Souls In The Beyond 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

Fear of death - The hour of death - Die as a child or aged - Lot of suicides

2776 - The will to live.... Fear of death

6616 - Fear of death....

6637 - Fear of dying.... Beholding the spiritual kingdom before death....

6625 - Consider the time after death....

2348 - Hour of death....

4033 - Hour of death.... Explanation of suffering....

7343 - The soul’s continuation of life after death....

2912 - Keep death in mind....

6817 - The soul's change of abode.... Death of the body....

6541 - The sleep of the soul.... Misguided teaching....

7538 - Short or long lifetime....

8772 - The early death of children....

3260 - Early death.... God's mercy.... Old age....

3258 - Premature departure from the world.... Purpose....

1899 - Cremation.... Accelerated disintegration process....

0974a - Immortality.... Eternity.... Suicide....

0974b - Immortality.... Eternity.... Suicide....

6005 - Arbitrarily taking one's own life....

3794 - Freedom of will.... Abandonment of development....

5605 - Awakening the dead through God's Word....

4305 - Prayer for poor souls....

7386 - Great work of redemption in the beyond.... Jesus Christ....

3135 - Blessings of the last days.... Death before the event.... The beyond....

Fear of death - The hour of death - Die as a child or aged - Lot of suicides

The will to live .... Fear of death

B.D. 2776 from June 16th 1943, taken from Book No. 34/35/36

The human will to live is very strongly developed as long as his soul’s maturity is still very low, which is quite understandable since the world still captivates him and pretends to fulfil his wishes. The human being finds it extremely difficult to give up his earthly life as long as he lacks faith in life after death, because the latter makes him look at all life on earth differently. A profoundly devout person merely looks at earthly life as in intermediate place, as a school which he has to attend in order to be admitted into the kingdom where real life begins. And this faith will also give him the strength to overcome all obstacles and difficulties of earthly life, whereas the unbeliever often breaks down and discards his life assuming that he is able to permanently end it himself. Anyone with profound faith will gladly give up his life if it is demanded of him because he directs his attention towards the life after the death of his body and his longing towards the union with God, since he feels that this is primarily the true life. As long as the human being only pays attention to the earth and its goods he inhibits his aspirations to ascend, he desires the world with every fibre of his being and the thought that he will have to leave this world one day is intolerable and depressing to him.

And this reveals his state of mind because his love for the world diminishes his love for God and other people, and thus the person is still spiritually immature, i.e. his soul has not yet united with the spirit within himself, he is not yet aware and knows nothing better than his earthly life. In that case he finds every thought of death appalling, he wants to live to enjoy, he desires worldly goods and disregards spiritual values. And this spiritual low level cannot be criticized enough since the human being is now in great danger to lose his earthly as well as his spiritual life. If he does not use his earthly life to find a connection to God he will live in vain and it is better that he should suffer the loss of his earthly life than to fall into deepest love with matter, which amounts to spiritual death. Earthly life is a mercy given to the human being for higher development and for rising above matter in order to enter the spiritual kingdom .... However, if the human being’s real task on earth is disregarded he chains himself to matter and forcibly has to be pulled away by the termination of his earthly life. As long as the thought of physical death is intolerable to a person he is not paying any attention to his real earthly task. The will to live is so strong in him that he will do anything to protect and lengthen it in the belief that his life is in his own hands, and yet again he feels fearful of having to lose it prematurely. Only in view of the beyond, in the belief of the soul’s life after death, the terror of death begins to subside and then the human being understands that his earthly life is a mere preliminary stage for the real life which will last eternally ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Fear of death ....

B.D. 6616 from August 8th 1956, taken from Book No. 71

Death is just the passageway into a life which will last forever. You humans would not have to fear death if your life on earth corresponded to My will .... if you had travelled this earthly path in divine order, for then you would not feel terror-stricken in view of death, because then your soul would just rejoice at being able to escape the body in order to return to its home where the earthly body is utterly superfluous, where ceasing to exist cannot be spoken of but where a free life in an abundance of light and strength will await the soul. Jesus Christ arose from the grave on the third day .... He demonstrated to you that there is no such thing as ceasing to exist after the body's demise, he has provided you with the evidence that a correct way of life merely results in the change of the earthly into a spiritual body, that the human being continues to exist, that only his shell has experienced a transformation, which is absolutely necessary for staying in the spiritual kingdom .... And you all are able to accomplish this change yourselves, and death would then truly have lost its sting. But since you humans do not believe in life after death, you neglect to prepare yourselves for a stay in the spiritual kingdom, and since your soul has therefore no prospect whatsoever to clothe itself after physical death in a radiantly bright spiritual garment you fear death, and rightly so, for you cannot cease to exist but earthly heaviness can still cling to you, and your awakening after the body's death will not be a happy one .... But you will awaken, regardless of how imperfectly your soul is shaped .... it will find out that it has not and cannot cease to exist .... And this fate is unconsciously dreaded by you humans who fear death.

Yet you ought to remember the One Who has overcome death .... Jesus Christ wants to awaken you to life, He wants to give you an eternally-indestructible life which you shall never lose again. Accept His gift of grace, remember Him during fearful hours and commend your soul to Him, and appeal to Him not to let it fall prey to death, but to have mercy on it and to help it attain life .... And, truly, you will not have sent your appeal to Him in vain .... Your fear will disappear to be replaced by blissful calm, a calm which only Jesus Christ can bestow upon the soul. The living faith in Jesus Christ dispels all dread of death, for the human being knows that he will rise again, just as Jesus Christ arose on the third day.

But anyone without this faith in Him will fear death or believe that he will cease to exist, that he will return into oblivion from where he imagines himself to have emerged .... And he, as well as all others who lived on earth without Christ, will have a rude awakening .... And it will take a long time until they are convinced that they have not perished, but that they can only escape their lifeless state if they call upon the One Whom they refused to acknowledge on earth, but Who alone can give them life again .... Death need only be the transition into a new and immortal life .... It need not worry people on any account, because Jesus Christ has prevailed over it, because He accomplished the act of Salvation in order to deliver people from a condition which had been brought into the world by His adversary .... But Jesus' act of Salvation and resurrection are not properly valued by people .... Many know of them and yet do not believe, and therefore they are also unable to derive the benefit from the effects of the act of Salvation and resurrection .... But the living faith gives people firm confidence and therefore also removes their every fear of death .... And these will blissfully fall asleep in the Lord and joyfully awaken with Him in the kingdom of light and beatitude .... For they will eternally not taste death again, they will only ever have eternal life ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Fear of dying .... Beholding the spiritual kingdom before death ....

