Man's extremity is God's opportunity (Susan Crosthwaite)
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The document emphasizes that personal extremities present opportunities for divine intervention, highlighting how challenges can lead to spiritual growth and transformation. It advocates for true love as the driving force for change, urging individuals to live for others and build connections among different religions. Through personal trials and self-reflection, one can achieve a deeper connection with God and tap into their healing potential by embracing love, support, and spiritual awakening.
Man's extremity is God's opportunity (Susan Crosthwaite)
- 1. Man’s extremity is God’s Opportunity Man’s Extremity is God’s Opportunity 2
- 2. “Your extremity is God’s opportunity! The difficulty all along has been to get to the end of you, for when a man gets to the end of himself, he has reached the beginning of God’s working! When you are cleaned right out and have not anything at all left, then all the mercy of the Covenant of Grace is yours! “ Pastor Charles H Spurgeon, 1901
- 3. 3 types of challenges - extremities • The whole Community is stressed with doubt or conflict or corruption and a small number have to come together, clean it up and pull it up again • The faithful individual suffers a serious trial; has to reach down very deep, learn profound lessons, and be a testimony of wisdom, faith, love and perseverance • Individual who is finding truth or God for the 1st time and is leaving behind the old way of life
- 4. The One God, who is the Parent to all humankind “Each religion has pride in its own teachings and jealously guards its traditions, regarding itself as superior to all others. However, religious teaching has universal elements, which come from God. The one God is the God of all religions. Therefore, religions should purify themselves and elevate themselves through universal principles. The central value in religion is true love, which we can sum up by the teaching, “Live for the sake of others.” The individual lives for the sake of the family; the family lives for the sake of the community; the community lives for the sake of the nation; the nation lives for the sake of the world. Likewise, my religion should live for the sake of other religions. This is the principle of principles. The source of this universal principle is God. In creating the universe, God invested Himself totally for the sake of His creatures. Throughout history, God has been continually sacrificing Himself in order to save fallen human beings, who have been living just as they desire. The prophets, saints and sages who knew God’s will have followed this divine principle in their own lives.” ( S M Moon 234:222, August 20, 1992) “In God’s way of thinking, there is no concept of an enemy. If there were, it would imply Dualism (two origins). Because God does not have such a concept, He does not fight.” ( S M Moon 225:123, January 5, 1992)
- 5. “Abiding within the heart, God is near at hand to each of us, if only we would notice. In the Bible, God’s immanence is described in the revelation to Elijah, where instead of a grand manifestation in earthquake and storm, God appeared as “a still small voice.” Through faith and humility we can sense God’s presence within. Yet God is in fact near to all, even though most are blind and deaf to His reality.” World Scripture, edited by Dr. Andrew Wilson “Where does God exist? He is not in heaven, but in our heart—the centre of our heart.” (S M Moon145:310, June 1, 1986)
- 6. True transformation of me or humanity cannot take place by force • Only by the power of true love • Force or manipulation is not God’s way • Deep, quiet and profound guidance working through our heart of love; speaking to us through our heart and soul is what transforms us and helps us do what we are called to do
- 7. Jacob’s Course is a prime example He lost everything when Esau wanted to kill him. ( what threatens to defeat you? – your boss, your spouse, your lack of something? What are you complaining about? ) After fighting with his brother he had to go through 21 years of hardship and devotion to be able to make a condition to restore that relationship. It is absolutely amazing that Jacob knew he had to return everything and restore harmony because God needed him for the sake of the nation! According to Father Moon Jacob always kept this determination! We need to keep that awareness too. The awareness of what we mean to God and those around us.
- 8. “Then, how can we get help from God? Before wanting to be loved by God, we must prepare an offering of sacrifice for Him; then God will help us according to the condition we make.” True Father May 27th 1973 Jacob’s Course and Our Life of Faith How has it been for me due to a diagnosis of cancer?
- 9. Believing in who I am from the Divine Principle point of view has been so helpful!- vital • How has this been for me? – ‘the fruit of history’ – ‘the central figure for the offering’ – wife, sister, mother, friend trying to restore and heal relationships – Sometimes I’d rather escape from this burden! – What helps me hang on?
