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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.
Questions about this article?
Ask a minister: fcdt@fcdt.org |
About James E. Padgett
Born August 25, 1852, Mr. James Edward Padgett
practiced law in Washington, D.C. Subsequent to his wife's, Helen,
passing in February, 1914, James learned from a psychic that he had
the gift of automatic writing. Based on the promptings of the
psychic and with a desire to reach his dearly departed Helen, he
commenced take messages from the spirits in the spirit world. At
first, James denounced the messages as merely coming from his mind,
driven by a strong desire to reach his departed wife. Eventually,
however, James could not deny the fact that information he was
receiving could not have possibly come from his own mind - for the
content of the messages surpassed his own education and knowledge.
Before his passing in March, 1923, James had accumulated hundreds of
messages from spirits and celestials in the spirit world.
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