Neville Goddard on Hebrews 12:1-11 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Hebrews 12 in context

Scripture Focus

1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

4Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

5And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

10For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

11Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Hebrews 12:1-11

Biblical Context

Hebrews 12:1-11 invites us to lay aside hindrances, run with patience, and endure the Lord's discipline so that we may share in holiness.

Neville's Inner Vision

Viewed through the I AM, Hebrews 12:1–11 reveals that the 'cloud of witnesses' are the thoughts and memories you carry within your mind. The weights and sin are false identifications; the race is your ongoing act of choosing a new state of consciousness. 'Looking unto Jesus' means fixing your gaze on the highest I AM within you, the living pattern by which reality is formed, and embracing the joy set before you as the end of the journey. He endured the cross as the sign that your present sense of self can be transformed; the discipline of chastisement is love correcting your inner sight, not punishment. Consider that you have not yet resisted unto blood, yet this only shows the depth of your invitation to grow. The Father of spirits disciplines to bring you into holiness, and though the moment feels grievous, its fruit is righteousness. So you run the race by willingly submitting to inner discipline, until your consciousness itself becomes the holiness the passage speaks of.

Practice This Now

Imaginative Act: Pick one state you desire and, for five minutes, assume it is already real; feel the truth of it now and let the old self fall away. Close with the conviction, 'I am that I am'—it is so.