Ascended Master Mother Mary, March 06, 2006 through Kim Michaels.

So it is essential for a spiritual seeker to realize that as long as you are in embodiment here on earth, there is no such thing as an ultimate level of growth. There can never be a point where you can allow yourself to think that you have done enough, that you have obtained enough, that you have reached some ultimate level of mastery.

Throughout the ages there have been any number of people who have reached a certain level of mastery, but if they have then set themselves up as masters and allowed themselves to be worshipped by their followers as someone who has reached some ultimate state of mastery – and has no more need to grow – then they have not only misled themselves but they have also misled their followers.

Why do you think Jesus stayed with his disciples for only three years? Because he did not want them to fall into that trap and because he realized that he himself had more initiations to go through. And that is why he needed to go through the crucifixion, the death on the cross and the spiritual resurrection. You see, Jesus had reached a high level of attainment before his crucifixion. He could perform many miracles. He was only in his thirties, and he could have remained in Israel for decades, showing great signs and wonders and gradually attracting more and more people.

Yet had he done so, he would not have gone beyond the level of attainment he had reached. And therefore, he would not himself have passed the initiations that he needed to pass in order to fully demonstrate the timeless path to personal Christhood. And what were the final stages of that path? It was that Jesus came to the realization that he was one with the Father and that is why he said, “I and my Father are one.” And yet he also realized that he was one with all life, which is why he said, “Inasmuch as yea have done it unto the least of these my brethren, yea have done it unto me.”

Vertical and horizontal oneness

So you see, my beloved, Jesus demonstrated the vertical oneness with God above and the horizontal oneness with all of God’s co-creators here below. The very basis for establishing the City Foursquare is that each person who is on the path to Christhood establish their inner oneness with their I AM Presence, so that their God flame can shine through their four lower bodies without being obstructed by imperfect images and beliefs or misqualified energies. Yet when you do reach that level of attainment, you need to now realize that it is not the purpose of God to raise you up in order to put you on a pedestal to make you seem better than others.

It is God’s purpose that by you being raised up, you should serve as the instrument for raising up all life. As Jesus clearly said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” Thus, God does not simply want to establish the City Foursquare in your personal being. God wants to establish the City Foursquare on the entire planet. This requires that the four lower bodies of Mother earth be purified and brought into alignment with the divine blueprint for this planet. The blueprint is stored in the spiritual realm and is ready to be lowered into the material realm when a sufficient number of people on earth establish the City Foursquare on an individual level.

This, my beloved hearts, is why we have talked about oneness. For truly, God has the power to force the matrix for the City Foursquare upon this planet and instantly squeeze out anything that is contrary to that matrix. Yet that would not be in alignment with God’s own Law of Free Will. And thus, the City Foursquare can be manifest on this planet only through the free-will choices of people in embodiment. And yet it is not enough that people raise up their own consciousness and establish the City Foursquare in their own beings.

In other words, even if we had ten thousand people who had manifested their individual Christhood walking around on this planet, this would not automatically bring the City Foursquare into physical manifestation. For it is not enough that these people walk around in their Christhood, being separated from each other. What is needed is that a great number of them come together and recognize, on the conscious level, who they are and that they are all part of that same Body of Christ, that same Body of God on earth. And thus, they voluntarily align themselves in the one-pointedness of knowing that they are the forerunners for the Golden Age of Aquarius that will bring, as its highest potential, the City Foursquare into manifestation.

My Beloved, unless vertical oneness with God becomes horizontal oneness with all life, the City Foursquare will not be manifest on this planet. And thus, you see the trap into which so many sincere spiritual seekers have fallen. They have been trapped into pursuing their individual path without taking that next step and sincerely striving for oneness with others who have reached that same level of attainment.

This is an excerpt from a longer teaching. You can read the full dictation HERE.