Copyright © True Gnostic Church. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions
SCRIPTURES
Chapter 5
The Power of Covenants :: “What value have you given through the living of your days?” –
Covenants consecrate life, and honor gives value – The power of covenants – Areta’s
covenants of love and duty – Who is worthy to make a covenant with God? – Determining
the nearness of God – Beware of those who have no honor – Letting actions proclaim
your honor – Shaping your life through speech and actions – Let covenants prove the
surest path which leads you back to God
1 Consider child and deeply ponder, let thoughts most deeply weigh: What value have you given through the living of your days? Do your days seem thinly pale and plagued by passing shadows, feeling yourself as one weighed down and pressed by heavy burdens?
2 Or do you feel as one alive and eager to embrace, the rising sun of each new day; being yourself filled with sacred expectations, having consecrated both mind and heart as one most ready to receive a blessing and a gift; proving yourself as one prepared to feel the touch of God?
3 Between these two where do you stand? How do you see your life? Do you see a life filled with dark despair, or do you see a life of joy filled with light and song? Do you dread each coming day as one who has no hope, or do you seize with eager hands each day which God has given?
4 Let us then speak of value, the worth of every life. For into your heart would I place great wisdom, a wisdom which comes from God, to be for you a guide and comfort when storms do rage about; to give you light when darkness falls and make of you a victor.
5 Hear then, do not forget this wisdom which I give, and like a hymn or sacred mantra which flows from off the lips, speak it often with firm resolve and you will never fail; but find yourself as one with God and prove yourself a treasure.
6 And these are the words which I would give, to place within your heart: “Covenants consecrate life, and honor gives value. And with each covenant that I make, more sacred my life becomes; and through the keeping of my honor, more value my life receives.”
7 Do you desire the sacred life, a life of greater value? Then keep with joy and firm resolve the words which I now give. Keep them fresh upon your mind and hold them to your heart, for in the doing and believing the sacred is revealed.
8 For a life without covenant and devoid of honor is a pale and shallow thing, proving itself not worth the having, becoming itself swallowed up and empty, being no better than the lowest of common things filled with tediums which have no end.
9 Let us then speak of covenants, a thing which you should know; for you have taken upon yourself already three covenants which come from God, desiring even your own self to stand with Azrael in the working of a far greater dispensation than the world has ever known.
10 Know then that in the taking of a covenant do you join yourself to God, and this by your own desire; for the covenant is the bridge which crosses o’er the chasm, which chasm is the illusions of mortal life, opening up before your eyes the realness of God and Heaven.
11 Thus in the taking of a covenant is God made a participant in your life, having set aside through covenant, the scourge of unrighteous dominion, permitting that God should act in your behalf, even as you, through covenant would act for God.
12 Behold and deep consider, for I am Areta, Supreme Mother of all the realms of Heaven, having above me neither God nor Goddess, yet am I even now most deeply guarded through the making of many covenants; having pledged through sacred honor the keeping of my word and the receiving of another’s.
13 For there exists between me and my Beloved, covenants of love and duty, filled with joyful obligation and great reward; and to these covenants are there many others beside, being between myself and every God and Goddess who in the Heavens reign.
14 Thus through the making and keeping of many covenants is the sum of all my life made sacred, possessing in my mind the assurance of all things holy and made of greater value; and this through the keeping of my word, for in the keeping of my word is honor made to come alive, to give in me a power.
15 Ask you now within your mind and there most deeply ponder: Do you desire the sacred life, a life of greater value? Do you yearn to touch the power and see that greater glory which lies beyond the veil? In your heart do you yearn for God, to feel the light sublime, stirring deep within the soul to lift you high above?
16 If these things you most desire, then of my words partake, weigh them now within the hand and measure the heart within; see if here there’s found a place where you might safely dwell, and build for you a shining temple where sacred things abide.
17 Who then is worthy to make a covenant with God? Only those with a true desire to know the things of God, being in yourself as one most eager to embrace the great eternal; counting all else of little worth for the joy of things divine, having felt already within the heart, that beyond the shadows of this world there dwells a far greater reality than you have ever known.
18 Being unafraid to commit yourself to God, having secured through trust and hope the faith of all your soul; believing yourself with much assurance that God is likewise faithful and eager to conjoin.
