Self - denial Part 2

In The Word of God are texts published and offered which Bertha Dudde was permitted to prophetically receive and record. One promise of Jesus Christ was (John 14.21): ‘Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him.’

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Please take special notice of the fact that God’s Words addressed to us are non-denominational. The contents of the publication by no means intends to attract members of any Christian religious affiliation nor to recruit members into any other religious affiliation.

Its sole purpose is to make the present-day Word of God .... accessible to all people. May this Word of God become a blessing to many people.

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Distribution of the proclamations is very much desired. Only complete and unaltered proclamations must be passed on.

Who was Bertha Dudde?

Bertha Dudde wurde am 1. April 1891 als zweitälteste Tochter eines Kunstmalers in Liegnitz, Schlesien, geboren.

Bertha Dudde was born on 1. April 1891, as the second oldest daughter of a painter, in Liegnitz, Silesia. She became a dressmaker and began to receive pronouncements from God through the ‘Inner Word’ on 15. June 1937.

“In a clear dream I was moved to write down my thoughts after devout prayer. Understandably this often gave way to doubt and inner conflicts until I was convinced that I was, myself, by no means the initiator of these exquisitely gracious words; but instead it was the spirit within me, in other words, the love of the Heavenly Father was obviously responsible for them and introduced me to the truth”.

“I was given knowledge of the spiritual world which far exceeded my elementary school education. I received and receive this knowledge as a dictation in a state of complete consciousness; I write down everything I am told in shorthand, in order to then transfer it word for word to clean copy. The procedure does not take place in a state of compulsion, for example in a state of trance or ecstasy, but in an absolutely level-headed frame of mind. However, I have to want it to happen and then I can receive these dictations voluntarily; they are neither bound by time nor place.”

“Now I only have one wish, which is to be able to make these gifts of grace accessible to many more people and in accordance with the will of God Himself to be allowed to do much more work in His vineyard.”

(Quotations from an autobiography from 1959).

Bertha Dudde died on 18. September 1965 in Leverkusen, Germany.

Published by friends of the New Revelation, Hans-Willi Schmitz und Wilhelm Wegers

http://en.bertha-dudde.org

Autobiography of Bertha Dudde

At the request of many friends Bertha Dudde wrote the following biography in 1953:

I have been writing messages received through the inner Word since June 15, 1937. In answer to the many requests of my friends I will give you a picture of my earthly life, a short explanation of what I received spiritually, and my own feelings about all this.

I was born April 1, 1891, the second oldest daughter of an artist of Liegnitz in Silesia, today's Poland. I had a normally peaceful childhood, with six sisters in our parent’s home. I learned the cares of life at an early age. The desire to make money to help my parents made me learn the trade of a seamstress. As the financial needs of my parents continued, so did the burden, and in this way I made myself useful.

My parents belonged to different denominations. Father was a Protestant - Mother a Catholic. We children were brought up in the Catholic faith but never experienced pressure or force to follow the practices of the church so that each child in later years was able to pursue their own chosen course.

I myself was religious but could not accept the doctrine of the Catholic system although I respected the church. I could not represent something on the outside that my inner conscience had not accepted. So I did not continue to attend church, heard little preaching and had no knowledge of the Bible. I did not read any religious books or scientific literature and did not join any other group or religious sect.

Anyone knowing the Catholic teaching knows what a conscious struggle one finds himself in when he wants to release himself from it. I was not spared from this either. But the question as to what is the Truth and where it is to be found, remained.

Often when I prayed the Lord's Prayer I would beseech the Lord to allow me to find His kingdom. This prayer was answered in June 15, 1937, as I prayed quietly and waited for the inner voice. In this attitude I persisted often, for a wonderful peace came over me and thoughts which came to my heart, not my head, gave me comfort and strength.

Still I did not know that these thoughts were given to me until, in a strange dream I experienced something which later proved to be the Truth and caused me to write down these thoughts.

So on a certain day as I listened inwardly a stream of words came to me, which I wrote down. This was the first message I wrote which started like this: "In the beginning was the Word, 'a Te-Deum' to the Creator of Heaven and Earth."

Then came doubt, …. did you write this by yourself? In short, I have wrestled, prayed and gone through many struggles, but again and again the words came to me like a stream, a wisdom, which made me tremble. Then God Himself took away my doubts. He answered me and I acknowledged Him as our Father, in His Word. My faith grew, doubt diminished, and I received and wrote daily.

The contents of the writings were beyond my understanding. Phrases, which I had never heard of or read about, strange and scientific expressions and references continually came to me. Then came unheard of expressions of the Heavenly Father's Love giving refuge and providing enlightenment to all the questions of life.

The Words came to me in the following manner: After sincere prayer and a short period of composure I listened inwardly. Thoughts then followed coming to my mind, clearly, distinctly, and the words flowed smoothly always three or four, one after another, like writing a radio announcement or a weather report, slowly so that I could easily keep pace, writing line after line.

Now I write the words in shorthand as a dictation without having any constructive or intellectual part in it. I am in no way in a 'trance', nor do I even form the sentences, but it comes to me one word at a time, neither do I understand the context while I am writing the words down.

After days, sometimes weeks, I transcribe the shorthand writings into longhand without changing or correcting a syllable. Each dictation takes about half an hour. I must stress that this could not happen forcibly or in a state of ecstasy. It all takes place simply and consciously, without any excitement or influence of my own will. I can interrupt myself at any time and finish the sentence after hours or days without reading the previous writing the dictated words continue again.

My will is under no compulsion, all that I desire is to serve God and do what His will wants me to do.

I can truthfully say that I was led into this Truth, and these concepts were, in every respect, foreign to me. It was only after years that I found confirmation of what I received when I came to know the writings of Jacob Lorber. No one can imagine my joy when I discovered the literature of Jacob Lorber; ‘The Great Gospel of John’ and ‘The Youth of Christ’. Then I understood that other people were also given the Word of the Lord, that God had spoken to His children at all times and that God will continue to do this in His endless love and mercy.

I found in Lorber's writings the same as was given to me. I often could not understand the Word that came to me, but in His love the Heavenly Father gave me the explanation. How wonderful are the innumerable manifestations in which the Father displays His exceedingly great goodness.

It became clear to me that my limited education due to lack of money, and my lack of time to read good books or visit performances, became my advantage. I was now able to concentrate on my work from early morning to late at night, and each day I received that precious spiritual Word without knowing for whom I received it.

It is because of my ignorance of the Bible and the Catholic doctrine that I accepted the Word from above without resistance. In my experience, an earnest Catholic or Protestant whose knowledge is rooted in dogmatic theories is too much bound to dogma to accept and embrace divine revelations without resistance.

Still, there are scientists at several faculties who earnestly discuss these divine teachings with increasing interest. Their interest not only concerns the irrefutable explanation of the origin of matter and the possibility of its dissolution, but also the principle of the wrong teachings of different religions, systems and confessions. In the messages I received, these errors are recorded and everyone is urged to give instructions concerning these doctrinal errors whenever there is an opportunity. But everyone is free to take the Lord's Word to heart or not. But whoever understands the spirit in the Father's Word and does not act accordingly increases the distance between himself and the Father even more. When he does not follow the warning Words of love he puts himself inevitably under the law. He will also, in the same measure, lack in grace by disregarding God's commandment of love.

In God's grace people are led anew to the Gospel, which emphatically points out the purpose of man's being. For the merciful love of God seeks to save all who still can be saved before the turning point comes. And it will come. The end-time which seers and prophets have proclaimed is now here. According to the revelations given to me, the Lord does not differentiate between His children. ‘Come ye all to Me’ sounds His call and blessed is he who hears His call and follows Him. God loves His children. He wants to make them all happy, even when they do not want to know Him.

