Affliction to Joy: Inner Following

Neville's Inner Vision

To Neville, this verse is not about outward imitation but the inward alignment of consciousness. 'Following us, and of the Lord' means you align your awareness with the state of the I AM that already lives in you. Affliction is not a punishment but an inner weather pattern of the mind—an inner movement that tests your faith. When you 'receive the word,' you invite a transformative idea into your consciousness, and the 'joy of the Holy Ghost' is the natural exuberance that arises when the inner word is greeted with trust. The word is a truth that rearranges your inner scenery; as you dwell in it, you become a living proof of it—the trace of the apostles is the trace of your own inner I and the Lord within. The Holy Spirit is not an external wind but the liberating energy of your own awareness that refuses to yield to fear. In practice, you do not conquer affliction by negation but by occupying the state that already contains perfect order. Let your imagination see yourself as the one listening to the inner word, and feel the joy that follows as a natural expression of the I AM.