19 Thus by covenant do you let go your former state to join yourself to God, and by the honor of your word you bridge the gap between, causing that God should walk most close beside you in the living of your life; to be for you a shining star which leads and gently guides.
20 Know then that the strength of your covenants do you alone decide, proving yourself through faith and diligence as one most true converted; being yourself most unashamed and not reluctant to proclaim the things of God; comporting yourself as one most kind and filled with godly grace, causing that others should see the joy within you and desire it for themselves.
21 Consider therefore such covenants as you have already taken, and this in faith consider: for the nearness of God do you determine through the keeping of your word, proving yourself a child of honor and worthy of consideration; having drawn from God the likeness of God in all you say and do.
22 If therefore you would know the ways of God, to take them to yourself, then abide with diligence such covenants as you have made already, proving yourself as one most eager to attain, for honor is born through the keeping of your word, being yourself most firmly guided through the tenets of your faith.
23 Be you then as one most focused in knowing what is important, having set aside all lesser things for the joy of reaching forth; becoming yourself as one immune to the doctrines made of men, proving yourself an example of faith and honor mingled, knowing full well the path you tread through the covenants which you have made.
24 Abide therefore with firmness this faith which you profess, and seize with eager heart the ways of honor that you may stand as one made noble and filled with godly grace; extending to all which you do meet the love which comes from God.
25 Yet be you now as one forewarned and stand as one on guard: Beware of those who have no honor, who mock and ridicule the ways of God. Beware the traps of those who spin webs of fine deceit, who seek through subtle musings to lead you away from God whereby they might take you to themselves and feed upon your soul.
26 Against these be most aware and walk with care around them, for the sophistries which are born of men are made to deep entangle, to leave confused and most uncertain the child which once did know the things of God; causing that the child which comes from God should now prove lost in a wasteland of empty words.
27 Beware then such philosophical tapestries as men do make, beware of intellectual embroideries, for these are made that you might fail and prove yourself most weak; causing that you should surrender the light which comes from God and in a darkness made of men wander without hope.
28 Again I tell you for your good, beware of those who have no honor, whose word you cannot trust; beware of those who seek to hide behind most subtle speech, who lie in wait to quick ensnare the unsuspecting soul, and by your loss would seek to gloat and find themselves advantaged.
29 Observe with care, take careful note of those too quick to judge, displaying with some inward glee the faults they find in others; who dig at this or pry at that to undermine your faith, professing themselves while in the doing to be your truest friend.
30 Remove yourself from such as these, yet be most kindly wise, greeting always the ones you meet with a good and gentle word; proving yourself as one on guard and deeply most aware, while outward you are always gracious and filled with gentle humor.
31 Be yourself a child of honor through a good and holy conscience, keeping always the word you give as your faith in God demands; acting always as God would act if standing in your place, permitting that there should speak for you a host of goodly deeds.
32 For there are some which speak of honor, a thing which they don’t have, seeking only for some advantage, pursuing through their empty words to take you by surprise, seeking always your good opinion which helps them to deceive.
33 Be not like unto these, who for a pretense would make themselves seem good; proclaiming always with boastful words that they are the ones with honor; while behind the words the darkness moves to catch you unaware.
34 Therefore, let your actions proclaim your honor while you remain most quiet; for the word you keep is good enough to make your virtue shine; for there is no power upon the earth which can rob from you your honor except you should first consent.
35 Remember well the mantra given and speak it in your mind, for in the speaking and in the doing it quietly moves to shape you, lifting high the lowest born to bring you close to God.
36 Distilling deep within your soul a far more noble way, placing through most subtle means a brightly burning light which from your heart would shine; lighting up the way before to chase away the gloom, proving itself a steady compass in the living of your life.
37 Speak therefore with firm resolve and let yourself believe: “Covenants consecrate life and honor gives value. And with each covenant that I make, more sacred my life becomes; and through the keeping of my honor, more value my life receives.”
38 Fear not therefore the covenants which you have made, neither think of them a burden; but let them prove the surest path which leads you back to God; here a step and there a step, each step a sacred moment, bound to God by sacred honor through the keeping of your word.