B.D. 6637 from September 6th 1956, taken from Book No. 71

Spiritual death is far more dreadful than physical death. And it is spiritual death which people unconsciously fear if they are frightened to die, for they fear what will happen to them after the death of the body .... this fear can befall the very person who does not believe in a continuation of life after death .... The soul feels that it is in a wretched state, and it transmits this awareness as fear onto the body, which therefore fights death as long as possible.

Fear of death is an involuntary confession of psychological immaturity, for the person lacks all realisation and therefore also confidence in God's mercy, in hope for help, which it certainly would always receive if it would call for help. The soul is in utter darkness and unconsciously fears to approach an even darker night. A fully matured soul expects its final hour with complete calm, it longs for deliverance from its bodily shell, it hands itself over to the One in Whom it believes, and commends itself to Him and His grace. And often such souls are allowed to take a glance into the kingdom that awaits them and can radiantly happy open their eyes, in order to then close them forever and to escape from their body into the kingdom they beheld. Fear of death is a distinct indication of the soul's state, and such souls must be given much help by their fellow human beings so that they will still awaken in the last minute and turn to the One Who wants to help and is able to help them ....

Anyone who witnesses the death struggle and fear of a soul will be able to send a quiet, heartfelt prayer to Jesus Christ if he wants to help this soul to find inner peace .... For the soul will feel this help and reach out for the last rescue anchor, and it will be carried by the fellow human being's love when it leaves the body .... to Jesus Christ, Who will not close His ear to a sincere prayer for help. For this reason people should take especially good care of those who are afraid of dying and who thereby admit that they are still far from the light, from the right realisation and therefore also from God .... Fear of death confirms that they need help or they would be permeated by blissful calm when they feel that the hour of their departure from this earth is approaching.

And it is an act of utmost mercy and love to support a fearful soul, when nothing else can be done but to call upon Jesus Christ Himself that He may have mercy on this soul. This loving appeal will be heard and can save the soul so that it will be spared the darkest night ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Consider the time after death ....

B.D. 6625 from August 18th 1956, taken from Book No. 71

One day you all will have to lay down your earthly body and your soul will be assigned another abode .... Not one of you will escape his fate, everyone can expect his physical death with certainty. Thus you know that your life on earth is limited and that no-one can prevent his body's death when his hour has come .... Yet in spite of this certainty you live your life on earth as if it would never end. You always plan and work for the future without knowing whether you will still experience it. You don't take this into account but it is a fact; you only create and work for your short life on earth which does not last. You yourselves, however, will not perish, your soul stays alive even after your body's death, and your soul is your real Self .... Hence there is, in fact, no death for you, only a change of location ....

If you think about this very seriously then you will act prudently by taking care that this said later location will make you happy. Then your concern will include the time when you no longer live on this earth but continue your life in the kingdom of the beyond which, however, is created corresponding to your conduct on earth. You would all be more diligent if you believed this. The more you worry about the upkeep of your body, the less you believe that you will go on living. You cannot receive evidence for this because your earthly life must not be determined by fear which, however, would be triggered in you, who do not strive to ascend voluntarily, by the certainty of a continuation of life after death. Voluntary aspirants are indeed certain of it, they believe .... but precisely because they strive to ascend. And a striving born out of fear will not lead to perfection. Therefore it cannot be proven to you humans that there is life after death. But everyone can awaken the belief in it himself simply by seriously considering it and wanting to do what is right.

People's attention will therefore be ever more obviously drawn to the fleeting nature of what they value too highly. People are snatched away in the midst of their lives, and from this everyone could learn to regard his life, too, as a gift that could be taken away from him any day .... And he would only have to pursue the thoughts arising in him in the event of a fellow human being's sudden death .... He would only have to pursue the departed soul into infinity .... He would only have to think more often of him, who did not cease to exist but merely changed his abode .... And truly, hands would extend to him from the spiritual realm to draw him up.

Yet even if the human being lacks the certainty of life after death he should nevertheless expect the possibility and time and again visualise this possibility when other people die and question what his own fate might be if he were to be called away suddenly. For as long as the human being cannot prove that there is no continuation of life after death .... which will never be possible .... he should always make provisions. And he will never regret if he, on earth, not only considers his body but also his soul, if he gathers a few spiritual treasures on earth which then will help him to advance in the spiritual kingdom. Then the soul will reap what the person has sown on earth, and blessed is the soul which has made provisions on earth for eternity ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Hour of death ....

B.D. 2348 from May 27th 1942, taken from Book No. 32

The soul’s separation from the body is usually a painful experience for the body because a certain degree of maturity is necessary for a painless separation, which is rarely achieved by the person. The human being’s hour of death will always make him aware that he no longer will be able to strive, that he no longer will be able to achieve anything by himself when he has left the human shell. And depending on the state of his soul the hour of death will then become more or less difficult for him. As long as the human being is on earth he still has the choice to purify himself, and the soul in the beyond will thank its Creator for having been given this opportunity before its departure that it will not have to suffer as much in the beyond. Since God is righteous the soul has to accept its fate in the beyond and needs far greater suffering to attain the degree of maturity. Nevertheless it is not possible to enter the spheres of light without it, consequently this higher degree of maturity has to be achieved through suffering and pain and thus a long struggle before death should always be viewed as an ascent. It is true that people only see the state of suffering, which contributes towards their fear of death since the hour of death seems unbearable to them, and yet it is only bestowed upon the human being by the greatest love to provide for him a brighter light in the beyond.

