Neville Goddard Your Faith Is Your Fortune Chapter 9

THE FOUNDATION STONE

Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon.
For other foundations can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
every man’s work shall be made manifest;
for the day shall declare it. – 1Cor. 3:10-13

The foundation of all expression is consciousness. Try as man will, he cannot find a cause of manifestation other than his consciousness of being. Man thinks he has found the cause of disease in germs, the cause of war in conflicting political ideologies and greed. All such discoveries of man, catalogued as the essence of Wisdom, are foolishness in the eyes of God.

There is only one power and this power is God (consciousness). It kills; it makes alive; it wounds; it heals; it does all things, good, bad or indifferent.

Man moves in a world that is nothing more or less than his consciousness objectified. Not knowing this, he wars against his reflections while he keeps alive the light and the images which project the reflections. “I AM the light of the world” [John 8:12]. I AM (consciousness) is the light. That which I am conscious of being (my conception of myself) – such as “I am rich”, “I am healthy”, “I am free” – are the images. The world is the mirror magnifying all that I AM conscious of being.

Stop trying to change the world since it is only the mirror. Man’s attempt to change the world by force is as fruitless as breaking a mirror in the hope of changing his face. Leave the mirror and change your face. Leave the world alone and change your conceptions of yourself. The reflection then will be satisfactory.

Freedom or imprisonment, satisfaction or frustration can only be differentiated by the consciousness of being. Regardless of your problem, its duration or its magnitude, careful attention to these instructions will in an amazingly short time eliminate even the memory of the problem. Ask yourself this question: “How would I feel if I were free?” The very moment you sincerely ask this question, the answer comes. No man can tell another the satisfaction of his desire fulfilled. It remains for each within himself to experience the feeling and joy of this automatic change of consciousness.

The feeling or thrill that comes to one in response to his self-questioning is the Father state of consciousness or Foundation Stone upon which the conscious change is built. Just how this feeling will embody itself no one knows, but it will; the Father (consciousness) has ways that no man knows [Romans 11:33]; it is the unalterable law.

All things express their nature. As you wear a feeling, it becomes your nature. It might take a moment or a year – it is entirely dependent upon the degree of conviction. As doubts vanish and you can feel “I AM this”, you begin to develop the fruit or the nature of the thing you are feeling yourself to be. When a person buys a new hat or pair of shoes, he thinks everyone knows that they are new. He feels unnatural with his newly acquired apparel until it becomes a part of him. The same applies to the wearing of the new states of consciousness. When you ask yourself the question, “How would I feel if my desire were at this moment realized?” the automatic reply, until it is properly conditioned by time and use, is actually disturbing. The period of adjustment to realize this potential of consciousness is comparable to the newness of the wearing apparel.

Not knowing that consciousness is ever outpicturing itself in conditions round about you, like Lot’s wife, you continually look back upon your problem and again become hypnotized by its seeming naturalness [Genesis 19].

Heed the words of Jesus (salvation): “Leave all and follow Me” [Matthew 4:19; Matthew 8:22; Matthew 16:24; Matthew 19:21; Mark 1:17; Mark 8:34; Mark 10:21; Luke 9:23; Luke 18:22]. “Let the dead bury the dead” [Matthew 8:22; Luke 9:60]. Your problem might have you so hypnotized by its seeming reality and naturalness that you find it difficult to wear the new feeling or consciousness of your savior. You must assume this garment if you would have results. The stone (consciousness) which the builders rejected (would not wear) is the chief cornerstone, and other foundations no man can lay.