God is Love

by Dr. M.W. Lewis

(excerpts from a talk "Serve God in All" in San Diego Temple, 7 August 1955)

Serve God in All

Serve God in All. To do that, of course, it is obvious that we must know God in all first. Know God in all first. To serve God in all, we must realize the underlying Unity of God’s Presence throughout His Creation. And that means, that in all of the parts of the creation, in all beings, as you, and as in me, there is God’s Presence. And if we realize that underlying Unity, then we can serve each other, and we can serve God in all parts of His Creation.

That is the first and important thing to realize, that unless you know something about God, how He acts, what He is in this creation, and what He is in each and every one of us, how can we serve Him? So realize that first. Know that underlying Unity of God’s Presence throughout His Creation – in every part. […]

Realize that Unity of God’s Presence in everything.

So, realize that Unity of God’s Presence in everything. Realize that it is His Consciousness, His Omniscience, plus the Power of that Omniscience, which is in everything – in you and in me, know that, then you can serve God, can you not, in all. And so, there is separateness in the universe does not exist. Realize that. All parts of the universe, from the life-giving sun, to the atoms, to the dust of the earth, are parts of God’s Plan in creating a living universe. There is no separation. There is no wall between the different elements of God’s Creation. They are all parts of the One Whole, and the One Whole is God; God Himself; the One. The universe is God Himself.

The universe is God Himself.

Different aspects form different parts of the universe, a different part of God’s Consciousness is in, is in each and every one of us, but every part is connected with every other part.

God is One. Know that oneness of God.

So God is One. Know that oneness of God; His Presence is in His Creation. Then you can serve others, because then you know the God in others, and then you can serve. And so, if we realize the One Common Father in each and every one of us, then you feel a kinship with each and every other one. Then you can serve God in everyone, in all things. So, that conception must be first impinged on our consciousness; we must realize that it is not just God in me, but God is in everything; every particle of creation; from the smallest speck of dust to the sun itself; and, therefore, in each and every one of your brothers and sisters – my brothers, my sisters.

Now, there is a common bond between those United in God. There is one common bond, and it is through that common bond that you can serve God in all. And what is that common bond? Divine Love! Divine Love is the Power of God’s Omniscience, and that Power is Supreme in the universe. Now, it is through that bond that you can serve God in all. […]

For instance, the two greatest commandments are what? First, “...Thou shalt love God with all thy heart, thy strength and thy might.“ That’s the First Commandment. And the Second Commandment is “...thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.“ You see, those who do the Will of God are those who are United in God’s Love, or Divine Love.

Now, there, there’s the key to the subject this morning, “Serve God in All.”

Merge in Divine Love;
be one with God’s Great Love.

Merge in Divine Love; be one with God’s Great Love; then, you can be one with all of the particles of His, of His Creation; you can serve each and every one of us, parts of His One Universe. So that is the key – Divine Love is the bond which unites all in the One Great Common Father. No one has a particular particle of it greater than another. We all are the same when we merge in the One Common Father. Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.“ Each and every one of us can say that, if we merge in His Presence and realize the underlying Unity in His Great Universe. As Jesus said so can we. We’re all made in the Image of God.

So, this relationship is not human. This relationship of Love, of which I have spoken, is not human love, which is possessive and which is conditioned. But Divine Love is Unconditioned, All-inclusive. It is not limited, like human love.

Divine Love is the bond
which unites all the parts of God’s Creation.

So, Divine Love, remember is the bond, the common bond, which unites all the parts of God’s Creation, and, therefore, unites you and all others. Divine Love is the bond. We must know that. We must merge in that. That must be our own. Then we can feel kinship with each other. Then we can serve one another, because we know God in one another. That’s the important thing. That’s what we must realize.

Love, Divine Love, is not of worldly consciousness. Divine Love is of our Soul’s and Spirit. That’s the important thing. Once more, Divine Love is not of worldly consciousness. When you feel the One Father in all of His children, you are not in worldly consciousness at all. You may be walking automatically in doing your different duties, but you are in your Soul’s Consciousness, you are in Spirit, when you feel Divine Love. In that Consciousness you can serve God in all, and you’ll have no trouble, because there’ll be no differentiation between you and even the worst criminal. You may not mix with the criminal as you would with those of a higher consciousness, naturally, but you will not feel anything but Divine Love for the worst criminal, because you have merged in the one bond of all – Divine Love.