Recorded November 22, 1953

Bertha Dudde

Bertha Dudde was permitted to leave her earthly shell on September 18, 1965 to return to the Father’s heavenly house.

Table of Contents

The most difficult earthly task – and yet it is unavoidable if we want to attain eternal life

5303 - Purpose of earthly life: Change of will and character....

6202 - Task in life: Helping with love....

7351 - Change of character into love.... God´s presence....

7344 - Everlasting battle against the world....

7307 - Frequent introspection is necessary....

7514a - The strength of the Word.... Daily work of improving the soul....

7514b - The strength of the Word.... Daily work of improving the soul....

5913 - Fighting or helping....

5039 - Love of the world - Satan's followers.... Love of God - Overcoming matter....

6359 - The narrow and the broad path....

4919 - Humility - Arrogance.... Danger....

7803 - Spiritual pride and its danger....

7110 - Wealth or poverty is neither an advantage nor a hindrance to attaining beatitude....

7401 - Frugality....

7367 - Purifying the heart....

7530 - Conscious psychological work....

2321 - Disposition.... Instincts of preliminary stages....

7157 - Suffering as means of purifying the soul or love....

7997 - You humans should strive for perfection....

8523 - The condition to attain perfection on earth....

7355 - Effect of the strength of love....

The most difficult earthly task – and yet it is unavoidable if we want to attain eternal life

Purpose of earthly life: Change of will and character ....

B.D. 5303 from January 26th 1952, taken from Book No. 59

You humans have to go through a process of revival or you will be unsuitable for the spiritual kingdom, for the spheres of light. This means that you humans, the way you are in earthly life, don't have the necessary maturity to reside in the kingdom of light. You need a completely different attitude in order to become an acceptable occupant of the spiritual kingdom, and you are meant to achieve this state on earth, which is indeed possible. Hence you have to go through a certain process of transformation, and you have to undertake it of your own accord.

Your character cannot be forcibly changed, thus your state at the end of your earthly life is determined by yourselves, and corresponding to your willingness to change your soul will leave your body .... either receptive to light or still surrounded by dense layers which cannot bear any emanation of light .... But who knows this, which person ponders this when he is informed of it and takes changing his character seriously? ....

Every person has to refine himself, he has to discard faults, weaknesses and bad habits and teach himself humility, gentleness, peacefulness, patience, compassion; every person has to shape himself into love in order to combine all these virtues within himself, then he will have shaped himself such that he can be admitted into the kingdom of light, then his nature will be deified, then he will have adjusted himself to My fundamental nature and thereby will have enabled Me Myself to enter into union with him, for everything that had separated us will have been consciously removed. The transformation of his character is the path which leads to Me, he will have achieved his earthly goal and discarded the last heavy cover as soon as he leaves his body in order to then live eternally as a blissfully happy spiritual being. Only then will the real life begin .... Let these words come alive in you: Real life begins for you when you enter the kingdom of light .... Everything prior to this has only been the ladder, the preparation time for the actual life which, however, has to be acquired during this preparation time. You humans eagerly and undauntedly work for earthly life since you consider this alone important, and you regard it as an end in itself. Yet you do not consider the actual life because you do not believe in a continuation of life after the death of your body.

Oh, you are fools .... Your purpose of life is an entirely different one than just working for your body's well-being. You are informed of this time and again yet you don't believe it, and therefore you don't change your character either, and that is your downfall .... For if you are not suitable to enter the kingdom of light, but I neither can nor want to destroy you since you originated from Me, you will have to carry out your transformation elsewhere, and that can also mean a great fall and a gradual ascent corresponding to My eternal plan, if the opportunity of attaining maturity in the beyond is not available to you .... Sooner or later you will have to undertake this change of character in the stage of a human being, not even My love can release you from this. The stage of a human being is, however, the final stage in an incredibly long process of development through all creations on earth. As a human being you will have to accomplish a conscious change of will and character if this process of development is to reach a successful end with your physical death on earth .... Then your earthly course of life will irrevocably come to an end ....

Nevertheless, progress can continue in the spiritual realm, the soul can still recognise its wretched state in the spiritual kingdom and try to improve itself, but this necessitates much help from the beings of light or through human intercession. But the being can also slide down again into the deepest abyss because it did not recognise and try to change itself .... Then it will have to accept an appalling fate in order to join the process of change after an infinitely long time again, when it has to prove itself once again ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Task in life: Helping with love ....

B.D. 6202 from March 1st 1955, taken from Book No. 67

Your task in earthly life is to lovingly help each other .... You are only able to work your way up through helpful love, for this alone raises your soul's degree of maturity, this alone enables you to enter the kingdom of light and will ensure beatitude after your physical death. All other efforts are of no benefit to you if you exclude being of loving service, if your heart remains hardened, if you want to dominate where you should be helpful. For only through helpful neighbourly love will you make

Amends for the past sin of having rejected love, when you yourselves withdrew from love in order to follow the one who is totally devoid of love, who revolted against Me. Your life on earth has only been given to you to acquire the love again which you once rejected .... so that you demonstrate that you want to change your nature, that you demonstrate your change of will by being lovingly active .... Hence you cannot ignore love if you want to become perfect again, if you want to return to Me again in order to be infinitely happy. The knowledge of this is worthless to you if you don't put it into practice. And the opportunity for this will always be offered to you .... and you will always see hardship around you, people in need will always approach you and appeal for your help .... And then don't let them go from you without having helped them, if you are able to do so .... And don't worry that you have to go short yourselves, for the measure you use will be the measure you receive again ....

But also use you intelligence .... this, too, is My advice so that you will not damage your neighbour more than helping him .... For adversity caused by a person's own fault shall also be remedied by him again, where this is within the scope of possibility .... And the fact that it will be possible if the person is willing, can be appealed for by him from Me .... You must therefore distinguish between adversity and negligence .... You should certainly ease suffering but never encourage another person's carelessness, which is a great evil and should therefore not be supported .... Yet where love helpfully intervenes the adversity will also quickly be remedied, for I will help as well, if I recognise love on the one hand and gratitude on the other .... No human being will be abandoned by Me, and if he turns to Me Myself he will also be shown a way which will guide him out of all adversity .... However, anyone who only relies on his fellow human being is not truly entitled to help, and the adversity is intended to make him see that he himself must change .... For adversity is often the teaching method I use for a person in order to win him over for Myself, so that the adversity impels him to Me, so that it reminds the person of Me and he takes refuge in Me Who will then never disappoint him. It is My will that all people shall become blessed, and thus it is also My will that they should recognise Me .... However, many people spend no thought on Me as long as they have a good life on earth, and thus they are on a downward spiral, towards My adversary .... Only through adversity can I influence them such that they turn around and strive to towards Me as their goal, that they pleadingly raise their hands to Me for help .... And I will hear this call and send them help when the time is right .... Be lovingly active as long as you live on earth and give to your neighbour what he needs .... And I will bless you and that which you give to your neighbour for love of Me ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Change of character into love .... God´s presence ....

