A Reiteration

MON., SEPT. 17, 1984, 9:38 AM
FARM, STUDY

… of what? You may well ask. On this bright, cool Monday at this unusual time I shall offer you a reiteration of the “weird” part of your Christian story. I shall say again that you are not obligated to tell it to everyone, for I do want you to remain among the “acceptable” in your Presbyterian church. Still, I do not want you to forget these realities that I teach you, and I do want you to be able to tell them, with clarity and conviction in the proper circumstances… particularly with people whom I send to you.

Yes, it was interesting that the one part of the creed that you discussed the other evening, that was not considered, was “the life everlasting”. The orthodox Christian view is that life begins with conception (in which I am either eager or obligated to put a soul), proceeds to a full bodily incarnation, and then changes to spirit only, when the body dies (with perhaps some personality… maybe even a body of some sort). At death comes judgment, and then everlasting life continues, either in a beautiful heaven with Me and all the saints or in some miserable hell apart from Me. It is not at all clear what spirits do, in either “place”, for the eternity they earn.

All right, what have I told you? I reiterate: life is everlasting – both ways. There are some brand new souls, but many, in the earth, have been in existence “for a long time”. So a baby born, such as your new grandson, Robertino III, might be a brand new soul, but more likely is one with experience in the earth and in other realms… and may be one with not only much experience but also with a highly developed spirit.

The purpose of life in all realms, I have told you, is spiritual growth. An individual spirit is created out of Me, the Holy Spirit, for I am the basic fount of all manifested spirit. As this individuality is recognized it is highly prized and begins to develop. Yet the path of growth leads back to Me. Growth means that, when you could think of yourself, you think of others; when you could do for yourself, you do for others, and what you do for others is in My Name and for My sake.

As spiritual maturity develops you see less need to be an individual and eventually, with full enlightenment, which includes the acceptance of My grace (which is forgiveness and righteousness), you lovingly merge with Me again and everlasting life continues, in Me. How long does this take? There is time only in the earth, and this is more of a convenience than a reality. It continues until it has been completed. Growth is eternally encouraged, but many souls progress slowly… some even regress… a few, badly.

I am in the earth to encourage growth. As Jesus I offered many helps to growth, and some of this remains as Holy Scripture, enlivened by My presence as Spirit. As a result of My earth life I offer a way around slow, tedious growth – Grace, “the elevator up”. Yet, I reiterate, only spirits with considerable growth toward Me can truly accept this Gift. Theoretically, it is free and available to all, but only a relative few can take it.