I AM HERE. Jesus.
I come tonight to tell you that you are in a better condition than
you were last night and, in fact, have been for some nights past. I
desire to write to you a message on the question of: “How the Soul
of a Mortal Receives the Divine Love, and What Its Effect Is, Even
Though the Mind May Indulge Subsequently in Those Beliefs That May
Tend to Prevent the Growth of the Soul. Also, What Is a Lost Soul?”
AS YOU KNOW, THE INFLOWING OF THIS LOVE IS CAUSED BY THE HOLY
SPIRIT'S BESTOWAL IN RESPONSE TO SINCERE PRAYER AND LONGINGS. I MEAN
PRAYER AND LONGINGS FOR THE LOVE ITSELF, AND NOT PRAYERS FOR THE
MATERIAL BENEFITS THAT MEN MORE OFTEN AND MORE NATURALLY ASK FOR AND
DESIRE. THE PRAYERS OF MORTALS FOR THOSE THINGS THAT MAY TEND TO
MAKE THEM SUCCESSFUL AND HAPPY IN THEIR NATURAL LOVE ARE ANSWERED
ALSO, IF IT IS BEST THAT THEY SHOULD BE. BUT THESE ARE NOT THE
PRAYERS THAT BRING THE DIVINE LOVE OR CAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT TO WORK
WITH MEN.
AS THE PRAYERS OF THE SINCERE, EARNEST SOUL ASCEND TO THE FATHER,
THAT SOUL BECOMES OPENED UP TO THE INFLOWING OF THIS LOVE. THE
SOUL'S PERCEPTIONS THEN ENLARGE AND COME MORE IN RAPPORT WITH THE
CONDITIONS OR INFLUENCE THAT ALWAYS ACCOMPANIES THE PRESENCE OF THIS
LOVE. ACCORDINGLY, ITS ENTRANCE INTO THE SOUL BECOMES EASIER AND, IN
ITS RECEPTION, MORE PERCEPTIBLE TO THE SOUL SENSE. THE MORE EARNEST
THE PRAYER AND SINCERE THE LONGINGS, THE SOONER FAITH COMES. AND
WITH THIS FAITH COMES THE REALIZATION THAT THE DIVINE LOVE IS
PERMEATING THE SOUL.
WHEN THE DIVINE LOVE ONCE FINDS A LODGMENT IN THE SOUL, IT BECOMES,
AS IT WERE, A CHANGED SUBSTANCE TO THE EXTENT THAT IT RECEIVES THE
LOVE AND PARTAKES OF THE ESSENCE OF THAT LOVE. AND AS WATER MAY
BECOME COLORED BY AN INGREDIENT FOREIGN TO ITSELF, WHICH CHANGES NOT
ONLY ITS APPEARANCE BUT ALSO ITS QUALITIES, SO THIS DIVINE LOVE
CHANGES THE APPEARANCE AND QUALITIES OF THE SOUL. AND THIS CHANGE OF
QUALITIES CONTINUES EVER THEREAFTER. THE NATURAL QUALITIES OF THE
SOUL AND THE ESSENCE OF THE LOVE BECOME ONE AND UNITED, AND THE SOUL
IS MADE ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT IN ITS CONSTITUENCY FROM WHAT IT WAS
BEFORE THE INFLOWING OF THE LOVE—BUT THIS ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF THE
LOVE RECEIVED.
AS THIS LOVE INCREASES IN QUANTITY, THE CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION
BECOME CORRESPONDINGLY GREATER. FINALLY, THE TRANSFORMATION MAY AND
WILL BECOME SO GREAT THAT THE WHOLE SOUL BECOMES A THING OF THIS
DIVINE ESSENCE AND PARTAKES OF ITS VERY NATURE AND SUBSTANCE—A BEING
OF DIVINITY.
WHEN THIS LOVE ONCE ENTERS AND TRULY POSSESSES THE SOUL AND WORKS
THE CHANGE MENTIONED, IT, THE LOVE, NEVER LEAVES NOR DISASSOCIATES
ITSELF FROM THE SOUL. ITS CHARACTER OF DIVINE ESSENCE NEVER CHANGES
BACK TO THAT OF THE MERE NATURAL LOVE. AND TO THE EXTENT THAT IT IS
PRESENT, SIN AND ERROR HAVE NO EXISTENCE. THIS IS SO BECAUSE IT IS
JUST AS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THIS ESSENCE AND SIN AND ERROR TO OCCUPY THE
SAME PARTS OF THE SOUL AT THE SAME TIME AS IT IS FOR TWO MATERIAL
OBJECTS TO OCCUPY THE SAME SPACE AT THE SAME TIME, AS YOUR
PHILOSOPHERS SAY.