B.D. 7351 from May 1st 1959, taken from Book No. 78

I can only be present to you if you change yourselves into love .... However, My presence is the epitome of bliss for you. And therefore you should do everything in your power to shape yourselves into love again, which was your nature in the beginning .... My presence is the equivalent of being permeated by love, and this permeation of love in turn assures you strength and light, without it you cannot be called blissfully happy. But if you are full of light and strength you will also be able to work in complete freedom of will which, however, will no longer be directed against Me but will be utterly absorbed in My will. You will be happy to be able to create in this freedom and strength, because this had been the purpose of every originally created spirit, it merely disregarded it and thus placed itself into the wretched condition in which the still imperfect human being finds himself on earth .... But he himself can change this situation; he can change the unhappy fate into a blissful one by merely doing everything in his power in order to assure My presence with him .... by changing himself into love again .... And this is truly not so difficult, for he need only use My commandments of love for God and his neighbour as a guiding principle for his life on earth and always live according to these two commandments. And since he claims the right for himself to be respected by his fellow human being, since he feels the benefit himself when the latter helps him with kindness, he knows exactly which path he ought to travel in order to do justice to the commandments of love .... He need only treat his fellow human being as he would like to be treated himself were he in the same situation as the other person. What he considers beneficial he should do to his neighbour, and he will always have the strength and the means for this providing he really wants to do it. And what he initially does deliberately will soon become his heartfelt need and he will experience for himself how gladdening it can be to do good deeds for his neighbour, to give and help where it is needed .... Love will fill his whole being and he will come ever closer to Me, for with every act of love he draws Me to himself and ensures My presence ....

And then he will fulfil the purpose of his earthly life, he will accomplish the transformation of his nature, he will live up to the reason why earthly life was given to him: He will try to become as perfect as he was in the beginning. With My grace and support He will certainly succeed in doing so but never without Me, because he is too weak for it. He must ensure himself of My presence .... He must appeal to Me and thus through prayer come close to Me one day, he must beseech Me to grant him strength for his change of character into love .... This prayer will be granted to him without fail, for it gives evidence of his sincere will to accomplish this change of character, and once a person has appealed to Me for this he will time and again encounter opportunities where he can practise love, where it is no real effort of will for him because he will clearly receive the strength he appealed for from Me. Just take your change of character into love seriously .... and appeal to Me for help .... And truly, I will remain present to you and inwardly impel you to be lovingly active wherever the opportunity presents itself, for I want to be united with you and this can only take place through love which you voluntarily have to demonstrate, but you will always be supported by Me providing you sincerely ask Me for strength to accomplish your intention. You are incapable of doing anything without My presence, but you can always ensure My presence through activity of love or a prayer in spirit and in truth. I will hear it and answer your prayer, I will be and remain with you, I will draw you until you will no longer want to detach yourselves from Me, until you have so strengthened the bond with Me through your activity of love that I can constantly be present to you and then the re-transformation into love will have been accomplished, you will have brought your nature into line with Mine and thereby fulfilled your purpose of earthly life, and you will be able to work again as you were destined to in the very beginning ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Everlasting battle against the world ....

B.D. 7344 from April 23rd 1959, taken from Book No. 78

And if you crave for the pleasures of this world only remember that you will forfeit spiritual pleasures because you cannot possess both at the same time, the spiritual and the earthly kingdom, for My kingdom is not of this world. The pleasures offered to you by the earthly world will only ever satisfy the body but not the soul, which needs something different in order to attain beatitude, which cannot be fobbed off with earthly enjoyments but needs spiritual nourishment in order to become happy. And therefore always take care that your desire will not get out of hand and stifle the soul's desire; always take care that earthly pleasures will not stop you from spiritual striving, that they are, as it were, contrary to them .... that the person's spiritual striving diminishes to the same extent as he tries to provide for himself, that is, his body, physical pleasures. And always remember that 'My kingdom is not of this world ....' Consequently, whatever you enjoy or deem desirable and which still belongs to this world will always signify a small obstacle on the path of ascent, into the spiritual kingdom. Not everything is denied to you by Me, it just should not include the danger of straying from the path to Me .... As long as this risk does not exist, you may also give to your body what it requires .... And it is up to you to establish whether and to what extent you will be prevented from your contact with Me, from your earnest striving for My kingdom and its righteousness. And if you then let an opportunity pass you by which might have been able to provide your soul with spiritual saturation merely in order to gratify your body then it will be an injustice to your soul, which is equally famished and in need of strengthening.

The spiritual aspirant will never shelve the spiritual kingdom or his soul, he will always place it in the forefront, he can't help but consider his soul first and will not pay too much attention to his body until he first has taken care of his soul. And whatever he then will give to the body is right before My eyes, for he first considered My kingdom and My will before he considered his earthly existence, and this is right and also in accordance with My will. For I placed you into this world because you can fully mature in it, and your soul will indeed mature fully if you always bear My will in mind and live on earth accordingly. And it will always be My will that you should lift your eyes up to Me, that you strive towards Me, that you look for the connection with Me, that you are therefore held captive by the spiritual realm and don't bury yourselves again into matter for the sake of the earthly world, which is your demise. And if you are attracted by great earthly temptations then be always careful that you do not forfeit the treasures of your soul .... that you voluntarily relinquish that which your soul had already taken possession of .... that you disregard its desire and leave it to suffer hardship for the sake of earthly possessions or earthly pleasures. The world is your enemy, try to become its master, you can certainly make it compliant but don't allow it to become your master to whom you subjugate yourselves and thereby suffer defeat instead of gaining victory. Remain constantly in contact with the kingdom which is not of this world and you will truly be victorious over the earthly world; it will serve you to reach perfection, because this is your only goal ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Frequent introspection is necessary ....

B.D. 7307 from March 13th 1959, taken from Book No. 77

Look within yourselves and recognise your weaknesses .... Frequent introspection is very necessary for you, for you humans are not aware of the fact that you are still very inadequately shaped because you do not critically look at your state of soul but are satisfied so long as only your external appearance is alright in your opinion. Yet the latter does not contribute towards increasing your maturity of soul, which requires work in its own right if it is to yield results. And it is necessary for you to know how you should be like and how you actually are .... This is why you should give account to yourselves more often, you should exercise self criticism and only ever use My commandments of love for God and your neighbour as the guideline .... and you will soon become aware of weaknesses and imperfections which will then surface with crystal clarity if you have the serious will to change your nature. And you should know that it has to be a serious will of your heart, not just resolutions outwardly voiced by the mouth but which do not affect the heart. You humans are still far too earthly minded with the result that unselfish neighbourly love is hardly ever practised, because a human being who is still too attached to the world always thinks of himself first before he considers his neighbour.

However, if you are serious that your soul should attain maturity then you will frankly and honestly admit your weaknesses and imperfections to yourselves and try to counteract them in order to achieve a change and to prove your serious will to yourselves, for only the serious will assures success, whereas a superficial examination will not be regarded as such and cannot signify any accomplishment for the soul either. You can certainly be helped in every way, insofar as that you will find support in your intention as well as in action, nevertheless, the actual work of improving your soul has to be done by yourselves, and this involves looking inwards and realisation, it involves the absolute seriousness of a self-examination, which then will also divulge to you where you will have to start with your work but then you will certainly be successful, for in that case you will find a high level of spiritual support. Everything depends on the serious will, and this will is valued by the One Whom you should love above all else and Who also commanded you to love your brothers, who are His children too and who also require your love. This, however, is lacking in all of you, and therefore you will repeatedly have to listen to the admonitions to look within yourselves. For if you are to be helped then you must first know where help is needed .... And only when you know yourselves, when you make an effort to recognise your nature, which is still far from perfection, will you try to reach it, even if it is still an act of a very determined will, but it is nevertheless possible with spiritual support as soon as it is established that you are of good will and sincerely strive towards attaining perfection ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

The strength of the Word .... Daily work of improving the soul ....

