CHAPTER XII

Jesus Christ in the Businessman

WITH RESPECT TO business Jesus Christ gave many directions and much teaching. He had come to a people, many of whom were masters in accumulating

wealth though missing the main thing, while others were eagerly zealous in

righteousness and good works while they failed of prosperity. Yet Jesus was very

practical; to both these extremes He taught the one true Way.

OUR FATHER’S BUSINESS

Jesus knew that there was but one business for everybody who had come to this

earth, his heavenly Father’s business: to bear witness to the Truth, to prove

himself immortal and divine, and to make heaven on earth for his neighbor. Jesus

made His disciples successful fishermen and then said, “Come ye after me, and I

will make you fishers of men.” So now the Christ in you will make you a success

where you are and at the same time will call you together men and women into

the kingdom.

“I will make you builders of men’s character and health and happiness,” He says in effect to the carpenters and contractors and others who are in construction

work.

“I will make you promotors of men’s spiritual

nature,” He says in effect to those who are developing business and earth’s

products.

“I will make you feeders of men’s souls, and clothiers modeling bodies worthy of

God’s children.”

“I will make you bankers of men, laying up saved men as gold.”

NO SERVING GOD AND MAMMON

What greater work can be done for the kingdom of heaven than gaining success in the business life and proving to men that you do it by the power of the Holy

Spirit within you!

You cannot “serve God and mammon” at the same time. You have proved it. You cannot give your whole heart to Mammon. You have a conscience that no man can kill. You may drug it with sophistries for years and even think you have no

conscience; but you will find your mistake. For conscience is simply one’s knowing, the exercise of one’s supreme intelligence, and it will not down. It is

immortal.

People grow rich with a quasi worship of mammon. They do unscrupulous things for a longtime, and think they can bluff their great soul self, But they only fool themselves. Their wealth is as sand and ashes in their mouth. Something has

been missed.

THE POWER OF THE LAMB

Better to be a lamb, thrown one wolf's

maw to another, imposed upon, fleeced again and again, than to win riches at the expense of that tender, holy, rich love nature that leads to the eternal joy that is

independent of time and space.

But it is possible to keep the lamb quality and receive all the power and the

substance that are now owned and exploited by the wolves. Jesus has shown the

way; and by the aid of the Holy Spirit one may gather all His teachings about

prosperity, and the records of His deeds that relate especially to the way to

succeed, and use this masterly key for opening the door to the kingdom of

eternal wealth.

JESUS TEACHES BUSINESS METHODS

Jesus did not despise either money or business. In Judas He appointed a

treasurer for the apostles. He taught them to “gather up the broken pieces which

remain over, that nothing be lost.” He taught them not to be slack.

But He inculcated a new value sense. He told the money-loving Pharisees that “that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

“For what is man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit his own

self?” He said if he lose “his own self” like Alexander, who at the age of thirty

had conquered the whole world and yet died in a drinking bout.

He paid tribute to Caesar and to the synagogue.

But the plainest teaching of all was on two occasions when He directed His

disciples, who had been toiling all night at their fishing without success, just

where to drop their nets and make hauls of fish so great that, repeated a few

times, would have made them rich.

Jesus did not hesitate to use His deeper senses to promote earthly prosperity. He

had the true business sense that comes through the Holy Spirit. This Jesus stands

in your heart today, and if you will hear His voice and be guided by His principles

you will be the fulfillment of the great promise:

“They that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing.”

SIXTH MEDITATION

CHRIST IN ME MY PROSPERING POWER

Worldly riches will be brought to those who are demonstrating their divinity, to be used by them as they will for the benefit of all humanity.

The prophet Isaiah emphasizes this heavenly decree that the riches of those who

have been strangers to the Spirit were to come to God s people, since the strangers were to be strangers no longer but lovers - I of the Truth and followers

of Christ.

“And nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.. . . the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, the wealth of the

nations shall come unto thee.

“And foreigners shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: . . . Thy gates also shall be opened continually . . . that men may bring unto thee

the wealth of the nations.”

“Ye shall be named the priests of Jehovah; men shall call you the ministers of our God; ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory shall ye boast

yourselves.”

Finding the Christ in oneself leads one to the work in which one can best

demonstrate the divine presence and power, and no longer is it the man looking

for his work but it is the work and the office seeking him.

The Christ within is the immortal well of wealth, the prosperous consciousness, to which everything contributes its best and to which everyone comes.

It is the inexhaustible purse of Prince Fortunatus, which was a magnet drawing

to him all the wealth he needed and desired. As fast as he drew from it it was

replenished, and the prince could never be without money. “I am the King’s Son,”

says the Christ self within,”afldail that the Father hath is mine.”

Seek this consciousness—the prosperity consciousness—night and day until you

know it to be thoroughly established within you. The moment that is

accomplished everything you put your hand to will prosper;

and those who bless you will themselves be blessed. The Christ, an actual

presence realized within, makes your business office a place greatly to be

respected, as though it were a sanctuary; makes your business a bulwark of your

nation impossible to overthrow; makes you a king among businessmen, always knowing just where to “cast the net.”

Christ in your heart makes you a magnet of popularity; gives charm of

personality; enlarges the circle of your friends; prospers you in art, music,

literature, or in any other vocation into which the Spirit leads you to cast your lot.

Remember ever that “God’s man” must be about the one business of his heavenly

Father. All that he does in the outer becomes subsidiary to the main interest, the

vital issue, the establishment upon the earth of heaven’s government, in which

every follower of the Christ is a king with all the world for his kingdom.

SIXTH TREATMENT

Listen to me!

The Christ in you is your clear insight, your true business sense, and your inspired guidance into success.

You are in business to save the world.

Your integrity saves the whole world.

your vision to the region of richness.

Christ in you superintends all your investments, affairs, and dealings.

You work for the kingdom of God alone. This is your first concern.

You are enthusiastic in your way of working. The Holy Spirit infuses you with a

new imagination about your affairs.

You are initiative. You are original. You find new ways to serve humanity.

You discover the wealth-producing regions of the earth. You uncover the most

valuable powers in human beings.

You save other men in their business. By the Christ in you you point out the way

in which they can be prospered.

You give freely any counsel or discovery that will prosper others.

No commercialism can interfere with your inspiration. The Spirit protects you

from greed and imposition.

Christ in you reveals the errors to be removed so that you may be receptive to all

wealth.

You practice the presence of God. You remember to meditate upon the Godlike

thing to do.

You do what Jesus would do. You are Jesus in the business world.

You put your hand to the Christ plow, and you do not look back. You banish all

memory of losses,

You do not meditate upon loss of any kind, You spend no time in grieving. You deliberately forget all mistakes your own as well as those of others.

You give all appearances of weakness, poor judgment, vice, ignorance, folly, and

ill luck into the care of the Holy Spirit.

You preach the good news of the way to prosper forever. You preach silently, by your life, by your methods, by your character.

The inspired One in you uncovers the secret laws of increase and transmutation.

You have the holy divining art

You know the way to find gold in the bowels of the earth. You know the place of

the water springs.

The elements yield to you their secrets. You are the irresistible conqueror of the

planet.

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Everything yields you its best by the law of love. You are the lover of all, and

draw to you all the gifts of love.

You sit still in the Christ consciousness and all the ends of the earth seek you to

serve you and bless you.

You are at peace with all, and the satisfaction of the richest being in the universe centers in you and showers blessings through you upon the whole

world.