- 10. The example and words of great people • First thing I had to do was find the confidence to take care of myself. I begged God in tears for help! • Corry Ten Boom ‘came to the rescue’ one night. “Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…it’s something we make inside ourselves.” “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tyre?”
- 11. “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” "Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it.” “The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.” “God never measures the mind… He always put His tape measure in the HEART.” “Let God's promises shine on your problems.” “Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a centre of fear.” “Don’t wrestle; nestle.”
- 13. My illness(and the children leaving home ) have enabled me to spend more time with God. In nature Sunset and sunrise are the two main ways that God created to let us feel awe EVERY DAY! I learnt from a book called “Radical Remission” by Kelly Turner how many people did this to recover their health
- 14. 75 factors and 9 key factors which helped 1,000 sufferers recover: • Radically Changing Your diet • Taking Control of Your health • Following Your Intuition • Using herbs and supplements • Releasing Suppressed Emotions • Increasing Positive Emotions • Embracing Social Support • Deepening Your Spiritual Connection • Having Strong Reasons for Living
- 15. “… most importantly, I watched the sun rise everyday in the morning. It was in front of the morning sun that I made an exciting discovery. I found I was becoming very positive, very relaxed and healing energy was entering my heart chakra first through my heart, and then to all seven chakras. I began to practice cello again after a long absence. These things were done harmoniously by my intuition and not by instruction. Now is the time for modern medicine to recognize the ancient wisdom of human beings to bring about their own recovery from cancer. The healing power within the body will save many people with serious and chronic diseases.” "The Key to all healing is love, spiritual awakening and being open to feelings.“ Shin Terayama
- 17. Cat’s love On a snowy morning
- 19. Actions which allow God to work in our lives are called conditions of indemnity • Re-conditioning my mind, my soul, my life, my loves, my lineage – Through time periods – 3, 7, 21 and 40 based time periods will give God time to unfold answers and help. – EDP on page 176 explains: "How does God separate Satan from fallen people who stand in the midway position? Satan relates with them on the basis of his connection with them through lineage. Therefore, until people make a condition through which God can claim them as his own, there is no way God can restore them to the heavenly side. – On the other hand, Satan acknowledges that God is the creator of human beings. Unless Satan finds some condition through which he can attack a fallen person, he also cannot arbitrarily claim him for his side. – Therefore, a fallen person will go to God's side if he makes good conditions and to Satan's side if he makes evil conditions. " and later on page 178, " Who should make indemnity conditions?....we ourselves must fulfil the necessary conditions as our portion of responsibility."
- 20. We are given trials in our life to train us to be strong enough to defeat evil • “We too can enter God’s Kingdom and meet God and True Parents only after we have gone through the course of Jacob and made oneness with the Esaus in our life.” True Father May 27 1973 • Our challenge is to overcome our fallen nature and become truly loving, so that God can restore goodness through us.
- 21. So, let’s learn from the humble blackberry, put down strong roots and reach out to the sun
Editor's Notes
- #2: Created for Bromley August 6th 2017
- #8: The analogy of the boat with a hole in the ocean – if I plug the hole the sea will hold me up. What made Jacob’s course successful? His attitude of returning everything he gained to his parents and brother; “not the least bit self-centred” is such a high goal! Can we step up to that attitude? PURPOSE of my life? “But what Jacob had that was acceptable as an offering to God was that the more difficult and lonely his situation became due to the aggravating persecution from Laban, the deeper attachment he felt towards his parents and brothers. This made him always wonder what he could do for their sake; this was the primary question. He thought that he could readily share with everybody at home what he had acquired by spending 21 long years of drudgery. If he felt the least bit self-centred, thinking that all the things he acquired belonged to him alone, Jacob ,could have ended his course in failure. ” Take up your cross and follow me, instead of follow the course set down by Jacob
- #16: Findhorn
- #19: Cat love is simple really. All you need is a child who longs for a pet, and loves and raises it with great tenderness for 13 years and then leaves home!
- #20: e.g. Anne Marie’s prayers all her life for her daughter
- #21: In 1973 True Father explained Jacob’s Course in much detail. The DP explains it is the model course for us to follow