God in all of us,
is manifesting as Divine Love.

And so, in the deep sense, God, in all, is His Presence. Remember now, God in all of us, is His Presence, manifesting as Divine Love.

God is Love

And when you feel that, when you feel that in your heart, when all the cells of your body vibrate to that vibration, you will know, “God is Love,“ as the scriptures say. Every particle of your being, every cell will vibrate to that high vibration of Divine Love when you merge in Him. Having that, ... you can give something real to people. You can really serve God in all.

So, remember this that no matter what the blemish is on a person – no matter what it is – underneath is the Soul’s Pure Love of that person. And we have the greatest example, I believe, in Mary Magdalene. She was a woman of low standing, and yet, because that Divine Love was pure in her, and because she had the desire to really know God in all, when she came to Jesus, and washed his feet with the ointment, and then wiped his feet with her hair, Jesus was able to arouse that Divine Love in her, and the blemishes disappeared.

There was no greater saint than Mary Magdalene, because she stayed to the end. She lasted to the end. When he needed her most, as an instrument of God, playing a very difficult part – Mary Magdalene was there in the last moments.

So there you have a wonderful illustration to remember. Never mind the blemishes on a person – see beyond that. See the Divine Love in that person and you will be able to see it when you yourself have that Divine Love. Therefore, in people, overlook the little things. See beneath that they are children of God, and remember that God forgives us every day, every hour, sometimes, we are making mistakes. But He overlooks them. He says, “Well, he’ll learn. He’ll wake up.”

See Great Divine Love in people

So let us do likewise. See that Great Divine Love in people, and you will be able to see it easily, if, and only when, you feel Divine Love in yourself.

When you feel the Unity of God’s Presence in every particle of His creation – and that includes you and me, and all creatures, all things. So Divine Love is the bond. Know that, merge in that; then you can serve all.

Now, we have some wonderful, scriptural words, which I have copied down here, pertaining to serving God in all. 1st John, the 4th Chapter, 7th Verse:

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God..."

Now, that doesn’t mean just worldly emotion, but really feels that common Father in each and every one of us. So,

“...every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”

That's the important thing.

People say, “Oh, I can’t find God.” All right –

learn to feel the Divine Love in your heart;

then you’ll know God, it says in the scriptures. God is Love. The Power of God’s Omniscience is the Love. That’s the Greatest Force in the Universe. But don’t say you don’t know God.

Realize you do know God, if you love God.

As it says, “...every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” So there’s no excuse. We just forget that God is in us, that’s all.

“Knoweth God” means, “he who has merged in the one unity of God’s Presence in all His Creation, loveth God.” That’s “God is Love,” as I have said. His Presence in creation manifesting in a way in which we can recognize it, is Love. His, His Omniscience we do not recognize until we have fully merged in it and can see and be in all His Creation in His Omniscience. But we can and always feel the Power of that Omniscience as Love.

So remember, when you feel that, God is with you.
Why worry? The Master of the Universe is with you.

If you don’t feel it, get busy.

Remove the obstacles that you can feel God’s Love.

Now, going on to the 8th Verse:

“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is Love.”

And what’s the First Commandment? “Thou shalt love God with all your heart and soul.” (Sic) Why not? Because God is Love; we have to be one with Him through the Power of His Omniscience, Love. God is Love. If you feel that, God is with you. You should never doubt. When you feel that Omniscience flowing over you and you feel in your heart a great respect for all beings, that’s God’s Love percolating through every cell you have. When you become one with it, you know nothing but that. So great is the Power of God’s Love, so tremendous is that Greatest Force in the Universe – God’s Great Omniscience, His Love.

So, in the 8th Verse: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is Love.” (Sic) “Loveth not” simply means, when you can’t feel the love for people, that you haven’t merged in His Presence, that’s all. When you merge in it, you’ll feel the Love, and you’ll feel it of everyone, because that’s the Unity of God’s Presence in Creation. And if you wanna serve people, know that, merge in it, through the methods which the Master has given us.

