The Holy Vow, Wisdom, and Two Book Reviews

The Holy Vow:

“Father: I give you everything: My life, my heart, my soul, my mind, my very being. Please give me the Immortal strength to do your will this day. Thanks, God!”

1. The Holy Vow is said aloud the first thing each morning. It is your direct connection to God each day!

2. In the first part of the Holy Vow we surrender everything to God. It is concluded with the phrase “my very being.” Indeed, your very being or spark of divinity is composed of “God Stuff.” The goal is to connect one’s being with God.

3. In the second part of the vow we ask to be given God’s Immortal Strength to do His Will. Without God’s Strength you can do nothing. By using the term “Immortal” we make sure that our intention that day is to live at the Immortal Frequency. Be Clear: To be a Physical Immortal one must live a God-Centered life. The Holy Vow is your vow to God to do His Will today. If the dear reader will put into place this single practice each morning, it will allow for cosmic transformations! Please see: Reconnecting With God: The Holy Vow  for additional insights. 

4. After saying the Holy Vow aloud each morning the next step is to spend a few minutes asking for God’s Wisdom to guide me that new day:

“Father: Please grant me your Wisdom in guiding my life this day. Please show me how you would have me live my life today. Thanks, God!”

After asking for God’s Wisdom I spend a few minutes in quiet reflection. The hope is for God to guide my life this day.

5. At some point in my morning practice I will say aloud one-word virtues that I wish to acquire:

“Wisdom, Discernment, Clarity, Clear Seeing, Courage, Mercy, Forgiveness, Honor, Truth, Faith, Joy, Immortal Will. “

The reader is invited to come up a list of virtues he would like to acquire. Saying them aloud only takes a few seconds each day, but will in time allow for powerful transformations!

6. Book Review # 1: 

Thirty Essays on the Gospel of Thomas: Hugh McGregor Ross ....

In  this slim volume of 187 pages Mr. Ross spends a few pages on topics such as “Release From the Ego” ; “To Change Your Knowing” ; and the “Authenticity of the Gospel of Thomas.” The goal of each chapter: To find the inner meanings of Jesus’ sayings and then to apply these insights into one’s life. Mr. Ross focuses his insights into Jesus central message:  

“On the day you ate what was dead, you made it alive. When you are in the Light what will you do? On the day you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?”

---Jesus, saying 11, The Gospel According To Thomas

Here Jesus wants us to enter the “Light,” or become Enlightened. In the second question, Jesus points to the split which occurred when you were a child and the Ego arose. At this point—when you were about 3-year old—you became two: A child of God, and the Ego. In order to heal the split the seeker must first realize what has happened to him. Then with this insight, he can return to Oneness.

Because Mr. Ross is a follower of Jesus and takes the injunction at the beginning of Thomas seriously:

“Whoever discovers the meaning of my words will not taste death.”

--Jesus, saying 1, The Gospel According To Thomas

I strongly encourage any serious follower of Jesus to acquire this text and to read it slowly, perhaps a chapter a day, so that he will not taste death. 

7. Book Review # 2: Unlocking the Secrets of the Gospel according to Thomas: A Radical ... by Charles W. Hedrick.

Warning: Mr. Hedrick does not believe Jesus Resurrected from the dead and thus is not a follower of Jesus.

In this text we have a common method of dealing with Thomas: Have a preconceived notion of what Jesus’ message is; impose this frame on all the sayings; reject all sayings which do not support your preconceived beliefs. Mr. Hedrick’s frame: Salvation comes by realizing that you are a Son of the Living Father:

"When you come to know yourselves, then you will be known and you will realize that you are the Sons of the Living Father. But if you do not come to know yourselves, then you exist in poverty, and you are poverty.”

--Jesus, saying 3, The Gospel According To Thomas

This is correct: The first step in becoming a Son of the Living Father is to realize that you are the Son of the Living Father. Indeed, this is the starting point. But then one must work to transformed himself into one with God so that he can construct an Immortal Body (see Saying 22, The Gospel According to Thomas).

And where does Jesus fit in Mr. Hedrick’s frame? Except by acknowledging that Jesus was a prophet sent by God, none! In other words, Mr. Hedrick does not believe Jesus’ message in Thomas:

“Whoever is near me is near the fire and whoever is far from me is far from the Kingdom.”

Jesus, Saying 82, The Gospel According To Thomas.

In addition to rejecting Jesus’ Resurrection, and rejecting Jesus’ words that it is only through Jesus salvation can come,

* Mr. Hedrick rejects many other sayings of Jesus in Thomas such as:

 “ I am the light over All. I am the All. The All came forth out of me. And to me the All has come.  Split a piece of wood—I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me there.”

-- Jesus, Saying 77, The Gospel According To Thomas.

Mr. Hedrick rejects Jesus words by claiming this is “encroaching on the role of the Father” (page 140).

* He Rejects Jesus’ warning about blaspheming against the Holy Spirit:

 " Whoever blasphemes against the Father, it will be forgiven him. And whoever blasphemes against the Son, it will be forgiven him. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither on earth nor in heaven.”

--Jesus, Saying 44, The Gospel According To Thomas.

In his rejection of Saying 44, Mr. Hedrick claims this saying “is evidence of Thomas’ continued adaption to its social context” (page 91).

* He reject Jesus’ direct commandment to Honor God’s Holy Day, the 7^th day of the week:

“If you do not keep the Sabbath as a Sabbath, then you will not see the Father.”

--Jesus, Saying 27, The Gospel According To Thomas.

In his rejection of this commandment he claims that when God made the 7^th day Holy and as a day of rest (Genesis 2:1-3), that the commandment to keep the Sabbath only applied to “ancient Israel” (page 66).  

While this text is written by a scholar—Mr. Hedrick is a former professor of Missouri State University—it not written by one who is a follower of Jesus. In fairness to Mr. Hedrick his approach is the usual one among scholars as few of them acknowledge that Jesus Resurrected from the dead. The mystery is why these scholars bother writing these texts as they have no interest in following Jesus.