DIVINITY NEVER GIVES PLACE TO THAT WHICH IS NOT OF THE DIVINE. MAN
IS WORKING TOWARDS THE ATTAINMENT OF THE DIVINE WHEN HE PURSUES THE
WAY PROVIDED FOR OBTAINING THE DIVINE NATURE. AND AS HE ADVANCES AND
OBTAINS A PORTION OF THIS DIVINE, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, HE CAN NEVER
RETRACE HIS STEPS TO THE EXTENT OF RIDDING HIMSELF OF THE PRESENCE
OF THIS TRANSFORMING ESSENCE.
BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT A MAN MAY NOT LOSE THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF
THE EXISTENCE OF THIS ESSENCE WITHIN HIS SOUL, FOR HE FREQUENTLY
DOES. THE INDULGENCE OF HIS CARNAL APPETITES AND EVIL DESIRES WILL
PLACE HIM IN A CONDITION WHERE HE MAY CEASE TO HAVE A CONSCIOUSNESS
OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE DIVINE LOVE IN HIS SOUL. AND, TO HIMSELF, HE
WILL BE AS IF HE HAD NEVER HAD ANY EXPERIENCE OF THE CHANGE THAT I
SPEAK OF.
AND WHILE THIS LOVE CAN NEVER BE ERADICATED BY THE EVILS THAT MAN
MAY INDULGE IN, OR BY THE MENTAL BELIEFS THAT HE MAY ACQUIRE, YET
THE PROGRESS OF THIS LOVE IN HIS SOUL MAY BE CHECKED AND BECOME
STAGNANT AS IF IT NO LONGER EXISTED. AND SIN AND ERROR MAY APPEAR
AGAIN TO BE THE ONLY DOMINANT ELEMENTS OF HIS LIFE AND BEING. BUT,
YET, WHEN ONCE POSSESSED, THE LOVE CANNOT BE CROWDED OUT OF HIS SOUL
BY SIN AND ERROR, NO MATTER HOW DEEP AND INTENSE THESE TWO MAY BE. I
KNOW THAT THIS MAY SEEM STRANGE AND IMPOSSIBLE TO MAN'S INTELLECTUAL
THINKING, AND THAT IT IS NOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH WHAT HAS BEEN
ATTRIBUTED TO ME IN MY TEACHING THAT A SOUL MAY BE LOST.
NEVERTHELESS, A SOUL THAT HAS ONCE RECEIVED THIS DIVINE ESSENCE
CANNOT BE LOST, EVEN THOUGH ITS AWAKENING FROM ITS DORMANT CONDITION
AND ITS REALIZATION OF THE PRESENCE AND LIFE OF THIS LOVE MAY BE
GREATLY DELAYED BY SIN AND ERROR AND MISDIRECTED BELIEFS. AND MUCH
SUFFERING AND DARKNESS MAY HAVE TO BE ENDURED BY THE SOUL THAT IS
PLAGUED BY SUCH CONDITIONS.
BUT I MUST NOT BE UNDERSTOOD TO MEAN BY THIS THAT A SOUL CANNOT BE
LOST, FOR IT CAN. MANY SOULS HAVE BEEN AND WILL BE LOST, AND MANY
WILL REALIZE THIS FACT WHEN IT IS TOO LATE.
NOW, WHAT IS A LOST SOUL? IT IS NOT ONE THAT A MAN MAY ACTUALLY LOSE
IN THE SENSE OF BEING DEPRIVED OF IT OR BEING SEPARATED FROM IT, OR
ITS EVEN BEING LOST AS REGARDS HIS POSSIBLE LOST CONSCIOUSNESS OF
IT. FOR WHILE HE MAY BELIEVE THAT HE HAS LOST HIS SOUL AT TIMES, IN
THE SENSE OF NOT HAVING ANY, YET HE IS MISTAKEN IN SUCH A BELIEF.
THE SOUL, WHICH IS THE MAN, CAN NEVER BE SEPARATED FROM HIMSELF. AND
AS LONG AS HE LIVES IN THE PHYSICAL BODY OR IN THE SPIRITUAL BODY,
HIS SOUL WILL BE WITH HIM.
AND, YET, HE MAY HAVE A SOUL, CONSCIOUSLY OR NOT, AND, AT THE SAME
TIME, HE MAY HAVE LOST IT. THIS MAY SEEM TO BE A PARADOX TO THE
MORTAL INTELLECT OR TO THE INTELLECT OF A SPIRIT, BUT IT IS TRUE.
THEN, WHAT IS A LOST SOUL? WHEN GOD GAVE TO MAN A SOUL, THAT SOUL
WAS MADE IN THE IMAGE, BUT NOT IN THE SUBSTANCE, OF ITS MAKER. AND,
AT THE SAME TIME, THERE WAS BESTOWED ON HIM THE PRIVILEGE OF HAVING
THAT SOUL BECOME OF THE SUBSTANCE OF THE FATHER AND, TO AN EXTENT,
DIVINE AND ENTITLED TO, AND CAPABLE OF, LIVING IN THE CELESTIAL
KINGDOM OF THE FATHER, WHERE EVERYTHING IS OF HIS DIVINE ESSENCE AND
NATURE.
