattle to my father.
At the time he mentioned he would be interested in purchasing their property if they should ever desire to sell.
Then, turning to Victor, he said: “This would be the ideal spot for a hotel.” A few years later the ladies
decided to sell. One man with a great deal of money wanted those 35 acres very much, but was in Brazil the
day my father – who had imagined owning it – bought it. Now a beautiful hotel is on that spot. It is very
popular and always crowded winter and summer, all because my father had a dream and dared to trust the
Lord his God, who he knew to be within himself.
My father would never go to church. He didn’t like the minister at all. What wonderful stories we have of my
father and the minister. One day the minister said to my father: “I am one of the chosen.”My father looked at
him and said: “I wouldn’t have chosen you.” He was just as brash as that with everything he did. He had no
respect for the man. He never saw the inside of a church, except when we children were baptized. When my
sixth brother was to be baptized – by this same minister – my father took two sea captains as godfathers. At
the last moment the minister asked if the two gentlemen were Episcopalians, and when one claimed to be a
Presbyterian and the other a Methodist, the minister informed my father that the child could not be baptized
with these men as godfathers. With that my father said: “Give me my son. I will baptize him myself.” He took
the child out of the minister’s arms, dipped his free hand in the water, sprinkled it on the child’s face and said:
“In the name of Jesus, your name is Fred” and walked out. And that’s his name -Fred Goddard. That’s the
kind of man my father was and still is. Not a bone in his body lacked courage. He found the Lord as his own
wonderful human imagination, so when he wanted something he simply imagined he had it, and walked in that
knowledge.
I promise you, when you find the Lord and really trust him, you will know a peace you have never known
before. You will never again bow before anything or anyone. Knowing that only your own wonderful human
imagination is holy, He will be the only one you will ever serve!
Now let us go into the silence.
Neville Goddard, Summa Theologica, Manly P Hall, A Course In Miracles
