June 17th, 1916.
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I see that you are in better condition tonight, and it may be that we can continue the message.
Well, as I was saying, the only way in which a mortal may obtain the development of his soul condition, without the help of the Divine Love, is by attempting to exercise his will in the way that will cause the thoughts of evil and error to leave him, and to be replaced by thoughts that will bring his heart and soul into harmony with the laws of his creation as mere man. This can be done by his seeking for those higher things of morality, and the subordinating of the purely animal desires and appetites of the mortal to the aspirations and desires of the higher and nobler part of his nature.
As I have before told you, man was pure and good until he, by the exercise of his will, following the suggestions of the animal desires, permitted himself to degenerate from the high and perfect condition of his creation. These sins and desires do not belong to his original nature, for his true nature was pure and in harmony with the laws of God. And although he has lost it by the excessive and wrongful exercise of his will, obeying the desires of his animal nature; yet he can recover his condition of original purity and harmony, if he will get rid of these sins and errors, so that his nature may again become free from everything that defiles it, or places it out of harmony with the laws that created it.
So you see, it is not necessary for man to obtain or add to his original condition, any qualities that were not his in the beginning, but merely to get rid of or eradicate from that condition those things which are mere excrescences or parasites - and thereby have his nature in the same condition that was his when he was created, and was the perfect man.
So long a time has the nature or condition of the nature of man been in this state of defilement and alienation from the true condition of his creation, that the effort to bring about the restoration will necessarily be great, and he will have to use all his power of will that he is capable of to effectuate this object, and he will find in such efforts two conflicting forces, always fighting each other for the mastery.
The fact that he believes his present condition is the natural one, and that the state and purity and freedom from sin and error is one that does not belong to him naturally, but must be acquired by adding something to what he now has and always possessed, will make the fight more uneven.
Therefore the first things that man must believe is that his present condition is not his natural one, and that he has nothing more or greater to accomplish than to relieve himself of those things which prevent his condition from becoming as it was when he was the perfect man. If he will get this belief firmly fixed in his mind, and assert that he was made by God, and that God never created anything impure or not in harmony with His laws, he, man, will have accomplished the first step towards his regeneration, and towards success in his effort.
He must not consider himself to be a weak, low and unworthy creature of God, not being entitled to those conditions of purity and greatness which made him the beloved child of the Father. Of course, self-esteem and pride and everything of that nature must be eliminated from the estimate that he must have of himself, but on the contrary the idea that he is degenerated and utterly helpless being must not be permitted to enter his mind. Such thoughts do not make him pleasing to God, as he has been taught they do, but only make him subservient to his masters - sin and error - and prevent him from asserting his own superiority to these things, which is necessary to exist in his conception of his true condition, in order that he may obtain the ascendancy over those masters.
When he shall have assumed this position, then he will realize that these animal appetites and desires, and evil thoughts which arise from them and from the belief that he is by nature degraded and unworthy of a better and higher condition of nature, are really beings of his own creation, and subject to his will and self control - and total destruction. And with such realization will come a consciousness that they are not parts of his nature, but foreign to it; and in order that his nature may become separated from them, he must look upon them as enemies and treat them as such, to be destroyed and utterly extinguished, and never more to be taken to his bosom and cherished as inalienable and dominant parts of his nature.
Of course, in treating them as such enemies, great watchfulness and determination will have to be exercised, for they are very insidious and will at all times and in all ways, whenever the opportunity arises, try to convince him that they are an integral and necessary part of his being, incapable of being separated from him. But by the exercise of this belief, based upon a right conception of what is and what is not a part of him, as the perfect man, and by the exercise of his will power in accordance with this conception, he will be able to rescue himself from these unnatural appetites and desires and thoughts of error and sin.
As this belief becomes stronger and this conception clearer, and his will exercised in closer harmony with the two (true(?)) essentials, these excrescences will gradually and one by one fall away from him, until, at last, he will rise again - the perfect man, with the pure and harmonious nature which God gave him at the time of his creation.
But this process will be slow and sometimes hardly perceptible, for the long years of misbelief in the idea of original sin, and that God created evil and error for the purpose of defiling man's nature and making a disobedient devil of him, without any inherent goodness or the possibility of becoming regenerated, unless by the operation of some miracle; will make it difficult for the acquiring of the true belief as to what he, and what his nature are, and enable him to become the master, and not remain the servant.
God is the Father of all, and loves all his children, and as he originally provided for their happiness, so now, he desires that all may be happy, even though they may not seek for that Divine Love which makes mortals and spirits more than the mere perfect man.
Forgiveness is, in effect, forgetfulness; and when men in their efforts cause all these things of evil and sin to cease being a part of their nature, and only thoughts of purity and righteousness to find a lodgment in their minds, then these other things are forgotten and forgiveness has taken place. Man no longer is the slave of false beliefs and unrighteousness, nor is he their associates, and even in memory they become things of nonexistence; and when he gets into this condition of purity and freedom and in harmony with the laws of his creation, there exists nothing which can be the object of forgiveness, and he is the man of perfect creation.
But in all this man must realize that he does not exist by and for himself alone, for always he is surrounded by mortals or spirits or both, exercising upon him their influence for good or evil; helping him to turn his thoughts from these things of evil and sin into those higher things which are his by nature, or causing him to receive and foster these evil thoughts with increased intensity. He cannot get rid of these influences, of one kind or the other, and, hence, he should seek the influence of those who are good and desire to help him in his efforts towards the recovery of that condition which is his by right of birth.
Among God's laws, which never change and which work impartially, is the great law of attraction; and it works in the case of all mortals and spirits, and never rests. And the great principle of this law is, that like attracts like, and the unlike repulses the unlike. So man must know that as he is - I mean in his state of mind and soul - so necessarily will be his companions of those who desire his association, and, hence, he should realize this important truth and all that it implies.
If his thoughts and deeds are evil, he will attract those spirits or mortals who have similar thoughts and deeds, and who will not help him to higher things, but who will retard his progress towards his first estate; and if his thoughts and deeds are good, then his associates will only be those of like qualities, who can and will help him in his progress.
Every effort to create good thoughts strengthens the desires and will in that direction, and assists the coming of other good thoughts, for with these efforts comes the help of these unseen influences, and the repulsion of the influences of the retarding forces.
Man is a wonderful being and the highest creation of the Father, and yet his greatest master is his belief in the power and supremacy of these things of evil of his own creation. But beyond all this a means to accomplish man's restitution to his perfect estate, is the help of the Father, which is never refused when man seeks for it in earnest sincere prayer (sic). Always the Father is willing to respond to the true prayers of man, and by His instrumentalities, will make the efforts of man sure and effective, so that he can acquire that condition that will free him from all sin and error and slavery of false belief, in the mastery of his evil creatures.
Man must believe in the love and help of the Father, in the manhood and greatness of himself, and in the utter error of his belief in the mastery of his own children of sin and error.I have written enough and must stop, as you are tired.
So assuring you of my love for you, and my care and help, I will say, goodnight.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus.