Workbook · Part I
Lesson 157
Into His Presence would I enter now.
What this lesson is saying
Today’s idea is: “Into His Presence would I enter now.” In ordinary English: Enter God’s presence now — this sitting, this breath — not after you are ready.
The idea is a sentence to use, not a theory to admire. It works where a story is running: a judgment of someone, a judgment of yourself, a belief that you are separate, an attack thought, a situation you have already decided about. Point the words there.
You do not have to believe it first. You use the words on one real judgment — of someone, of yourself, of a situation — and then you take the next ordinary step.
This is not saying
This is not a slogan for the day and not a request that you believe it first. Use it. Then take the next ordinary step — work, rest, a clear no, a kindness.
Why this can change a day
A spiritual idea that never touches a real person is how the ego stays in charge. Used on one encounter, it can undo a whole afternoon of ranking, defense, and self-attack.
In your day
Same idea, three ordinary places — a relationship or encounter, the case against yourself, and a situation at work or at home. You do not need a special mood.
With someone
You are sure a plan is in your best interest: winning, being right, getting even.
What to do
Say the words as written: “Into His Presence would I enter now.” You are about to force an outcome so you will feel special or safe. Pause. Ask what peace would do next. Do that.
Toward yourself
A task looks like a verdict on you — if this fails, I am that.
What to do
Say the words as written: “Into His Presence would I enter now.” Begin the task as if you had not already lost. The idea is not a substitute for the work. It is a substitute for using the work as a self.
At work, at home, or in a situation
A thought says someone else is the problem — and it feels like a report from reality.
What to do
Say the words as written: “Into His Presence would I enter now.” The thought is not a report from God. Let it pass. If something useful must be said, say only that.
Two voices in the same mind
Hear which one is running. Then today’s idea, on a real person — or on you.
Unloving thought
This plan will make me safe. Peace looks like loss. I do not know is weakness.
Jesus’s way
“Into His Presence would I enter now.” Use it on the unloving thought that is actually running. He will send you back to the next person with it.
Spalding · 2019 · episode #359
Jesus’s commentary for Lesson 157
Tina reads the official workbook lesson first. Then she channels. The video is the source. The notes below are study notes of that sitting — not a transcript, and not A Year of Forgiveness.
After the reading
In the video · Jesus speaking
This is the channeled portion — after Tina has read the lesson. Study notes of that sitting. Not a transcript.
- Into His Presence would I enter now.
- Not a later heaven.
- He treats the holy instant as a frequency you consent to, not a trophy state you hunt.
How to sit today
Part I · Grace
The idea is above. This is the one sitting this number asks — how often, how long, and the words. Not a second lesson.
- How often
- Morning and evening given to entering His Presence, plus remembrance through the day
- How long
- Give what the current longer-practice pattern has taught you — at least the five-to-fifteen-minute morning gift of Lesson 153, and its evening pair
How
- Today is practice in entering Presence, not in collecting thoughts about it. Come as you are. Stay for the time you promised.
Longer sitting
Two extended sittings — fifteen minutes twice is the standard for this stretch
- Today’s idea is: “Into His Presence would I enter now.”
- Read the idea (and the prayer or specific form the official lesson gives). Spend the sitting in that idea.
- Say, slowly: “Into His Presence would I enter now.”
- Let related thoughts come. Return to the idea when the mind wanders. Give the rest of the day to remembering it.
Short / hourly
A reminder on the hour — even a minute if that is all you have
- Say, slowly: “Into His Presence would I enter now.”
When shaken
When the day’s idea is the medicine, use it on the actual situation, not later in a chair
- Say, slowly: “Into His Presence would I enter now.”
These scripts follow the workbook’s own method for this number — duration, frequency, and the sentences it asks you to use. They are a study paraphrase, not a replacement. Read the official lesson at acim.org and follow any wording it gives that is more specific than this card.
Words you may not know
Full glossaryCourse words do not mean what church, psychology, or ordinary English usually mean. These notes are for this lesson — tap a word.
Other voices — Tina, Ra, Carla
Short notes from the four streams. The teaching above is the lesson. These are doors if you want them.
Spalding
Into His Presence would I enter now. Not a later heaven. A sitting. He treats the holy instant as a frequency you consent to, not a trophy state you hunt.
Watch this lesson’s commentaryRa
This lesson is practice in polarizing with the person in front of you. Service to others is not a slogan. It is whether you treat them as the same being you are.
Open streamRueckert
Carla's Channeling Handbook begins before any voice arrives: purity of desire, care of the instrument, harmony in the group. Today's idea is that care, applied to ordinary life.
Open stream