B.D. 7514a from February 5th 1960, taken from Book No. 79

You should draw the strength you are lacking from My Word. Consider that I speak to you Myself after all, and that this is truly an act of grace which can never be ineffective. Consider that I Myself illuminate you with My love and that you, therefore, should feel it as a flow of strength which is a truly great blessing for your soul. And you will feel physically strengthened, too, if you sincerely unite yourselves with Me .... And new blessings will flow to you time and again because I see your weakness, your spiritual and earthly failure during times of psychological hardship .... But you need not fear failure if only you always keep to My Word: 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavily laden .... I will give you rest ....' You will always find the help you require with Me. You only need to turn to Me with complete trust and time and again hear or read the Words through which I always address My children as a Father. Through these Words you will receive strength and your desperate situation will always resolve itself, you will be able to wait with perfect certainty until your help arrives. My Word contains the strength which will subsequently flow into you if you allow Me to speak to you, however, you must also be convinced of the fact that you are being addressed by Me. You should not read the letter of the Word but be wholeheartedly involved in it and listen to Me, and you will feel the effect of My Word within and on yourselves, as is to be expected, because everything coming forth from Me is strength and must also have the effect of strength. If, however, you still believe yourselves to remain unaffected then it is only due to the fact that you did not establish your bond with Me closely enough, and then you should only remember that My love is intended for you and you will feel this love in My Word and your soul will be strengthened ....

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

The strength of the Word .... Daily work of improving the soul ....

B.D. 7514b from February 5th 1960, taken from Book No. 79

Every day offers you the opportunity to mature psychologically, for you can make contact with Me every day through loving actions and heartfelt prayer, and every time you contact Me it enables My strength to flow over to you, which will always affect your soul beneficially .... And if you only make it possible once a day to receive a flow of strength then you can also assuredly expect your maturity to increase and your soul will have won, the day will not have been lived in vain .... And you always have the opportunity, both for loving activity as well as for a heartfelt dialogue with Me, and therefore your process of maturing need not come to a standstill, you can confidently and cheerfully continue on your path through life, for gaining a plus for your soul means a great deal in view of the near end, which precisely requires the increased work of improving the soul. And although you won't physically perceive it, it concerns predominantly your soul, and this need not be left empty-handed, even if you did not greatly benefit in an earthly way from the day. However, you will also receive earthly strength if you earnestly appeal for it to your Father in heaven, for He is aware of all your problems and will gladly resolve them too ....

After all, you are My children, I take care of all your worries and difficulties, but I also expect your will to be aimed at attaining full spiritual maturity .... Every prayer leads to spiritual blessings, for yourselves as well as for the loved-ones you pray for. Therefore you will also at all times be able to carry out your psychological task, just as you will always be able to pray, by merely uniting yourselves closely with Me and mentally stammering words .... I hear and understand them and I gladly grant requests which a child sends to Me with confidence in My help. And thus no day need be lost for you, since you can always benefit spiritually, providing, of course, that you are of good will and want to belong to Me, because I Am addressing My children with these words who have already established the relationship of a child with its Father and are no longer apart from Me. The others, however, can let many a day pass by without seriously considering their soul, and they are in great spiritual distress. You may also pray on their behalf and it will be a blessing for them as well as for you, for all people shall find their path to Me, because beatitude can only be found in and with Me, because unification with Me is the first and final goal which all of you should reach. Always remember that I love you, that you are My children and I only long to be in constant contact with you which, however, must be established by yourselves. And if you confer your love to Me you confer your will to Me too, and then your thoughts will always be directed towards Me, and you will assuredly help your soul attain maturity, you will not live on earth in vain, because then every day will bring you closer to Me until you are united with Me forever ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Fighting or helping ....

B.D. 5913 from March 24th 1954, taken from Book No. 64

Don't forget that you will have to fight or be of service .... Yet the battle should not be against your fellow human being, against those who are weak and defenceless, nor should one tackle the other in order to defeat him for the sake of worldly success. The battle should be against yourselves, against faults and bad habits, vices and cravings .... This battle is not easy and requires all your strength; yet if you are victorious in this battle you will have achieved a marvellous success .... However, you can also choose a different path in order to attain this success .... the path of helpful neighbourly love. As soon as you are helping you are likewise overcoming yourself, for you voluntarily change your nature. You acquire the strength you need in order to discard all faults and bad habits through your actions of love and receive an abundant measure of grace .... if you serve with love .... In that case you will have overcome arrogance first; you will have become humble and can subsequently receive an unlimited amount of blessings .... You no longer need to wage battle against yourselves once you serve with love. Being of service with love is merely a different form of battle against oneself yet it likewise succeeds in becoming victorious over everything degrading, over all cravings, over heartlessness.

A person's change of character takes place either through fighting or helping, however, helping is far easier than fighting, and anyone who is always a helpful brother to his fellow human beings will meet with far less opposition than someone whose goal consists of systematic self-denial, for his fellow human beings will not offer him the patience and love which the former gains through his conduct with other people. This is why it says: fighting or helping .... because a helpful person will be spared the difficult inner battles which the other person often has to endure. A battle with the weapons of love is always promising, and truly, someone who helps with humility is the stronger, for he reaches his goal faster, because he will always receive grace and strength in abundance .... which someone who fights will in fact have to appeal for as well or he will be defeated in his battle against himself. It will also be conveyed to him by God after his prayer so that he can achieve his transformation of character, yet it will only have been completed when he also helps with love, when, after a tough battle, his selfish love has become selfless neighbourly love .... and then he will also receive strength and grace through loving activity ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Love of the world - Satan's followers .... Love of God - Overcoming matter ....

B.D. 5039 from January 11th 1951, taken from Book No. 57

Only a person desiring to reach God lives a spiritual life, whereas a follower of Satan lives a purely worldly life on this earth, even if he seems to be a representative of God. Overcoming the world also means overcoming Satan, who is lord of the material world insofar as that the still immature spiritual substance bound in matter belongs to him, even though his power over it was removed from him. It is certainly still part of him because it shares his spirit yet it is inaccessible to his influence while it is bound in its form. Nevertheless it is his means in order to draw people .... the souls which have to make a decision between God and him .... over to himself. For the human being, who starts off spiritually immature, desires that which the world presents to his eyes. Yet he should rise above it .... Then he will belong to the Father of eternity but Whose kingdom is a spiritual one. Therefore, anyone who loves the world and its pleasures, who strives for material goods and only lives for their acquisition, belongs to God's adversary and also gives him authority over himself. But anyone who strives for God is no longer attracted to the world, he has surmounted the world, otherwise the desire for God would not have awakened in him. Consequently, turning away from the world is also a sign of a voluntarily aspired affiliation with God.

Satan uses the world to entice and therefore has a means of attraction which most people fall prey to because they love the world. Love of the world and love of God are not possible at the same time, and love of the world and neighbourly love will also rarely be found together as the latter would indicate a lessening of the former, and thereby you recognise the followers of God and the followers of God's adversary .... And as long as a person still pays attention to worldly possessions and still yearns for them he will be unable to find inner peace, the peace of soul. For peace of soul comes from God, and God is only with someone who turns his back to the world. The human being is certainly placed into the world and has to fulfil his earthly task, and that will also force him to keep in touch with the world. Yet it concerns the desire of the heart, it concerns the innermost attitude towards the world's treasures which will completely lose their appeal if a person is imbued with the need to strive for the spiritual kingdom and its treasures. In that case he will indeed continue to exist in the world yet only to fulfil the duties which earthly life imposes on him. The world, however, will no longer attract him, and that is the sign that he has overcome the world and with it its lord, that he has detached himself from God's adversary so as to be able to establish contact with God. No-one can serve two masters, and his desire clearly demonstrates to which lord a person is of service .... The earthly world and the spiritual kingdom are so far apart from each other that what a human heart desires is easily distinguished. And Satan can never dominate a person who, through his will, has already been taken possession of by God ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

The narrow and the broad path ....

