My thoughts* on ACIM Urtext Lesson 47, for February 16, 2024. God is the strength in which I trust.

God is the strength in which I trust.

* There IS NO OTHER.

1. If you are trusting in your own strength, you have every reason to be apprehensive, anxious and fearful.

²What can you predict or control?

³What is there in you that can be counted on?

* Nothing. I could disappear tomorrow. I have no power outside of God.

⁴What would give you the ability to be aware of all the facets of any problem, and to resolve them in such a way that only good can come of it?

* Now THIS I LIKE.

⁵What is there in you that gives you the recognition of the right solution, and the guarantee that it will be accomplished?

* I do NOT have this in myself but I do have it in God.

2. Of yourself you can do none of these things.

²To believe that you can is to put your trust where trust is unwarranted, and to justify fear, anxiety, depression, anger and sorrow.

³Who can put his faith in weakness and feel safe?

⁴Yet who can put his faith in strength and feel weak?

* We can rely on God’s strength, even if we only have the desire for it to be so.

3. God is your safety in every circumstance.

²His Voice speaks for Him in all situations and in every aspect of all situations, telling you exactly what to do to call upon His strength and His protection.

* His Voice is the Holy Spirit. That Voice which tells you that you are worthy of Love and all blessings.

³There are no exceptions because God has no exceptions.

⁴And the Voice which speaks for Him thinks as He does.

* Do NOT let the guilty ego frighten you into believing that this is YOU alone or that you are being “puffed up” or boastful in understanding that you are worthy of God’s Love and attention.

4. Today we will try to reach past your own weakness to the Source of real strength.

²Four five-minute practice periods are necessary today, and longer and more frequent ones are urged. ³Close your eyes and begin, as usual, by repeating the idea for the day. ⁴Then spend a minute or two in searching for situations in your life which you have invested with fear, dismissing each one by telling yourself:

⁵God is the strength in which I trust.

5. Now try to slip past all concerns related to your own sense of inadequacy. ²It is obvious that any situation that causes you concern is associated with feelings of inadequacy, for otherwise you would believe that you could deal with the situation successfully.

³It is not by trusting yourself that you will gain confidence.

⁴But the strength of God in you is successful in all things.

* And witness of His strength in you gives you the confidence. That is a very different take than what has been taught, even by some of the best teachers of my generation.

6. The recognition of your own frailty is a necessary step in the correction of your errors, but it is hardly a sufficient one in giving you the confidence which you need, and to which you are entitled.

²You must also gain an awareness that confidence in your real strength is fully justified in every respect and in all circumstances.

* Please do not miss the point that your real strength is in God!

7. In the latter phase of the practice period, try to reach down into your mind to a place of real safety.

²You will recognize that you have reached it if you feel a sense of deep peace, however briefly.

³Let go all the trivial things that churn and bubble on the surface of your mind, and reach down and below them to the Kingdom of Heaven.

⁴There is a place in you where there is perfect peace.

* Read that again.

⁵There is a place in you where nothing is impossible.

* Because God is in and with and of you. Now, read that again.

⁶There is a place in you where the strength of God abides.

* Read that again.

* These things are a part of YOUR BIRTHRIGHT as the Son of God and it is the same for everyone else too, so do not think that YOU need to SAVE THEM. They must reach inside and find these same things.

8. During the day, repeat the idea often. ²Use it as your answer to any disturbance.

³Remember that peace is your right, because you are giving your trust to the strength of God.

(ACIM, W-47.1:1–8:3)

Till next time, God bless, debi.