And this love is the foundation of everything .... God only sends suffering and pain to earth for the purpose of removing a person’s physical desires, that he then will pay more attention to his soul and attempt to perfect it. Every suffering which results in this is blessed by God .... Time on earth passes quickly and with good will can be used to abandon everything worldly, then the soul shapes itself in accordance to God’s will and at the end of its earthly life requires no further exceptional suffering to enter the kingdom of light. However, suffering always contributes towards higher maturity and is therefore a blessing for the human being who otherwise would have to dispose of his errors and failings in the beyond which would also be rather wretched .... thus his suffering cannot be prevented even though the hour of death apparently proceeds silently and without pain. God knows every human being’s state of soul and his willingness to fight all impurities; hence He complies with the human being by offering him the opportunity to accomplish his goal .... by allowing the hour of death to be his last opportunity for arriving in eternity purged and purified ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Hour of death .... Explanation of suffering ....

B.D. 4033 from April 30th 1947, taken from Book No. 49

You never know how your end will happen, and therefore you should call upon God's mercy every day that you might receive it in the hour of your death. Even if you live in accordance with God's will your end can be difficult if it is to serve you to completely purify and liberate yourselves forever. God's wisdom and love is yours until your last hour on this earth, and as long as your souls are still able to change you will be given the opportunity even at the hour of death. For this reason devoted people often have to suffer in the flesh and cannot find an explanation for it because they are unable to detect God's love therein. And yet, divine love causes this suffering because it is the best means for the soul to acquire a degree of maturity within a short period of time which allows the light to permeate the soul in the beyond, and the soul will thank its Creator once it is free and recognises God's great love and mercy. Thus all suffering has to be seen as evidence of God's love, and even the end is blessed if it is accompanied by suffering, although it does not appear to the human being that way. The soul indeed separates itself from the body with pain, but immediately lifts itself into the kingdom of the blessed spirits. It not only leaves earth physically but also spiritually and also takes the body's fully matured substances along, because every degree of suffering dissolves the cover which still encloses the soul. And the person who is still able to free himself completely from immature substances on earth will be blessed .... he will have used his earthly life for his deliverance and will no longer revolt against God's will either.

In the hour of death he will certainly struggle for the peace of his soul but he will never consider his physical suffering to be unjustified, for his soul will know that the end is near, that his physical suffering will also come to an end and that the soul will derive benefit from it even if it is no longer able to convey this realisation to the body. The body, however, will separate itself from the soul as soon as it senses its perfection, because then it will have fulfilled its task of having served as an abode for this soul. The hour of death can be difficult for all of you but it can also be a blissful falling asleep in order to awaken in the kingdom of light if the soul needs no further suffering, if it has already found the union with God on earth and He then brings it home into His kingdom, into your Father's house, in order to make you blissfully happy. But you do not know how your end will happen, and therefore pray to God for mercy, ask Him for His grace and strength if God still needs to afflict you, and you will also endure the hour of death. The body will suffer but the soul will joyfully leave the body and lift itself into the spheres of light ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

The soul’s continuation of life after death ....

B.D. 7343 from April 22nd 1959, taken from Book No. 78

You can be certain that you will live even if your body falls prey to death .... But the state of your life after your physical death depends on yourselves, whether your life will be a happy one which could truly be called life, or whether you will find yourselves in darkness and helplessness which are comparable to death, albeit you will remain conscious of your existence and therefore will have to suffer agonies. But it will never be the case that you will completely cease to exist, that you will no longer be self-aware and that your existence will be obliterated. And precisely because you continue to exist you ought to ensure that you create a happy situation for yourselves while you are still living on this earth. Your future fate in the kingdom of the beyond is a matter of your very own will, since you create it yourselves by your way of life on earth. If it is a life of selfless love for other people you can also be sure that a blissful fate will await you .... But if you only live to please yourselves, if you lack this love for your neighbour and therefore also for God, you can expect a painful fate indeed. Then you will be poor and wretched because you will lack everything .... light, strength and freedom, and all you will experience is indescribable torment.

The fact that you humans on earth have such little faith in life after death also determines your conduct, for you are irresponsible towards your soul because you do not believe that it will continue to live after your body has passed away. And you do not believe that the soul is, after all, your real Self. It will feel exactly the same as it did during its earthly life, it will long for happiness and light and suffer bitter regret once it has gained but a glimmer of light whereby it recognises its real task on earth and in retrospect blames itself dreadfully for not having fulfilled it .... Whereas souls who may enter the spheres of light will sing praises and give thanks and are able to occupy themselves in full strength and freedom for their own happiness.

The soul will never perish, but how it will experience its continued existence is decided by people themselves while they are still on earth. For this time was given to you in order to improve the state of your soul which, at the beginning of its embodiment, is still rather imperfect. Hence, the work of the human soul should consist of providing for itself a true, immortal 'life', so that one day it can enter in freedom and light the kingdom where it can be active in accordance with its state of maturity, which is in fact possible at various degrees but which can only be called 'life' when it is allowed to enter the kingdom of light. But it is also possible that the soul will still be as imperfect at the end of its earthly life as it was at the beginning. Indeed, it can even have grown darker, and then its state will be comparable to the state of death, for it will have misused its earthly life, it won't have taken advantage of the grace of embodiment, and yet, it will not pass away .... This is a very sad, pitiful situation and yet, it is its own fault, because only the human being's will decides the soul's fate, and this will is free. If only people believed that they will continue to exist after the death of their body .... they would live more responsibly on earth and endeavour to ascend from the deepest abyss .... But no person can be forced into faith, yet everyone will be helped in order to become a believer ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Keep death in mind ....

B.D. 2912 from October 6th 1943, taken from Book No. 37

Imagine the hour of your death and ask yourselves whether you are well prepared for eternity .... Consider your relationship with God and how you have used the pound He has given you for your time on earth .... Ask yourselves whether you could stand before God’s judgment seat, whether your earthly life is right with God, whether you have shown love, and whether you are ready to depart from earth at any hour without fear of having to give account to God .... Consider that your strength will also come to an end with death and that you cannot do anything by yourselves if you depart from this earth with an immature soul. Ask yourselves whether you are satisfied with yourselves and can depart from this world in peace .... And exercise the strictest self criticism, and after that make an effort to perfect yourselves ....