B.D. 6359 from September 19th 1955, taken from Book No. 68

The path you travel on earth can be glorious, comfortable and full of joy .... but also laborious and difficult for you, and as a rule you choose the easy, even path and enjoy all the joys and pleasures this path offers to you .... You shrink back from the laborious narrow path and don't ask where the path you are taking will lead you. You are satisfied for the moment with being able to relish the luxuries promised to you by the broad path but fail to consider where it will lead to. Yet time and again narrow paths branch off from it and at these junctions there are always messengers who call you and advise you to take these paths, even though they are not even but require you to climb upwards, on account of which must exert strength in order to accomplish the ascent .... However, the messengers also promise you a glorious goal, they assure you that you will not go through the laboriousness of the path in vain, that the goal will richly reward you for all hardship and sacrifices demanded of you by the narrow path. Time and again you will have the opportunity to leave the wide road for you will repeatedly meet these messengers who caution you not to continue your path and who try to entice you onto the path leading uphill. You ought to pay attention to them, you must seriously consider that you are in danger if you continue to steadfastly follow the path which can never lead upwards, because it does not require any effort of you if it is seemingly even but steadily leads downwards.

You should become suspicious yourselves if your earthly life always results in the fulfilment of your desires, for you ought to admit that you only ever desire and grant yourselves worldly pleasures .... pleasures which fade away like figments of dreams of which nothing of value remains, instead they are more likely to leave you with a stale and uneasy feeling if you take serious stock of yourselves .... The road you are taking is indeed lined with richly flowering hedges and you feel comfortable in this environment but it is nothing real, they are just deceptions and disguises which intend to cover what lies behind, and you would be horrified were you able to see through it and discover the mire these flowering hedges are intended to hide. Upwards leading paths, however, necessitate the surmounting of unevenness, it is not easy to cover such paths yet at the top a glorious goal beckons the traveller, the light he sees shining above himself permeates him incomparably pleasantly and lets him forget all hardship .... And the traveller knows that it is not a deceptive light, he knows that his true home is waiting for him and will then offer him all glories. And he will gladly and joyfully cover the arduous path, he will pay no attention to the difficulties, for he constantly receives strength from above and will therefore also safely reach his goal .... He will return into the Father's house in order to be and forever remain happy ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Humility - Arrogance .... Danger ....

B.D. 4919 from June 22nd 1950, taken from Book No. 56

I bestow My grace upon the humble, to the arrogant I deny it, for arrogance smothers love, whereas humility awakens it. And for this reason all My love belongs to the humble which showers him with grace beyond measure. Someone with heartfelt love for his fellow human being cannot be haughty to him but regard him as his brother and help him because of love; this is why the humble person will carry out deeds of neighbourly love, for which I will bless him and reward him in turn with My love and grace. An arrogant person's heart is hard and unfeeling, he does not serve but wants to dominate and will therefore be disregarded by Me, because this feeling, the need to dominate, was the reason for the past apostasy from Me which can only be atoned for through profound humility towards Me, hence humility also signifies returning to Me. The spiritual being had sunk very low due to arrogance, however, in the stage as a human being it has already ascended to a certain level but now it is in greatest danger of succumbing to arrogance again, of elevating himself, and this manifests itself in heartlessness towards his fellow human beings. The fact that the human being, due to arrogance, also deprives himself of all means to ascend further, that he thereby forfeits My grace, is the greatest danger to which I always draw your attention, so that you will not plunge into the abyss again of your own fault. Everything that is domineering still belongs to My adversary, who remains in utter opposition to Me and believes himself capable of overthrowing Me. Having once been the highest bearer of light he became My adversary because he elevated himself above Me .... he believed he was able to place himself above Me and plunged into the deepest abyss.

Arrogance is the first step into a bottomless fall .... humility, in contrast, is the ladder to higher spheres, the safest bridge to Me .... For the person who receives My grace will safely reach his goal, because My grace signifies help, My support and My guidance. Consider your past sin which separated you from Me, consider My greater than great love which wants to draw you back to Me; consider your weakness and imperfection and how very distant you are, then you will bow your head with utmost humility and longingly stretch your hands out to Me, and then I will take hold of you with My love and grace and provide you with everything you need in order to reduce your distance from Me, in order to return to Me from Whom you originated. But woe to you if you never become aware of your distance from Me, if you deem yourselves too exalted as to pray to Me with profound humility .... In that case you cannot receive grace, then you are still under the control of the one who made you fall, then you can never become free from the sin of your past arrogance, for without My grace you will never ever become blissfully happy ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Spiritual pride and its danger ....

B.D. 7803 from January 21st 1961, taken from Book No. 82

Spiritual pride is the greatest evil for it requires the greatest strength to overcome it. And since the spiritually proud human being still completely belongs to the adversary he will never appeal to God for a gift of strength and will remain enchained until his heart has changed to become humble .... which generally requires more than one life on earth, hence necessitates a new banishment in matter. Spiritual pride is the inherited evil from the one who plunged into the abyss because of his arrogance. He will not even renounce his spiritual pride for eternities, therefore he will only take the path to the Father when he deems himself so small and low and weak that he will appeal for strength, which will then certainly be granted to him. And the same applies to his follower who remains in spiritual arrogance, who refuses to bow down to God's will, who therefore will not acknowledge a 'God' above himself either, who, as a human being, is so utterly convinced of his ego's value that he does not accept any spiritual instructions, that he does not think he needs the help that a higher Power can provide for him. Total unbelief and spiritual pride will always walk hand in hand, and because the human being does not want to acknowledge any God he will never be able to receive the flow of strength which enables him to free himself from this inherited evil, and his fellow human being will have no influence on him because he deems himself above everything that requires 'faith' and extends into spiritual spheres.

Addressing such people and imparting God's Word to them is rarely successful because they are constantly under the influence of God's adversary, who also wants to keep his followers away from God so as not to lessen his might and strength he assumes to possess in his adherents. Severe earthly and physical adversity must strike a spiritually arrogant person so that he takes notice of the feeling of weakness which might change his mind; he must realise that he is nothing and incapable of changing anything by virtue of his human nature, and this feeling of imperfection must persuade him to think. Then he will gradually relinquish his arrogance .... on account of which it is an incredibly significant grace if a person is placed into such circumstances where he becomes aware of his weakness and imperfection and is able to draw his conclusions from it. However, he retains his free will at all times, hence the adversary, too, will always influence him and thus he will just as well be able to dispel the thoughts which surface in him. But the world of light will also struggle for his soul in order to save him from the fate of renewed banishment .... and even if they merely succeed in persuading the human being to recognise his utter inferiority before his death and to acknowledge a Power above him before he dies .... Then he can still be helped to progress in the beyond and he will not need to repeat the path through the whole creation .... Then he will have succeeded in liberating himself from the adversary's domination, although the soul will have a hard struggle in the kingdom of the beyond in order to reach the light, which often shone on him on earth but was not accepted. However, God takes mercy upon every soul and will not abandon it .... But the human being has free will and this alone determines the soul's fate when it departs from its mortal body ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Wealth or poverty is neither an advantage nor a hindrance to attaining beatitude ....

B.D. 7110 from May 3rd 1958, taken from Book No. 76

And even if your most pleasing earthly hopes come to fruition, if you gain honour and reputation, the most eminent scientific fame, even if earthly happiness is granted to you .... it will all come to an end the moment you die, and you cannot take any of it along with you into the kingdom of the beyond. On the contrary, you will feel your deprivation twice as much if you have no spiritual wealth to show as it will replace your earthly loss a thousand fold. But precisely this will be rare, the fact that a person who possessed everything on earth has also aspired spiritually, who certainly called many earthly goods his own and also used them according to God's will .... who did not allow himself to be governed by them .... Generally, the hearts of those who are wealthy in an earthly sense are hardened. And according to the state of the heart will be the state of the soul after the body's death. The earth and the spiritual kingdom are completely different, this is what people should always remember, and therefore they should not envy those either whose earthly life gave them complete fulfilment .... For this kind of life on earth is no guarantee for the same state in the spiritual realm. By comparison, earthly poverty and plainness can contribute towards the purification of a soul, and such a soul can go in light and brilliance through the gate to eternity. Yet irrespective of what the earthly circumstances may be which the human being was given by fate, he will always have the opportunity to mature spiritually; in every situation in life he has the means at hand which help to purify his soul ....