In the 16th Verse:

“...God is Love; and he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

You see the key? I’m giving you the key, which is so simple.

God is Love.

“...he who dwelleth in it, dwelleth in God, and God in Him.”

In other words, you have merged in the underlying Unity of God’s Presence throughout creation. Just differentiate between ordinary, human love, which is limited, circumscribed, uncondition, conditioned. Just see the difference between Divine Love, which is Uncircumscribed, Unconditioned, Universal.

And finally, in the 20th Verse, 20th and 21st Verse:

“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he’s a liar:
for he, he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen,
how can he love God whom he hath not seen?“

In other words, oil and water do not mix. If you hate a person, you haven’t God’s Love. Now, if a person does wrong to you, that doesn’t mean you condone it. “You may hiss,” as the Master used to say, and give it to him; but inside you’re unchanged. Can you do that? If you do, you have God’s Love. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be walked on, pushed around, because that’s not helping that person. And if you wanna serve God in all, you have to help that person, and you will not help him by condoning his actions. But through it all, you are undisturbed, because you feel God’s Love in you and in him. That’s the secret.

Now going on;

“...for he that loveth his brother, loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”
And finally:

“And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God loveth... his brother also.”

You know Universal Love
when you feel God’s Presence in all creation.

So, there you have a perfect barometer to know where you stand. If, in spite of all the mean things that are done to us, and the disreputable things, we feel God’s Love, even in those who are doing those things to us, and you have God’s Presence, what do you care what they do? Karma will catch up with them. You don’t have to worry about what’ll happen to them. You have carried out the First Commandment. You have loved God with all your heart, your soul; and the second you have also carried out, because you love him, your neighbor, who is doing wrong things to you.

If you can just feel that Love of God, it’s a wonderful thing because no one can touch you. If they touch you, you still have a little ego. If you feel hurt, find out what the trouble is, because how can you feel hurt if God is with you? How can you feel hurt if you feel God’s Love? It’s impossible. There’s a little ego left, if you feel hurt. Dive deeper; merge deeper in God’s Love; then, no matter what is done to you, it doesn’t touch you. You have God with you – you care for nothing else. Realize God in all. Have compassion for all. But, if you wanna really serve God in all, you must act toward your brothers and sisters in the right way. In other words, in the way that helps them. You must act in the best way to help them and lift them from delusion. …

And so, you must not condone things in others. You must not compromise your position. And when you do that, you are acting from Divine Love, because you are acting for that person’s best interest. And one thing, finally, which I do not want to overlook is this; you must be very patient with people – very patient with them. But you must not compromise truth.

Now, Divine Mother will tolerate your mistakes, but if you do not improve, She will not tolerate you. Now that’s important. Divine Mother will tolerate your mistakes. But, if you do not make the effort, then do away with them, then, She will not be with you to help you over the rough places.

Now, that’s one thing in dealing with people, in serving God in all, we must realize that one thing: we must never compromise truth. And that truth is you overlook little things. You have the greatest compassion for people – but they must change. They must change for the better; otherwise, you are not serving them to the highest capacity of God in them. That’s one of the greatest things, and we must all realize that.

And so finally,

if you wanna “Serve God in All” to the highest capacity,
you must be able, you must be able to give those people a little of that Divine Love which flows through you as
the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost is Divine Love.

Now, if you can give people a little of that, then you are serving God in them to the highest degree, and by so doing, you are most loved of God.

It is all right to help people financially; it’s wonderful to help them in many ways. But, if you can give them a little of Divine Love – something real, something tangible, something that’ll last them not only in this life, in lives to come – that’s the greatest service you can render. And in the Gita we find the very thing spoken of, most beautiful, and I’ll read it, and then I’m through. Remember, if you can give people the fullness of God in you, which is the Holy Ghost, the Comforter which Jesus spoke, you’re rendering the greatest service, you are serving God in that person to the highest degree. […]

Remember,

if you give God’s Love to another one – I don’t mean just in action – but a part of your own self, a part of the Holy Ghost that flows through you, you are performing a greater service.

And the greatest thing to remember, is that you are most Loved of God.

So, to serve God in others to the highest degree, know that God; know His Love; be one with the Holy Ghost; then, you can give that Love to others.