Make use of every day that is given to you, as long as you are on earth you can still achieve a lot. You have the opportunity to purify yourselves even now, because you have the strength to do so and can increase it with actions of love .... Keep death in mind and recognise yourselves as a weak creature who cannot delay for an hour once God has determined your hour of death. And with deeply felt sincerity ask God for His mercy, for His grace, for His support, that He will give you His love and with His love also the strength which guarantees your ascent. Keep only this goal in mind, that you may awaken to eternal life when your earthly life is over, and then live in accord with this goal, carry out God’s will and always think that every day could be your last day on earth .... Then you will prepare yourselves, you will live consciously and without fear pass across into the kingdom of peace, your true home ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

The soul's change of abode .... Death of the body ....

B.D. 6817 from April 28th 1957, taken from Book No. 73

The soul's change of abode .... Death of the body ....The soul is your actual Self which is immortal, which merely changes its abode after the death of the body, which has concluded its earthly progress in order to continue maturing in other spheres if it does not stay in opposition to Me and thus descend into the abyss. Hence the thought that you don't have to fear death should make you very happy, that you will live although you have to leave this earth .... and that this life is far more pleasant and joyful than earthly life as a human being could ever be. You should look forward with cheerful anticipation to the day when your external cover will be taken from your real Self, when all heaviness will fall away from you and you will be able to easily and light-heartedly lift yourselves up into your true home, which truly offers you inconceivable splendours. You should rejoice at the fact that there is no death for you because your soul will merely experience a change of abode which can make it infinitely happy ....

Why do you therefore fear death or anticipate the end of your earthly life with unease? Why has death become a horror for you humans, why does it trigger in you a feeling of fear when, in reality, it is just a transition into another sphere after all? Because you unconsciously sense that you did not live your earthly life correctly, and because your soul is not acquiring the light which would take all its fear away .... For a person who complies with My commandments of love, who thus lives on earth in accordance with My will, has no fear of death but yearns to shed his earthly cover because he longs for his true home, because love has kindled a bright light in him and, looking ahead, he also knows himself to be near to Me, where no suffering and pain, no affliction can touch him, where he feels sheltered by My love .... All people could have this blissful certainty, that they will exchange a sorrowful and difficult existence for this feeling of security when they depart from this earth, if only they would live their earthly life with this aim in mind .... if they would always follow their inner voice which clearly informs them of My will .... if they would already on earth enter into the right relationship with Me, their God and Father of eternity. The thought that their existence ends with the body's death is already the best evidence that the person's way of life does not correspond to My will, for this idea comes from the opposing spirit's influence wanting to prevent people from gaining correct realisation and therefore also constantly increasing their desire to enjoy earthly existence to the full .... for these people do not believe in the immortality of their soul, they impose on it the same restrictions as is the fate of the external frame ....

And thus they try to savour earthly life in every way, only ever considering their body but not their soul which, after physical death, has to accept a rather uncertain fate, which will be unable to experience the splendours of its true home, since due to its imperfect disposition it cannot find admission to the spheres where inconceivable beatitudes await it. Although it is still possible for the soul to detach itself from the abyss and enter into higher spheres, it nevertheless requires far more effort and exertion than on earth and will be impossible without help, yet even then the soul will have to muster its own will, which is far easier on earth. The Self cannot cease to exist but it creates its own fate of blissfulness or agony .... and only when people no longer consider their body as being 'alive' but learn to recognise the soul within the body as their actual Self, only when they learn to believe in the immortality of their soul, will they live more responsibly on earth and then no longer fear death either, which only concerns the earthly body but not its indwelling soul. Then they will live in accordance with His will and long for the hour when the soul will be allowed to leave its external cover in order to then enter the kingdom which is its true home ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

The sleep of the soul .... Misguided teaching ....

B.D. 6541 from May 6th 1956, taken from Book No. 70

It is extremely wrong to deem the souls of the departed as being in an eternal sleep until the arrival of Judgment day .... This idea proves total ignorance of the soul's process of development, furthermore, it proves a wrong attitude towards Me or a person could not think so wrongly .... and it proves that there is no belief in the soul's life after death, for an eternal sleep of death, as presumed by people, cannot be described as 'life after death'.

But this misguided thought is also a great disadvantage for the departed souls, because prayers will not be offered for them and thus they will not receive the help which they need so badly. But people who adopted this doctrine and were taught wrongly will not accept being taught otherwise, and yet they hold on to the error as if it was gospel truth. Here, too, My adversary's work is obvious, who particularly wants to stop people from praying for the souls, because such prayer could help to set them free, which he tries to prevent. But even when these misguided teachings are confronted by the truth, people will not take the only path which could provide them with clarification .... They need only ask Me for an explanation, if they do not want to believe those who would like to correct their error .... they need only approach Me Myself. But they won't take this path, and therefore they are beyond help and refuse to let go of their error.

However, these departed souls suffer immense hardship if they are not remembered in prayer. And people on earth cannot receive instructions for the better from the spiritual kingdom either, because they do not believe in a connection between the world of light and people on earth and therefore do not make themselves mentally available to the knowing powers. They are only concerned about their earthly life as human beings until death. Their idea of an 'eternal sleep of the soul' until 'Judgment day' only proves that they lack all knowledge about the spirits' process of redemption, about My fundamental nature, which is love, wisdom and omnipotence, and about Jesus' act of Salvation .... Their knowledge is very limited and does not correspond to the truth in the slightest, and when truth is brought to them they resist it. And yet they try to prove their point of view with the Word of God, with the Scriptures, but it is not their 'awakened spirit' that finds those references, rather, My adversary himself makes use of My Word when he wants to cause confusion .... But he is only successful when a person merely uses his intellect and does not ask Me Myself for enlightenment through the spirit when he asks for an explanation.