Neither poverty nor suffering guarantee an eternal life in bliss, nor is a life of earthly fulfilment a hindrance for such an eternal life .... It solely depends on a person's will as to whether it is spiritually inclined and therefore tries to draw a benefit for his soul from every situation in life .... It solely depends on whether the person establishes contact with God, for which he will be stimulated in every situation in life. There is only a danger that every thought of God will be repressed if a person is satisfied with his earthly life or if he tries to achieve ever greater earthly success, just as, vice versa, those who are denied all fulfilment in earthly life can in bitterness turn against their destiny and also live without faith .... thus likewise have no spiritual achievements to show when they pass away .... Nevertheless, the path of higher development is far easier to travel for people who appear to be less favoured during their earthly life, for their renunciation of material possessions is, in a manner of speaking, required of them by providence .... they need only resign themselves to it and also silence their inner wishes, then they will have a considerable advantage compared to those who, also by providence, live in happiness and excess. Therefore, the poor need not always be pitied and the rich should be envied even less, for only that which the person's soul acquires is of value .... But once the hour of death has come all earthly things must stay behind, and it will be far easier for a person to detach himself from the world if nothing exists which still ties him to it .... if he was able to completely release himself from matter, if the person's thinking is not burdened by earthly things which make his passing away difficult and only prevents him from the exclusive bond with God, with His kingdom .... Whatever life on earth might offer you, it will become worthless the moment you die. However, whatever you accepted from the spiritual kingdom during your existence on earth will remain forever. And you can only attain spiritual possessions if your heart detaches itself from material treasures, if you can forego them at any time for love of God and your neighbour .... Then you will receive constantly more than you have given away, then you will increase your spiritual wealth, and you will also make the right use of earthly riches, that is, you will use them according to God's will for works of merciful neighbourly love .... In that case, however, you will not need to fear the hour of death either, for you will not die but pass into eternal life ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Frugality ....

B.D. 7401 from August 30th 1959, taken from Book No. 78

You should already live a frugal life from an early age, since you will find it easier to overcome matter; you will not hanker after earthly pleasures and won't find it difficult to abstain from them for the sake of spiritual gain. But the more the greed for earthly pleasure is aroused the more the soul will have to combat it, for its cravings will always prevent its striving for spiritual values because it captivates its senses and they cannot easily detach themselves from material things which merely provide the body with a feeling of well-being but which are and will remain detrimental for the soul. Therefore, it is indeed advisable to suggest a certain amount of 'fasting' to people, but this fasting only consists of limiting everything that the senses avidly desire. The human being is not entirely forbidden from enjoying things, it is just that through excess pleasure he can damage himself by rendering these very senses unsuitable for receiving spiritual knowledge, while a 'conqueror', someone who can control himself and is satisfied with little, can easily be open-minded for possessions of a spiritual nature, because he is no longer hampered by matter but has subjugated it through his will. Frugality can never be damaging but can always be of use .... whereas an excessive amount is always harmful and no person will ever take possession of spiritual goods who only satisfies his body's needs and cannot find the right measure.

As long as a person is in control of himself he can also be expected to open himself to spiritual influx; if, however, the body is excessively considered .... which means the fulfilment of all cravings .... then the person will close himself to spiritual influx, because there is no possibility for both since matter excludes the spirit, because two different realms offer their share and the heart cannot respond to both at the same time. Nevertheless, the human being has been granted a certain measure, for whatever the body needs for continued existence may be desired by the person and taken possession of .... Yet the less use is made of this measure the greater will be the soul's advantage, insofar as it will receive an abundance of possessions, which alone are of value, because they are everlasting and will be taken over into the kingdom, which alone is real and which the soul will enter when it detaches itself from its body and passes over into the kingdom of the beyond .... Then it will receive abundantly because it had been satisfied with less than what was at its disposal on earth .... Then it will no longer have to constrain itself, it will receive whatever it desires and it will receive much pleasure in eternity ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Purifying the heart ....

B.D. 7367 from May 19th 1959, taken from Book No. 78

I want to be the only ruler in My house, and therefore you should have discarded everything if you want to receive Me in your heart, for there may not be any space for the other one anymore, because I cannot dwell where he still resides. It is certainly a difficult task for you to completely purify your heart, to cast off all cravings, to fight against all faults and weaknesses and to prepare your heart for Me as an abode where everything is bright and clear and where I can subsequently stay in order to make you already happy on earth as well as one day in eternity. For My presence will result in this beatitude, My presence will not remain ineffective, My presence signifies for you the soul's increasing maturity, wisdom and strength to accomplish that which was previously impossible for you. When I Am within of you, you will no longer feel lonely and forsaken; you will know yourselves safe and secure at your Father's heart, that you will no longer be threatened by dangers, that My adversary will no longer be able to oppress you and that you are ever closer to your perfection, because your unity with Me is assured to you, which means everything to you. But first you will have to purify your hearts, you must do everything in your power to throw out the one who wants to possess you forever but who is your ruin. But I, too, want to take abode in you and possess you forever; however, I cannot share you with him, your heart must be entirely My possession, and this can only happen if your love belongs entirely to Me, and that means that you no longer desire or would like to possess anything else but Me alone ....

Hence, all earthly craving must have been eradicated; you should not desire anything else but only to be your Father's child and to be able to communicate like children with your Father. And heartfelt contact also requires a heartfelt union, the child must be close to the Father, the Father must be with His child .... thus take abode in your hearts. You are unaware of the supreme bliss felt by the child when it feels utterly secure in the Father's arms, when it is no longer afraid, when it no longer needs to fear adversity, hardship or persecutions, when it has found peace within itself, which only heartfelt Fatherly love can bestow on the child. And all of you can attain this peace if only you are serious about purifying your heat so that you will be able to receive Me in it .... All anxiety will disappear, all restlessness will leave you, weaknesses and afflictions will be unknown to you, you will take your paths in strength and clarity because you will no longer walk alone but will live your earthly life in constant company with Me and thus your enemy .... My adversary .... will no longer be able to pressurise you either, since he will no longer find any crevice in which he could hide, for My presence in your heart has made it so bright that he is no longer able to hide anywhere, for he takes flight from the light and even more from My presence. Therefore, if you want to attain inner peace then you should merely allow Me to move into your heart and purify it from everything which might still prevent Me from entering .... And I want to help you with this work as soon as I perceive that you yearn for My presence .... Then I will grant you the strength to do everything in your power in order to make your heart worthy as an abode for Me, and I will gladly move in and remain with you forever, for I then will never leave My child again once it has completely handed itself over to Me ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Conscious psychological work ....

B.D. 7530 from February 24th 1960, taken from Book No. 79

No-one should reckon to have much time left for the work of improving his soul, for no-one knows when his last hour will come. The human being should live as if every day were the last he was given. He should busily work for the benefit of his soul .... He should not let any day go by without having performed a kind deed, he should support his neighbour with advice and help, he should think of his God and Creator and establish with Him the relationship of a child with its Father .... he should pray to his Father every day and commend himself to Him and His grace. He should entrust himself to Him and appeal to Him for His protection and guidance, he should make mental contact with the world of light .... he should only ever want to do what is good, and then he will, in fact, only do that which complies with God's will. A person can greatly contribute towards his soul's speedy maturing on earth if only he consciously works at improving his soul, i.e., by always keeping in mind why he inhabits this earth and then living according to God's will by fulfilling the commandments of love for God and his neighbour. And he can implement this every day if he is interested in moving forwards in his development, that is, if he lives his earthly life appropriately. But he should not defer this work because he does not know how long he will live on earth .... This knowledge is withheld from him, and for good reason, or he would not be free in his will .... But he also easily runs the risk of carelessly deferring the work of improving his soul, always counting on the fact that there will still be plenty of time to seriously consider his soul ....

