THE GIFTS OF GOD — Sondra Ray — Markus Ray on A Course in Miracles Sondra Ray & Markus Ray

THE POWER OF HOLINESS is in us. This proceeds from the Holy Spirit in us. It is clear we do not understand miracles, but we do have witnesses that prove themselves to us. We do not "do them," but the Holy Spirit in us extends the miracles and gives us the witnesses to these extra ordinary encounters. Holiness includes everyone, and within this Universal Field of Reality, the miracles correct all errors in our mind. This is cause for surrender and Joy. The Holy Spirit knows our needs before we have them, and if we Trust in Him to provide, there is a certainty that all of our needs are met. The Holy Spirit is the part of us that does understand miracles. It is natural to trust this Power of Holiness that is within us. We can do this today. We need not wait to have the awareness of this Power in us.

We begin a new Chapter, #16, The Forgiveness of Illusions, today in Valencia, Spain. The first section is a very key section. "To empathize is not to join in the suffering of others. True Empathy is a function of the Holy Spirit, and we do not really know what true empathy is. The first paragraph in this Section totally undoes the notion that "empathy" is "to share in the suffering" of others. The ego wants to empathize what is not working. It wants to "make real" what is not. This Section harkens to the lesson #248, "Whatever suffers is not part of me." The Holy Spirit sees our contradictions and illusions, but does not make them real. Understanding is not of us. We can leave Empathy in the hands of the Holy Spirit, Who would always free us from the past, from fear, anger or guilt that brought about our suffering in the first place. We need "do nothing."

This is a new action of BLESSING. A sacred exchange is a BLESSING. This news will be shared on FRIDAY. A Blessings is seeing our Brothers and Sisters as One with us. This is challenging to include those people who "irritate us." They are our "saviors for the day.” The powerful prayer in this lesson is : "Give me your blessing, Holy Son of God. I would behold you with the eyes of Christ and see my perfect sinlessness in you." We can do this if we are willing, and “put away pride” long enough to have the Peace of God instead.

CHRISTMAS as the end of sacrifice. Sacrifice is solely of our making. God's will for us is to give and receive JOY. Christ represents this full awareness, and He is within us. In fact, He is Us. This makes us Host to Him, and he is Host to God. Therefore we are Host to God in our Self which is JOINED in the Christ Consciousness. Joy is ours. Sacrifice is not of our true SELF. We can simply forgive ourselves, and let it go. AMEN.

What is the real REBIRTH? There would be a relinquishment of guilt and sacrifice in order to embrace our true Self in the Christ. The time of rebirth is the time of Christ. Being HOST to the ego, or HOSTAGE of God is the perspective the ego would like to maintain. Being a Host implies free will and joy; being a Hostage implies a sacrifice and being against our will. But we have this backwards. The real REBIRTH is the reversal of our thinking, which is already "upside down." God asks us for no "sacrifice" or "suffering" of any kind. The Ego would maintain "guilt" and ask us for tremendous "sacrifice." We can be HOST to God as we wake up, and let go of being Hostage of the ego's addiction to pain and suffering. This is the real REBIRTH that is offered to us.

Our attraction to God is undeniable. It is a natural longing to return to our true home, to the place where we know we belong. Holy Vision is the state of seeing ourselves and others "beyond the body," as the Great Rays of our true Self. This Vision of Holiness shows us our unlimited reality. Limitations are of the body, and we have to rise above the attachments we have to thought and our body. These attachments are blocking our Holy Vision of the Great Rays. Gratifications and pleasures of the body divert our attention away from Holy Vision. Heaven is the state of being that is Pure Joy, Perfect Happiness, not bound by "limitations," free of fear, guilt or anger, in a constant contact with the Love of God.