The letter kills, only the spirit gives life .... Anyone who does not entrust himself to Me first, so that I can guide his thoughts correctly, will truly be killed by the letter, since My adversary can use the letter too but will interpret its meaning completely differently and thereby make the biggest error seem acceptable to people .... The doctrine about the soul's sleep of death is a truly dubious teaching .... a teaching which also causes great indignation in the needy souls of the beyond, who 'live' and yet are so weak that they would be grateful for every gift of strength a loving prayer could impart on them. People should frequently remember those souls in their prayers, whose family members on earth believe this misguided teaching .... so that they can gather strength, ascend and mentally help them in turn. Although a life of love on earth will soon provide the souls with clear understanding, they first have to let go of erroneous teachings before they can be assigned to a field of activity themselves .... since every activity in the spiritual kingdom consists of spreading the pure truth.

Hence, a soul that lived a life of love on earth is blessed indeed, it will easily detach itself from misguided attitudes and wrong spiritual knowledge. The others, however, will find themselves in utmost adversity, because every misguided teaching has damaging effects on the soul, but especially the teaching about the eternal sleep of death, since it can actually lead to a kind of darkness similar to death, and at the same time reduce the opportunities for help due to the belief that prayers are futile .... However, anyone who sincerely turns to Me Myself will become clearly aware how misguided this teaching is ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Short or long lifetime ....

B.D. 7538 from March 4th 1960, taken from Book No. 79

The time given to you for your earthly life is not long, compared to the infinitely long time of your preliminary development, the duration of which cannot possibly be estimated by you. And your earthly life can even be shorter if you are called back into eternity prematurely. Therefore you should eagerly consider your soul, you should provide it with as much nourishment as possible so that it won't have to starve if it only lives for a short time on earth .... You should constantly provide it with ample food and drink and never rely on a very long earthly life, for you don't know the day and hour of your physical death .... But your soul will also be able to mature in a short period of time if you are of good will and help it to mature. No-one can determine or know how long he will live, and precisely this lack of knowledge ought to encourage him into actively improving his soul, his way of life should be such that he can calmly consider every day to be his last without having to worry about his soul's welfare.

And a great many people will lose their lives during the last days, for a large appraisal will still take place and many people will yet be recalled prematurely for the sake of their soul's salvation, because they had neglected their psychological work but nevertheless shall not fall prey to the merciless fury of God's adversary who would only draw them ever deeper into the abyss if these souls were not saved from him before. Especially people without spiritual aspirations don't consider an early death and live irresponsibly although they cannot be called bad. God takes pity on them and wants to help them to develop further in the beyond, which will in fact be far more difficult but not impossible, whereas on earth the fate of souls who live without a sense of responsibility could easily result in a complete descent into the abyss. You are offered enough opportunities on earth to reach full maturity in your earthly life, but if you don't take advantage of them you are not making the most of your life as a human being either, although it was only given to you for the purpose of your soul's maturity. If you don't use the grace of your embodiment as a human being and help your soul achieve final maturity then it is also irrelevant whether you live for a long or just a short time on earth. Yet even if you reach old age, earthly life can still be regarded as brief compared to the time of your preliminary development. Nevertheless, even a very short time on earth will suffice to fulfil your purpose on earth. And thus your maturity is not dependent on the length of your earthly existence but purely on your will of making expedient use of this existence.

Through the Word of God you are shown time and again the right path in order to achieve your soul's perfection .... you are repeatedly reminded of the divine commandments of love, the fulfilment of which is the only purpose and goal of your existence as a human being .... And you can always practise love even if your life is short, your soul will derive a benefit if you live a life of love .... However, if you don't keep these two commandments your life will be in vain and your responsibility even greater the longer you live on earth; in which case you can only be thankful if your life will be shortened and you still have the opportunity to develop further in the kingdom of the beyond, so that you will not go completely astray at the end of the day when everyone will be judged according to his efforts ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

The early death of children ....

B.D. 8772 from March 7th 1964, taken from Book No. 92

And I will provide you with strength because I need your cooperation on earth which requires your free will .... I could certainly choose vessels for Myself and appoint them to work for Me, but this does not correspond to My law of eternal order, because free will alone must and can be decisive, which then will also offer the guarantee of success. People are certainly willing to work for Me, yet they often lack the qualifications to carry out a redeeming activity on earth ....

And thus I know who voluntarily wants to do this work and serve Me as a suitable vessel. And I will also know how to keep such a vessel alive and lead it through all adversities, especially when the human being is no longer filled with desire for the world but completely puts his earthly wishes aside for the sake of the spiritual work, which he will recognise as extremely important. And thus it will be possible to continue the vineyard work, and your endeavour will always be blessed by Me, after all, there is as yet much to explain to people who are willing to listen, who will contact Me themselves and ask questions to which I will reply through My servants on earth.

You are repeatedly told that I have many schoolhouses in My kingdom, that the whole universe contains creations all of which serve the maturing of the once fallen spirits .... And every work of creation has its own purpose, it will always serve the higher development of the beings whose state corresponds to the living conditions on this creation .... And thus souls, which have covered the process through the earthly creations, will also be able to embody themselves on other stars, due to certain tendencies which only I Am able to recognise, which assure their full maturity on other stars and can even result in those souls' incarnation as a human being on earth who can already be entrusted with a mission .... And this also explains the death of small children and babies whose souls would have been unable to cope with life on earth but who, on the other hand, cannot be described as still being in complete opposition to Me, so that I will provide them with a different opportunity for further maturing on one of the innumerable schoolhouses, which usually enable them to accomplish their task and provide the being with some maturity ....

In that case it is, in fact, not possible for these beings to achieve the childship to God, which is gained through an enduring earthly life, yet they will be able to achieve beatitude in the spiritual kingdom as well. It is also possible for them .... after having already achieved a high degree of light .... to descend to earth again for the purpose of a mission and then also acquire the childship to God. So many circumstances and tendencies play a part in the soul's embodiment as a human being, including the degree of maturity which it will have already reached in its preliminary stages and which can decline due to the body's weakness but shall not, if the soul embodies itself in the womb of a mother which is unsuitable for the soul's state, in which case the difficulties of maturing are greater and can result in complete failure.

Then I will release the soul from its external shell again and place it where its higher development will be easier and assured, because the soul is no longer blatantly in opposition to Me.