No-one knows when his hour will come, it can suddenly take you by surprise, and then you will feel bitter remorse when you realise in the spiritual kingdom what you neglected to do on earth. Many people enter the kingdom of the beyond totally unprepared, they made no spiritual progress at all, they neglected to do everything that might have resulted in this progress, they only lived on earth for their body but never considered the soul, which alone continues to live after the earthly body's death. And therefore, it must suffer the consequences alone, either to linger in agony and darkness or to stray in utter bleakness through infinite spaces, poor and miserable and in severe distress. You are still living on earth and can spare your soul this dreadful fate, nevertheless, you must make use of your life and work daily and hourly at improving your soul, which can already consist of a spiritually directed thought, because then the beings of light will help you and time and again try to draw you into spiritual spheres, which they will also succeed in doing if you are of good will. You should often consider the hour of your death and you will increasingly overcome your fear of dying, for the more you work at improving your soul the less you will fear the hour of death, for then you will be prepared for it, you will live consciously and therefore fearless and aware you will approach the end, which is time and again proclaimed to you. But woe to those who live irresponsibly from day to day, for the day which ends their life will take them by surprise .... Woe to those who have never considered their soul and only ever attended to their body .... Regardless of whether they die before or live to see the day of the end .... their end will be a dreadful one, for their soul will have to bear the fate which the human being has prepared for it on earth ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Disposition .... Instincts of preliminary stages ....

B.D. 2321 from May 3rd 1942, taken from Book No. 32

The human being's disposition does not release him from having to justify himself for his actions and thoughts. For every person has strength and grace at his disposal to overcome every bad inclination if only he wants to do so. Besides, the soul brought characteristics into its human embodiment which it certainly could have discarded during its previous forms and as a human being is now allotted tasks which correspond to its present disposition, i.e., which offer the soul the opportunity to emerge victorious from its battle against this disposition. Yet in order to succeed free will always has to become active and this, too, will be strengthened by God in accordance with its attitude towards Him. If a person musters the will to appeal to God for help in his battle against himself, against his own weaknesses and faults, then the strength to release himself from them will indeed flow to the person. Admittedly, this requires a considerable struggle but it cannot be spared to him, because during its preliminary stages the soul had exceeded its designated limits .... i.e., the spiritual substance which stayed in already less restricting forms used this lack of restriction to the absolute limit. It effectively developed its instincts to the highest degree which it then, in its embodiment as a human being, has to reduce again and this requires greater willpower. Likewise, the spiritual substance can have tempered itself during the preliminary stages, hence not made full use of its designated limits, with the result that it now has a less difficult battle of higher development on earth. But the disposition has at all times been taken into account through the living condition in which the being, according to its inclination, also has the opportunity to master them. Indeed, many a person seemingly has to fight harder, yet nothing impossible will ever be expected of him since unmeasured strength and grace is always at his disposal, but it has to be requested by him, because the soul has used its previously granted freedom in the wrong way and this does not relieve it from its responsibility ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Suffering as means of purifying the soul or love ....

B.D. 7157 from July 1st 1958, taken from Book No. 76

Whatever contributes towards the soul's maturity will often be experienced by you as a burden or hardship, for it is frequently the means of assisting the purification of the soul in order to make it wholesome and receptive to light. Nevertheless, an exceedingly effective means exists which is less painful for you humans: Acts of selfless neighbourly love .... Then the soul will mature very quickly, it will constantly acquire more strength and will reform and change its nature through love. However, for the most part you humans lack love, you still harbour much selfish love, you have not yet become completely unselfish in your thinking and actions, and therefore the soul's purification needs to proceed by other means, such as suffering and illness, worries and adversities, which will then burden you and demand all your faith in order for you to free yourselves of them again. For in profound faith you would be able to entrust all your problems and sufferings to Me, you would be able to hand them over to Me and subsequently also be certain that I will take them from you. But this profound faith is, again, only the result of love .... And thus it will always remain a matter of greatest priority, love cannot be excluded; love is the correct and most certain means of freeing yourselves from illness and suffering, from all kinds of worries .... Yet, on the other hand, you don't realise what blessings arise for the soul if you humans also patiently take all burdens upon yourselves, if you humbly endure everything for the sake of your soul's maturing .... For no soul is already so mature that it, on passing away, will be of such crystal clarity that My light of love would be able to permeate it without obstruction ....

Blemishes more or less still cling to every soul, and the more of them it can discard on earth the happier it will be on entering the kingdom of the beyond and thank Me, its God and Father, for the time of trial on earth, regardless of how difficult it had been. And every day in earthly life is, after all, only an opportunity for testing, every day is a possibility for the soul to gather spiritual riches, and every day passes by and the length of time until its passing away from earth is getting ever shorter .... It won't last forever, but the state of the soul, if it is imperfect, can last eternally .... And if you humans would only ever consider the suffering you have to endure as a means for purification, as the condition for a cleansing of your soul from all weaknesses and flaws still adhering to it, you would truly bless the suffering and be glad of it, because it will result in your spiritual progress and one day you will also realise why it was necessary during your earthly existence. You should learn to look at every day as a step on the ladder to perfection .... but you will also have to climb it in order to reach the goal. One day you will realise how useless those days were when you didn't have to endure anything .... unless you spent them by being lovingly active .... Then the measure of suffering will also diminish, and there would truly not be so much hardship and misery in the world if people practised love, if they made an effort to carry out selfless works of love and thereby improved the maturity of soul in the most natural way. But if you have to suffer then be grateful for it and, despite everything, strive to shape your nature into love, for your life on earth is only short yet it is decisive for the whole of eternity.

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

You humans should strive for perfection ....

B.D. 7997 from September 19th 1961, taken from Book No. 84

I have no other goal but to guide you into supreme perfection, because you shall create and work with Me as My children and for this you need to attain perfection, which you should achieve of your own free will. And I will help you to do so as long as you live on earth, where you should pass your test of will, where you should demonstrate that you desire to return to your God and Father, from Whom you once voluntarily separated yourselves. Hence, your free will can let you reach the goal during your earthly life, but it can also cause your standstill or renewed regression into the abyss, and I will never force your will but always allow it full freedom. But I will do everything in My power in order to let you reach perfection on earth. For I love you and yearn for your return, because you emerged from My love. And love always wants to give pleasure, it wants to permeate you, because then you will have abundant strength and use it for your ascent into higher spheres. Yet right now you are living in the last days, that is, a spiritual and earthly turning point will take place, and a limit has been set on your development, many people will be recalled ahead of time .... and you can all only count on living on earth for a little while longer .... And yet, even this short time is still enough for you to attain perfection, if only you seriously strive for it, if you want to fulfil the purpose of your earthly existence and appeal to Me for strength and grace, for support and the strengthening of your will. You can believe that you need only look for Me and I will allow Myself to be found by everyone who seriously tries to find Me .... However, once you have found Me I will truly not let you walk your earthly path alone; I will seize you and firmly hold you by My hand, and I will guide you towards your perfection .... And a tiny spark of My divine spirit has been placed into every person's heart which urges you from within to turn your thoughts into My direction .... But whether you take notice of its urging is up to you, for I do not enforce the direction of your will to Me.

