UNIT 4: LESSON 1 THE NABLA FORMULA
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Jesus Messiah
Abraham Maslow, in his classic psychosocial analysis of the needs of man, created a triangular hierarchy with man’s basic or physiologic needs at the base and his ultimate need, self-actualization, at the apex.
That is a valid natural view. But too many get stuck in the climb, especially between the social and esteem needs, and never attain self-actualization. They amass riches, fame and power, yes, they ‘have it all’ seemingly, but they never seem to have enough and so they remain unfulfilled.
This is essentially because they are chasing an illusion. Who we are is not out there in the esteem of our fellow man, themselves in the same illusory pursuit. Who we are is within us. You don’t seek to become what you already are!!
The NABLA Formula is Jesus’ upturned version of Maslow’s triangle. He gives us 3 rules, to build our lives upon.
Strangely, he does not add our perceived needs to that list. Rather, He tells us to look beyond them, for “they shall be added unto you.” Besides, He added, “is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”
He tells us to start life where it matters most: God, our Source. For there is another god that seeks our worship, money!! And money in itself never fulfills a man.
Firstly, to look up, to SEE and revere God, the true and only Source. You cannot serve two masters; God and mammon.
“Let your eye be single.”
Secondly, to HEAR correctly who we truly are; ‘gods… in the image of God’.
“Take heed what you hear”. And how!
Thirdly, to SERVE rather than seek to be served (community).
“The greatest among you shall be your servant.”
- The foundation for good success in life; greatness, self-actualization, ‘good success’ or whatever you call it, is the acknowledgement of God as Source or Father. That is man’s basic/real need; to reconnect with his Maker!
“Know that Yahweh, He is God. It is He who made us and not we ourselves.”
God is the ultimate Meaning in life!
At this core of life, deep calls to deep. Here we take from the Father.
- Next is the need to discover why He made us in the first place; His Truth for our lives.
We must be careful what, and how, we hear in the inner man, for what we hear is what we believe and become!
The world would have us seek who we are from without, to believe that we are the sum of our possessions. That is a lie.
“A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Jesus Christ
God is Love; the ultimate Giver, who has given us ‘richly all things to enjoy’. Gospel
And God made us in His “image and (after) His likeness.”
Therefore, “be imitators of God, as dearly beloved children”, and learn to give of yourself according to His gifting in you.
The Father, Love, is a Giver. Indeed, He is the Ultimate Giver and our Pattern.
We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. That is the new commandment from the Lord Jesus Christ. It is indeed, the summation of the ‘Law and the prophets.’
We don’t begin to love our neighbor because we are prosperous, no. Prosperity, all round prosperity, begins when we seek to love/give to our neighbour, from the heart!
Love gives and givers never lack!
Law: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.” Jesus Christ
As you serve the ‘other/others’ in your world by giving out of your being, the special gift of God in you, you will discover your own meaning in life.
To serve is to find meaning in life.
And meaning brings fulfillment. You will discover both in community.
For the community gives us all, the platform for the fullest expression of our being and purpose in life and hence fulfillment.
Community is the wisdom of God for mankind. For, ‘it is not good for man to be alone’, says Yahweh God.
At this second level of the pyramid, we give to and take from one another, according to God’s manifold graces to each and everyone of us.
The outcome would be a thriving community, where all our physiological, social and esteem needs shall be met, for they ‘shall be added unto you’.
Life is give…and…take. You sow your seed and reap a harvest.
The more we give of our self, the more fulfilled we become.
The reverse of course is also true. When we seek to take only, we end up giving up more than we take.
Take and it shall be taken from you, evil measure, pressed down shaken together… shall men take from your bosom.
The more we take, the less fulfilled we become.
When we see correctly, hear correctly and understand correctly who we truly are… ‘gods… created ‘in the image and after (the) likeness of God’, then can we all go forth with confidence, determination and purpose to achieve ‘dominion…over all the earth’.
‘Corrupted…wisdom’ would rather have us seek after mammon, the love of money, and trample over one another in the process. That, unfortunately, only breeds ‘envy and selfish ambition.’ Disorder and every evil work!
We must choose between:
Truth which builds community, which in turn breeds wealth.
And
Lies, the love of money, which destroys community, which in turn breeds poverty.
For, “unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven (spiritual reality), that you may see (God) with your eyes, and hear (truth) with your ears, and should understand (wisdom of service) with your heart, and should be converted, and I should heal you (iaomai: to make whole)”
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
Jesus Christ