And thus there are many possibilities in order to help the once fallen spirits to return to Me .... Admittedly, the earth is the lowest and most wretched work of creation but it is able to yield the highest spiritual accomplishments if the being is willing to travel this earthly path .... and yet I know in advance whether free will or other reasons make it impossible for the soul to mature fully, and I will always helpfully intervene where the soul's helplessness requires it, which is unable to cope with its imposed fate and yet is not deliberately opposed to Me ....

You humans are incapable of judging this, yet everything is based on My love and wisdom, and thus you also have to accept that I have My reasons for the early death of children, for nothing happens without reason and purpose, and everything is just for the benefit of the spiritual beings which once distanced themselves from Me and shall return to Me again .... And I have infinitely many possibilities to reach My goal one day, and sooner or later you will also know everything yourselves and realise what motivates My reign and work. But I Am constantly concerned for the weak souls and will assist them in every way, for I also know a soul's degree of resistance, how far it has diminished and whether and how far it will still lessen, and accordingly I will place the soul where it can reach its goal fastest. Life on earth is indeed the only possibility to attain the childship to God, yet I also know that and to what extent a soul is at risk of losing its already attained level and slipping back again, in that case I will prevent it in the face of its only very low resistance to Me, which is unable to determine free will and the latter would not exclude a descent. Yet even before its incarnation as a human being the soul will be able to decide whether it wants to cover the earthly progress as a human being, and its will is complied with. And this also explains the future fate of violently killed children who are likewise offered the opportunity to complete their path of development on other heavenly bodies and also mature fully, although under different conditions.

But it is also possible for every soul .... if it seriously wants it .... to return to earth again for the purpose of achieving the childship to God, if it has attained a specific degree of light and voluntarily accepts a mission which places great demands on such a soul. You humans are unable to clearly understand everything, you will never fully comprehend My reign and activity, yet I know of innumerable ways in order to help My living creations to ascend, and I also know the course and outcome of every earthly life .... nevertheless, I will only intervene Myself and establish a change of an appalling course of events if a willing soul can thereby be helped .... which is only known to Me alone. Earthly life as a human being is difficult, and it requires effort and determination to bring it to spiritually successful completion .... I will always help the weak soul if it no longer strongly opposes Me .... but how I express My help has to be left up to My love and wisdom, yet it will always be My endeavour to help My living creations attain full maturity, and I will always use those means which will be successful for Me, since I long for My children and would let none fall into ruin which already strive towards Me, which I recognise and thus also work accordingly ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Early death .... God's mercy .... Old age ....

B.D. 3260 from September 18th 1944, taken from Book No. 42

God's will determines in which degree of maturity a human being is called from his earthly life into the spiritual realm. This is also an apparent injustice which could further the opinion that God selects certain people to become blessed while others have to suffer being distant from God. And yet this attitude is totally wrong .... because divine love and wisdom always knows the human will and therefore cuts a life short when higher development on earth is doubtful.

During the state of constraint before embodiment as a human being there is only progressive development until the spiritual substance's degree of maturity is ready for this last embodiment. But now the human free will makes its own decisions and development can continue, remain static or even regress; and again it depends on whether the human being as such has already improved his initial degree of maturity and is in danger of coming to a standstill or whether he has remained on the same level as at the beginning of his embodiment and is in danger of regressing. In that case it is always due to God's mercy that the human being is recalled when he has arrived at the highest level of his development on earth, i.e. when God's love protects him

from regressing or from failing to advance his soul during a longer lifetime .... because his guilt will increase the longer he uses his embodiment's time of grace without making proper use of it.

The human being can advance during his younger years and then stop, his development up till now comes to a halt, and then God will recall him and give him further opportunities to mature in the beyond .... But the human being can also change his will in later years and his yet inadequate development can experience a sudden improvement and thus he can attain a higher degree of maturity even though for a long time he had ignored his soul until then. In that case God will give him a long life, because God knows the human being's will since eternity and shapes his life accordingly .... For every human being's destiny is considered by God's love and wisdom and does not depend on God's arbitrary use of power ....

God would not withhold the opportunity to mature on earth from any human being if he is willing to use it. But people pay little attention to His mercy and are unwilling to accept the relevant information. And because God knows since eternity which humans are particularly resentful to Him, because He knows when a person has reached the highest degree of development on earth, the duration of his earthly life has also been established since eternity and varies, depending on what divine wisdom deems best and most successful. God will never cut short an earthly life if the human being could still achieve higher maturity because God's love is forever concerned that the human being should attain highest possible maturity on earth; He would never withhold an opportunity from a human being which would result in complete maturity. But He knows since eternity the human will's every inclination and protects the soul from complete desertion, i.e. from certain regression if He would not end that earthly life.

For that reason anyone who constantly strives will reach old age while, at the same time, old age is proof of steady higher development even if this is not evident to other people. A long earthly life is always a mercy but even a short life is evidence of God's love, which is forever active although it is not always recognised by the human being ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Premature departure from the world .... Purpose ....

B.D. 3258 from September 16th 1944, taken from Book No. 42

People are repeatedly reminded of the transience of earthly things, and they are constantly confronted by death when many people pass away prematurely and when they are helpless in the face of events which cause suffering and despair to human beings. Yet they will not change their mind nor think about the real reason for suffering and untimely death. Thus the suffering becomes ever more painful and humanity will observe world events with horror and turn numb at the size of the disaster that engulfs it. Humanity, however, is asking for it, since the despair of the time leaves people entirely indifferent and they derive no gain for their souls. And therefore God applies the harshest measures to disturb their lethargy, because in spite of people’s earthly and bodily suffering their souls remain uncaring, they remain indifferent to the blows of fate or they would attempt to change in the knowledge that their spiritual attitude is the cause of the increased suffering on earth.

Hence many people have to depart prematurely from this life because a longer life would be detrimental rather than beneficial for their souls as they would lose their faith completely and only take care of their physical life. In spite of their inadequate state of maturity God therefore allows the loss of countless human lives to prevent their regression, to give them the opportunity to fully mature in the beyond, because the situation on earth does not remain hidden from them, they can observe the developments and become aware that due to the neglect of their soul’s salvation, due to their wrong way of life, due to their lack of faith and unkind thoughts, human beings themselves are responsible for the severe suffering on earth.