However, I will not stop revealing Myself to you, and thus all happenings in earthly life will affect you such that you will be able to recognise your God and Creator if you have not entirely become enslaved by My adversary who also fights for your soul, because due to your past apostasy from Me you entitled him to do so .... Even so, My love belongs to you, it will never ever change and neither will it let go of you but persistently seek to attract your love in return .... And this love of Mine is so strong that you will voluntarily surrender all resistance if only you open your heart once and let it shine into it. But this has to be achieved by your free will, for although I knock at the door of your heart, you yourselves will have to open the door and allow Me to enter .... But then you will be saved for time and eternity; then your free will turns in My direction and I will take hold of it .... I will never again leave you to My adversary once you have voluntarily handed yourselves over to Me and thus separated yourselves from him .... And this turning to Me can occur at any time, and it will also guarantee you spiritual success during the short time you still have left on this earth. Yet you should believe that there is only a little time left, and you should take My admonitions and warnings seriously and diligently work at improving your soul, for it should still cleanse itself from all impurities in order to be able to enter the kingdom of light and bliss in all clarity and purity when its passing away from this earth has come. The fact that it will not go astray once it has demonstrated its will to belong to Me is certain .... But it has to attain the degree of light on this earth itself, but I will also truly help so that it will achieve it. A complete surrender to Me will also result in My taking complete possession of you, and then strength will flow to you in abundance, which the soul will subsequently use for constant actions of love .... Your soul will purify itself, it will become increasingly more perfect and thus live a life on earth according to My will .... it will be so intimately connected with Me that I will also be able to influence it directly, so that it will be permeated by My spirit and only ever comply with My spirit's urging .... It will hear My voice and as a child let itself be guided by the Father, and thus it will truly reach perfection on earth ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

The condition to attain perfection on earth ....

B.D. 8523 from June 9th 1963, taken from Book No. 90

Consider, you humans, that you are weak as long as your soul still lives on earth in the flesh, and that you therefore always have to request strength from Me if your want to reach your goal .... your perfection .... while you are still on earth. For only the strength from Me will strengthen your will, which is weak as long as the adversary can still influence a person because he is not perfect yet. Your determination especially will always be undermined by him, and I died on the cross for the sake of reinforcing your will, hence you must avail yourselves of the graces acquired on your behalf: strength and reinforcement of your will. And your weakness will always manifest itself such that you are not yet able to completely detach yourselves from the world .... Admittedly, you still live in the midst of the world and therefore have to do justice to all demands .... But there is a difference whether you just fulfil your duties or still want to enjoy earthly pleasures yourselves, whether your heart has already freed itself from worldly wishes or still has earthly longings .... For then your will to achieve spiritual perfection is still weak, its aim for Me and desire to unite with Me is not undivided .... You still make concessions and thus have to 'apply force' .... you must seriously try to accomplish detaching yourselves from the world and this requires strength which you have to request time and again, and which you will also always receive ....

Hence it is crucial as to which direction your sincere will turns to .... towards Me and My kingdom or towards My adversary .... And again it is your degree of love which determines the choice of your will's direction, for a heart full of love will always find Me and My kingdom more desirable than the earthly world .... Therefore you should first examine yourselves as to how far you have overcome selfish love .... to what extent you are filled by selfless neighbourly love, for this is the same as love for Me, and only this love establishes union with Me .... not the mere longing for Me, which can be selfish love as well in order to gain the highest delights of blissful unison with Me .... However, the right love for Me is only demonstrated by unselfish neighbourly love. And only this raises the degree of love. As long as you still desire small pleasures for yourselves you should also try to give a little pleasure to your neighbour, yet without calculating earthly or spiritual advantages, but urged from within by the desire to give happiness and joy. Such selfless demonstrations of love will refine your nature, you will find your own happiness in giving pleasure because your love will grow increasingly stronger and at the same rate diminish your love for the world. And this is why you should seriously call yourselves to account as to whether you love your neighbour as yourselves ....

Your perfection depends entirely on the degree of love you attain on earth, and you can only be called 'children of God' if you acknowledge that your fellow human beings likewise originated from the Father and you therefore also love them like one brother loves another and do everything for him that you would like to have done to yourselves. Always subject your neighbourly love to serious criticism and work at improving yourselves .... request the strength from Me and you will reach your goal, yet you won't be able to achieve anything by your own efforts .... But I want you to perfect yourselves on earth, consequently I will also help you in every way as long as you seriously want it .... Yet you will always have to apply force as long as this world still keeps you captivated .... If, however, you can detach yourselves from the world then the attainment of the goal will also become steadily easier, and then you can rightly say 'My yoke is easy, and My burden is light ....' Then you will no longer need to use force, then you will be full of strength, and then you will only strive towards Me .... for the love in you is the strength which indeed achieves anything. And you can also understand that a loving human being is full of humility .... which expresses itself in his conduct towards his neighbour to whom he gives his love .... Never forget that neighbourly love is the indicator .... and that you will have to prove your love for Me through selfless neighbourly love ....'for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?' And thus your will can indeed be inclined towards Me and this also guarantees that I will take hold of you and not let you fall again ....Yet the degree of your perfection is determined by yourselves and only ever by the degree of love for your fellow human being .... But you can attain it if you sincerely subordinate your will to Mine, and then you will always think, act and want like I do Myself, and you will surely reach your goal on earth .... to unite with Me in order to be eternally happy ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Effect of the strength of love ....

B.D. 7355 from May 5th 1959, taken from Book No. 78

Anyone who is able to hand himself over to Me in profound love can also be permeated by Me with My strength of love, which means everything for him .... For to be permeated by My strength of love is the simultaneous guarantee that every impurity will be dispelled, that the ray of love dissolves or cleans everything which previously still burdened the soul. For this reason I ask you time and again to keep your heart prepared for Me to take it as an abode, that is, to wholeheartedly desire that I may take abode in it, and also to sincerely wish that this abode shall be clean and adorned with works of love .... For only love cleanses your heart and only love adorns it such that My stay with you is pleasing to Me. However, where love exists no evil can take root, for My adversary takes flight from love because it contradicts his nature. And thus love is the first and most important thing .... Love has to be ignited in you and erupt into a bright flame .... on the one hand, the love for Me Who is your God and Creator and wants to be addressed by you as your Father .... and on the other hand, the love for your neighbour who is your brother, who is also His child and is just as entitled to be loved by you as well as by the Father. And it should, after all, be easy to muster this love for Me and the next person if only you become aware of the countless blessings you receive from Me every day because I want to please all My children ....

Your entire earthly existence consists of gifts of grace which are based on My infinite love. And even if you largely consider earthly life hard and difficult, you nevertheless cannot deny the fact that it also offers beauty, that you may time and again experience My love or you would not feel anxious when you think of death, which will liberate you from this earthly life .... You all don't want to relinquish your earthly life, therefore it also offers you beautiful things which you would not want to miss .... And all these are gifts of grace which My love bestows and keeps bestowing on you, which should also contribute towards loving the Provider of all that makes you happy. And you will experience My love increasingly more the more consciously you open your heart so that I will be able to radiate My love into you .... You will also be allowed to feel the happiness of My illumination of love providing you are willing to wholeheartedly hand yourselves over to Me and to sense My presence, which subsequently will make you abundantly happy. How I long for such voluntary dedication to Me which is prompted by your heart and which therefore meets My full response by moving into your heart and never leaving it again because your love keeps hold of Me. How happy you then will become if you are convinced of My constant presence and feel protected by My love. Then My adversary will no longer be able to oppress you since he takes flight from Me and My love and will therefore also keep his distance once you have received Me in your heart .... For My love is powerful and averts whatever might cause you harm ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna