TEMPTATION to Disbelieve in
A COURSE IN MIRACLES

Article by Rev Reja Janaki Joy Green*
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What does it really mean to be ‘tempted’?

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word TEMPT as:

Definition of TEMPT

1 : to entice to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain
[Tempted to go off my diet!; I’m tempted to reject these ideas since they seem to be telling me that I need to relinquish even the pleasure and joy I receive from loving those in my life .]

2 a : to make trial of : test [Evaluate so as to accept or reject]
   b : provoke tempt fate>  [To arouse a feeling or action]
   c : to risk the dangers of [Some think that wet hair tempts a cold.]

3 a : to induce to do something [The pull was tempting.]
   b : to cause to be strongly inclined <was>tempted to call it quits></was>

Origin of TEMPT

Middle English, from Anglo-French tempter, tenter, from Latin temptare, tentare to feel, try First Known Use: 13th century

Whatever we value intensely in our life we seem to identify with and if it were taken from us, we feel as though our life, as we know it, were over. It no longer seems worth living. Perhaps it is a son or daughter, a spouse, a title, a job, our health which might be or has been taken from us. Now life has no meaning. “That which I deeply valued and gave my life meaning, is gone!”

We might also value JOY in our lives, feeling as though it were our only hope of survival in a world made sick by fear. And if this JOY were threatened, then we feel as though our life were threatened as well. And when the threat seems to have occurred, we feel we have to respond in some way or the JOY will be gone and so will our Joie de vivre; our reason for being here.

And the response we choose is determined by what we think is TRUE about the JOY and what we think is TRUE about ourselves.

If we feel as though our JOY is something that can be threatened, we will be enticed to give up the offending thought system so as to protect our JOY. [This is the first item in the definition of being TEMPTED.] If we feel as though we are a mortal being, finite and at the mercy of the outside world, we will believe we need to protect ourselves.

We might feel as though the Thought system of the Holy Spirit, our Right Mind, A Course in Miracles, has put us on a restrictive regime, too harsh for us to continue. Especially if the regime means we are called to give up JOY!

Yet we are taught in A Course in Miracles that “The Holy Spirit is the spirit of JOY.” A If we trust the Voice for God, the Holy Spirit, the JOY in our hearts, would it ever tell us to release it? Wouldn’t our Holy Minds tell us that the JOY we feel in our lives is as eternal as we are?

“Joy is eternal. You can be sure indeed that any seeming happiness that does not last is really fear. Joy does not turn to sorrow, for the eternal cannot change. But sorrow can be turned to joy, for time gives way to the eternal.” ACIM-OE CH 22, par 18

JOY is not only what we HAVE, as a Gift of God, it’s what we truly ARE. When we are feeling JOYOUS, we are in our Right Mind!  Never would we be counseled to reject this, for this is the only reality this dream has.

The second definition of TEMPT is to ‘make trial of; to test’.  And so our minds may ask, “How could this curriculum be true when it asks me to give up JOY!” We put the curriculum on trial, test it and judge it. Then we listen to the ego, which knows nothing, as it tell us we are guilty if we feel JOY. It not only tells us this untruth, but then it tells us that this is what A Course in Miracles is teaching. It cautions us that we need to exchange this restrictive thought system for what is familiar to us and less threatening, or we’ll lose everything dear to us. It suggests that we’d rather be guilty than give up JOY! And love tells us to “Hear not this now!”

When we think that our relationships are beginning to bring us pain, we hear the ego tell us to get rid of them for something that will bring us JOY. When we think that our ‘thoughts’ are beginning to bring us pain, we again hear the ego tell us to get rid of them, in exchange for what will bring us JOY.

And the Voice for Love teaches us thus:

“Now the ego counsels thus-substitute for this another relationship to which your former goal was quite appropriate. You can escape from your distress only by getting rid of each other. You need not part entirely if you choose not to do so. But you must exclude major areas of fantasy from each other to save your sanity.

“Hear not this now! Have faith in Him Who answered you. He heard. Has He not been very explicit in His answer?

“Now He asks for faith a little longer, even in bewilderment. For this will go, and you will see the justification for your faith emerge to bring you shining conviction. Abandon Him not now, nor each other. This relationship has been reborn as holy. “ ACIM-OE Ch 17, par 49

We may ask ourselves, “Can our relationship with A Course in Miracles be reborn as holy? Can we have faith, ‘even in bewilderment?’ HE asks us to “Abandon Him not now, nor each other. ”

“In every difficulty, all distress, and each perplexity Christ calls to you and gently says, “My brother, choose again.” He would not leave one source of pain unhealed nor any image left to veil the truth. He would remove all misery from you, whom God created altars unto joy. He would not leave you comfortless, alone in dreams of hell, but would release your minds from everything that hides His face from you. His holiness is yours because He is the only power that is real in you. His strength is yours because He is the Self that God created as His only Son.” ACIM-OE Ch 31, par 87  ♥

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*Reverend Reja Joy Green is one of the founding members of the Course in Miracles Society [CIMS]; She is the CIMS webmaster, eMagazine editor and producer of the Daily Lesson Mailings [example of mailings]. Rev. Reja Joy facilitates the Course in Miracles study group in Omaha and is ordained as a Community Miracles Center minister.  Rev Reja Joy facilitated the 2013 free ACIM DAILY Lesson Conference Calls along with Rev. Pamela Whitman.

As a registered Yoga Instructor, Rev. Reja Joy teaches through her RejaJoy-Yoga-Studio from the perspective of A Course in Miracles and hosts several social media groups for those who share this journey. Rev. Reja Joy currently resides with her loving husband Chris Green in Omaha, NE.

Course in Miracles Society (CIMS) is an international group of Course students and teachers organized to discover, authenticate and propagate the divine teachings of A Course in Miracles. As students, we seek to increase our knowledge of Jesus’ words and to deepen our experience of his teaching. As teachers, we work to circulate the message of A Course in Miracles throughout the world by our words, by our deeds and by the example of our lives.  Jcim.net