In addition, people who are called away by God prematurely can still become aware when faced with death, they can still truly unite with God, they can still become purified due to intense suffering, and thus achieve a higher degree of maturity which they would not have attained during a longer earthly life, and then a premature parting from earth is a blessing for them. And irrespective of how much earthly suffering exists, it is only a means for the benefit of souls .... yet few people understand this as such. The magnitude of hardship is intended to direct their path to God Who can and will banish every distress if the human being faithfully awaits His help. However, when even the immense suffering is unsuccessful, when human beings forget about Him and are in greatest danger to finally strive towards the abyss, God shall end many an earthly life and permit apparently inhuman disasters because He forever considers the human souls and aims to save these even though the body will perish as a result .... because God never does wrong but only what is good and a blessing for the human soul ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Cremation .... Accelerated disintegration process ....

B.D. 1899 from April 28th 1941, taken from Book No. 28

Everything proceeds towards deliverance because it has to follow the path of higher development. When the spiritual essence separates itself from matter it has overcome the latter; but the spiritual essence has not always matured enough that it no longer needs an earthly (transformation) form and in that case it will re-enter a new form, which also consists of matter. However, when the soul, the spiritual essence within the human being, leaves the body, the earthly transformation has come to an end; that is, the soul escapes its last form on earth and enters, liberated from all matter, a new and entirely different realm than earth. The body, the final earthly form, is now destined for disintegration again; i.e. the spiritual substances which constitute the earthly body, also have to take the path of higher development, since these substances are still at the initial stage of development, and for this purpose they will join divine works of creation again whose purpose is, after all, the higher development of the spirit. This can happen in various ways but it always has to include the possibility for active service. Consequently, the substance has to join a work of creation where it has to perform some kind of task and serve by fulfilling this task, since the substance can only develop through service. If the opportunity to serve is taken away, the path of higher development is interrupted, which is an extremely agonising condition for the spiritual substance. The time of spiritual suffering can seemingly be shortened but the spirit substance will not thank the human being who intervenes in its progress of development and prevents its service. As soon as the natural decomposition of a human body is prevented by accelerating its process of disintegration by cremation or by chemical means, the path of the spirit is far more painful and has to be so, because this process opposes divine order, it opposes the purpose which God has given every work of creation. It is an unauthorised action by people which does not concur with God’s will. The human body should be returned to the earth as is its purpose ....

"From dust you have been taken, to dust you shall return" .... providing God’s intervention does not determine otherwise by ending a human life in other ways than the human being’s natural physical death. When the soul has freed itself from the body .... i.e. from the spiritual substance which forms the body .... the body’s job to serve the soul is fulfilled. But until it has completely disintegrated it still has other opportunities to be of service, even if the human being finds this difficult to understand, while an accelerated disintegration procedure will not allow the remains to carry out even the slightest act of service. Hence it is completely wrong to assume that the human body will join the soul as a result of this kind of purification process. The external form’s spiritual substance has indeed the same function and eventually unites with countless other substances of soul and likewise walks the path of development on earth as a human soul .... but this cannot happen the way people erroneously believe. All substances are given an appointed time for their development which the human being cannot shorten at his own discretion by means of an external process .... if he does not completely use the only option of spiritual higher development on earth, i.e. that he, by his conduct, his right attitude towards God, his faith and his wholehearted actions of love, acquires a degree of maturity which can also shorten the physical form’s earthly lifespan; however, it must always be left up to God’s will which helpful task He will still assign to it ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Immortality .... Eternity .... Suicide ....

B.D. 0974a from June 21st 1939, taken from Book No. 18

The question of immortality .... the concept of eternity .... cannot be solved by the human being because on one hand he cannot understand something that reaches beyond earthly concepts, but on the other hand he cannot be given a spiritual explanation which he could adequately understand either. Only on entering the regions of light can the being be given a partial explanation but even then it remains a problem which, like the eternal Deity, can never be completely solved and comprehended. This has to be said first in order to explain the following:

In times of great spiritual adversity people are inclined to believe that they can put an end to their lives at will, and thus an end to their existence, because they believe that they only exist for a limited period of time and hence feel entitled and qualified to shorten it. They simply lack understanding for immortality, for endlessness of time, for eternity .... That they will never cease to exist cannot be proven to them, but the thought of knowing that life will end one day is far more comforting to them .... And although from time to time the human being feels uneasy about the temporal ending he nevertheless rather accepts this thought than the thought of a continuation of life after death because he knows that everything on earth is temporary and therefore he cannot and will not believe in the immortality of his Self. To explain the concept of ‘eternal’ to such a person would simply be impossible .... The idea that something so intimately related to him should never cease to exist worries him and awakens his sense of responsibility because, understandably, life has to be viewed quite differently as soon as a permanent existence has to be taken into account.

(Break)

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Immortality .... Eternity .... Suicide ....

B.D. 0974b from June 22nd 1939, taken from Book No. 18

Consequently, people who consciously deny life after death will not hesitate to end their earthly life themselves since they believe that by ending their earthly life they will dispose of everything, and fail to consider the consequences of their action if they are wrong. They only destroy the outer shell but not life itself and therefore they have to continue living it .... since it cannot be destroyed, neither on earth nor in the beyond .... it is, in the true sense of the word, immortal, i.e. of eternal duration. It is not possible to end it because the Creator has created the being out of Himself and everything of divine origin cannot possibly perish. For that reason the Creator, in His wisdom, has ordained that there shall be no limit for the being to reach its state of perfection .... that even in eternity it can steadily advance and thus be constantly active and give as well as receive .... without ever becoming exhausted or ever having received the ultimate from the eternal Deity. The earthly human being can barely conceive the concept of ‘eternity’, neither can immortality be completely explained to him since nothing on earth is everlasting, and since the immortality of soul cannot be proven to him he has to believe it. Likewise, human intellect cannot analyse the time concept of ‘eternity’ either. This attempt cannot possibly lead to a result as long as the human being cannot apply the same comparison to a physical medium. He only accepts something as true when he has conclusive evidence. And therefore there remains only faith again .... The human being has to believe what cannot be demonstrated to him, and thus the immortality of the being throughout eternity must precede all other reasoning ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Arbitrarily taking one's own life ....