WHEN THE FIRST PARENTS FORFEITED THAT PRIVILEGE BY THEIR ACT OF
DISOBEDIENCE, THEIR SOULS LOST THE POSSIBILITY OF BECOMING OF THE
DIVINE NATURE AND AT-ONE WITH THE FATHER IN HIS KINGDOM. THEY LOST
NOT THE NATURAL SOUL THEREBY, WHICH WAS A PART OF THEIR CREATION,
BUT THAT PART OF THEIR SOUL HAVING THE POSSIBILITY OF OBTAINING THE
ESSENCE OF DIVINITY AND IMMORTALITY THAT THE FATHER HAS.*
AS I HAVE SAID HERETOFORE, THIS GREAT PRIVILEGE WAS RESTORED TO
MANKIND WITH MY COMING, AND THE LOST SOUL BECAME AGAIN THE OBJECT OF
MAN'S RECOVERY. AND NOW HE HAS THAT PRIVILEGE THAT THE FIRST PARENTS
HAD BEFORE THEIR FALL. BUT MEN MAY ALSO LOSE IT AS THEY DID. AS THE
FIRST PARENTS' SOULS WERE LOST UNTIL THEY RECEIVED THE DIVINE
ESSENCE OF THE FATHER INTO THEM, SO WITH MEN NOW. THEIR SOULS ARE
LOST UNTIL AND UNLESS THEY RECEIVE THIS DIVINE ESSENCE THEREIN. AND
AS THE FIRST PARENTS FORFEITED THEIR PRIVILEGE OF HAVING THEIR SOULS
BECOME A LIVING, DIVINE SUBSTANCE BY THEIR DISOBEDIENCE AND REFUSAL,
SO NOW WILL MEN FORFEIT THEIR PRIVILEGE TO SAVE THEIR SOULS FROM
SEPARATION FROM THE DIVINE UNITY WITH THE FATHER BY THE SAME
DISOBEDIENCE AND REFUSAL.
THE LOST SOUL IS AS REAL AS THE VERITIES OF THE FATHER'S IMMUTABLE
LAWS. AND ONLY BY THE OPERATION OF THE DIVINE LOVE CAN THE LOST SOUL
BECOME THE FOUND SOUL.
MEN MAY BELIEVE AND TEACH THAT THERE IS A PART OF THE DIVINE WITHIN
THEM THAT WILL CAUSE THEIR SOULS TO PROGRESS AND DEVELOP UNTIL THEY
REACH THE CONDITION OF DIVINITY THAT WILL MAKE THEM A PART OF THE
DIVINITY OF THE FATHER. BUT THEY ARE ALL WRONG IN SUCH THINKING. FOR
WHILE MAN WAS THE HIGHEST CREATION OF GOD, THE MOST PERFECT, AND
MADE IN HIS IMAGE, YET THERE IS NO PART OF THE DIVINE IN MAN. AND
HAVING NO PART OF THE DIVINE, IT IS WHOLLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO
PROGRESS TO A POSSESSION OF THE DIVINE. HE, OF HIMSELF, NO MATTER
WHAT HIS DEVELOPMENT MAY BE, CAN NEVER BECOME GREATER OR MORE
PERFECT, OR OF A HIGHER NATURE, THAN HE WAS AT HIS CREATION.
THE DIVINE COMES FROM ABOVE. AND WHEN ONCE PLANTED IN A MAN'S SOUL,
THERE CAN BE NO LIMIT TO ITS EXPANSION AND DEVELOPMENT, EVEN IN THE
CELESTIAL HEAVENS. LET ALL MEN SEEK THIS LOVE AND THERE WILL BE NO
LOST SOULS. BUT, ALAS, MANY WILL NOT DO SO, AND THE SPIRITUAL
HEAVENS WILL BE FILLED WITH LOST SOULS WHO LACK THE DIVINE ESSENCE
OF THE FATHER.
I HAVE WRITTEN ENOUGH FOR TONIGHT, AND I AM PLEASED AT THE WAY IN
WHICH YOU RECEIVED MY MESSAGE. CONTINUE TO PRAY TO THE FATHER FOR
MORE AND MORE OF HIS DIVINE LOVE AND YOUR PRAYERS WILL BE ANSWERED.
YOU WILL SOON REALIZE, WITH THE CERTAINTY THAT COMES FROM THE
CONSCIOUS POSSESSION OF THE DIVINE ESSENCE, THAT YOUR SOUL IS NOT
LOST AND NEVER WILL BE.
So, with my love and blessings, I will say good night and God bless
you.
Your brother and friend,
JESUS.