The One Limit to the Holy Spirit's Guidance
The Holy Spirit will answer every specific problem as long as you believe that problems are specific. His answer is both many and one, as long as you believe that the one is many. (T-11.VIII.5)
Students will say, “I read the Holy Spirit told him…” or “My friend said the Holy Spirit told her…” If there is a limit to what guidance from the Holy Spirit you should follow it is the specific guidance the Holy Spirit gives others. The Holy Spirit will always give specific answers to specific questions and these answers are meant for the specific person asking the question at the specific time at which they are asking. Though the answers come from Truth, they are not Truth. The world is never your reality. But as long as you believe in it, the Holy Spirit will use it to remind you that you are Part of God by teaching you to trust the Holy Spirit – the Voice for your True Self.
When I was a teenager and having a rough time I would write down questions and then the answers that came to me. The questions were typical teenager stuff dealing mostly with sex, self-esteem and the True nature of God – if God existed. Even though I always felt better for doing this, I doubted the existence of God and I doubted the answers came from God – though, even in my doubts, that’s Who I was trying to reach. I don’t remember specific questions and answers but what I do remember is the answers were always loving in a way that I could understand “loving” at that time in my life. This is how I know I was answered by the Holy Spirit.
You cannot be asked to accept answers which are beyond the level of need that you can recognize. Therefore, it is not the form of the question that matters, nor how it is asked. The form of the answer, if given by God, will suit your need as you see it. This is merely an echo of the reply of His Voice. The real sound is always a song of thanksgiving and of Love. (S-1.I.2)
Can you imagine what I asked and what answers I received as a teenager? They couldn’t possibly be relevant to everyone else. At that time I was only hoping there was Something loving to hear me and answer me. The Holy Spirit answered in a way to justify my hopes and to keep me open to asking and receiving answers. My spiritual development was not built on the answers I received, but on the experience of receiving an answer at all. The Presence of the Holy Spirit within me is the source of my peace, not the specific answers I have been given over time.
No one else should be guided by the specific answers to specific questions anyone asks the Holy Spirit. You can be encouraged, however, by the fact that others ask and do receive answers that are relevant to them. You must build a direct relationship with the Holy Spirit for yourself. It is not what you ask that is important – it is that you ask that is important. Since “atonement” means correction of the perception that you are separate from God, you are “atoning” by opening yourself to the Holy Spirit. You are correcting your perception that you are separate from God. And that is your only purpose, no matter what your perceived “level of need”. No one else can make this correction for you.
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View the archive for this blog by topic at www.acimmentor.com.
Now available at www.acimmentor.com: Understanding A Course in Miracles: A Quick Reference for Students.
Students will say, “I read the Holy Spirit told him…” or “My friend said the Holy Spirit told her…” If there is a limit to what guidance from the Holy Spirit you should follow it is the specific guidance the Holy Spirit gives others. The Holy Spirit will always give specific answers to specific questions and these answers are meant for the specific person asking the question at the specific time at which they are asking. Though the answers come from Truth, they are not Truth. The world is never your reality. But as long as you believe in it, the Holy Spirit will use it to remind you that you are Part of God by teaching you to trust the Holy Spirit – the Voice for your True Self.
When I was a teenager and having a rough time I would write down questions and then the answers that came to me. The questions were typical teenager stuff dealing mostly with sex, self-esteem and the True nature of God – if God existed. Even though I always felt better for doing this, I doubted the existence of God and I doubted the answers came from God – though, even in my doubts, that’s Who I was trying to reach. I don’t remember specific questions and answers but what I do remember is the answers were always loving in a way that I could understand “loving” at that time in my life. This is how I know I was answered by the Holy Spirit.
You cannot be asked to accept answers which are beyond the level of need that you can recognize. Therefore, it is not the form of the question that matters, nor how it is asked. The form of the answer, if given by God, will suit your need as you see it. This is merely an echo of the reply of His Voice. The real sound is always a song of thanksgiving and of Love. (S-1.I.2)
Can you imagine what I asked and what answers I received as a teenager? They couldn’t possibly be relevant to everyone else. At that time I was only hoping there was Something loving to hear me and answer me. The Holy Spirit answered in a way to justify my hopes and to keep me open to asking and receiving answers. My spiritual development was not built on the answers I received, but on the experience of receiving an answer at all. The Presence of the Holy Spirit within me is the source of my peace, not the specific answers I have been given over time.
No one else should be guided by the specific answers to specific questions anyone asks the Holy Spirit. You can be encouraged, however, by the fact that others ask and do receive answers that are relevant to them. You must build a direct relationship with the Holy Spirit for yourself. It is not what you ask that is important – it is that you ask that is important. Since “atonement” means correction of the perception that you are separate from God, you are “atoning” by opening yourself to the Holy Spirit. You are correcting your perception that you are separate from God. And that is your only purpose, no matter what your perceived “level of need”. No one else can make this correction for you.
>>>>
View the archive for this blog by topic at www.acimmentor.com.
Now available at www.acimmentor.com: Understanding A Course in Miracles: A Quick Reference for Students.
Comments
Also, the Atonement is not something in the future. You do not wait for it. It is the correction of your perception that you are separate from God - that is ongoing! You do this by communing with God daily and throughout the day. You do this by calling on the Holy Spirit's guidance and by extending God's Love in place of the ego's projections.