B.D. 6005 from July 19th 1954, taken from Book No. 65

You humans are granted a certain length of time for your final deliverance from bondage .... for the ultimate release from the form .... Yet the duration of this time varies such as I had recognised to be good for your soul. Your earthly life is not finished by Me arbitrarily, yet I know the maturity of every person's soul and thus I also know the risk of a decline or the possibility of further progress on earth.

And My love and mercy also ends a human life prematurely in order to prevent the soul from regressing .... or I can see the possibility of a change in the last hour and therefore prolong the natural life, always in wise counsel, for everything that serves the benefit of the soul is known to Me .... And now you will understand that your own ending of the body's life is a serious offence, that you commit a sin, that you act in advance of My love and mercy and don't utilise the opportunities which were offered to your soul to reach perfection ....

You interfere with My plan of Salvation and cause such damage to your soul which one day will trigger immense remorse and self-reproaches in you, yet which no longer can be put right in the kingdom of the beyond, for the advantages you should and are able to utilise on earth can never be offered to you in the kingdom of the beyond again. You have irretrievably forfeited something, even if you still succeed in improving the state of your soul by then striving to ascend ....

Yet there is a great danger that the soul will descend .... that it will rebel, just as arbitrarily taking its own life was a rebellion, and that it will continue to stay in opposition. Such souls require a lot of help as not to be lost for an infinitely long time, yet they, too, only get what they want.

I will truly help everyone, even in utmost adversity, which is instantly lessened when the person just thinks of Me, when he just calls upon Me for help .... And adversity is, after all, only a means of directing your thoughts towards Me, so that you then will also be able to gain success from your earthly life .... Adversity will not befall a person without reason, for his soul is in danger from which it shall escape by means of this adversity. And the more its stance hardens against Me the more it is at risk, in order to finally defy My will and throw away the life which it was granted by My love and grace for its final redemption. For the embodiment as a human being is a grace for the soul .... a gift of My love .... it is the last step towards ascent which it is allowed to take in order to become eternally free and blissfully happy .... The soul has almost reached its goal and is therefore responsible for its actions if it does not utilise this gift of grace but throws it away in blindness of thought.

Every movement of a human heart is known to Me and I truly judge righteously .... I take the weaknesses of My living creations into account yet it is not without their own fault, and the human being's free will incriminates him if it was wrongly orientated, thus was abused. The human being is unable to end his adversity by his intervention, he will have to continue suffering because of it, he will not be able to escape his distress, and that is why the soul will suffer inexpressibly in the kingdom of the beyond .... until it can master it in the same way as it should have done on earth .... until it takes refuge in the One Who is Lord over suffering and adversity, because He is the victor over sin and death ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Freedom of will .... Abandonment of development ....

B.D. 3794 from June 8th 1946, taken from Book No. 48

I allow the human will its freedom .... You can only understand what this means and why it cannot be otherwise when you are spiritually reborn, when you have knowledge of My eternal plan of Salvation, of the deliverance of the spirit substance which is not free. Not until then can you accept the necessity that people first have to transform themselves if they want to achieve a change in their circumstances, although I Am the Lord of heaven and earth and everything is only possible with My will or My permission. Depending on the human being’s attitude towards My eternal laws, depending on whether he integrates with or revolts against My eternal order, so shall be his fate on earth and in the spiritual kingdom, which he prepares for himself. I will never forcefully violate the human will, but I will try to encourage My living creations by various means to change their own will. And one of these means is the severe hardship visiting earth, although the people themselves initiate it, precisely because of their misguided will. For their own sake I have to let them rage if I don’t want to deny them the opportunity as free living creations to use their will in future for the right reason and to become perfect. That which has emerged from My strength was and continues to be divine and can never remain in a state of bondage, even if it has placed itself there of its own free will. But if I take away the human being’s free will, the living creature can never become free, it can never return to its original state because it can only regain this of its own volition. Or I have to take away all knowledge of its destiny from My created being and then guide it in accordance with My will .... But in that case it is a directed being which is still very distant from the Divinity. Thus, if it is to approach its original state it has to be given freedom of will and then it has to use its will in the right manner ....

For this purpose I gave him his life as a human being, I gave him the ability to think and to take action, and I will never eliminate his free will before the end of his probationary period on earth. But I have to constrain misused will anew for a long time and only return its freedom when it is again given the mercy to live embodied as a human being on earth and takes its last test of will once more. This has been the law since eternity which I cannot overturn because it would contradict My eternal law and completely deprive the being of its divinity, because whatever originates from Me eternally remains a part of Me, which is given the final objective to attain its original state for which free will is unavoidably necessary. And even if this free will brings forth actions of the most unashamed heartlessness I will not restrain it before its time and only use My will to restore order where the human free will is used to come closer to Me .... However, when the hour has come, which since eternity I have designated to be the end, My will shall terminate progressive or regressive development .... Only then a state of order will be established once more, which necessitates the constraint of the completely wrong will so that the deliverance of the bound spirit can start over again. For I will never cease to care for the spirit which emanated from Me and which apostatized from Me of its own volition, that it should regain its freedom, that it should reach its original state and one day become blessed ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Awakening the dead through God's Word ....

B.D. 5605 from February 18th 1953, taken from Book No. 61

You shall awaken the dead to life .... you shall draw the lifeless from the abyss and breathe life into it; you shall touch it with a strength that will give life to it .... And this strength is My Word which comes to you from above, which I convey to you Myself, so that you, as mediators, will pass it on in order that My strength will also touch those who are still dead in spirit. You own something exquisite, a gift that has a miraculous effect, you own spiritual strength and can use it to bring the dead back into life. But having received it from the Eternal Love you must also impart My Word with love; your will to help must urge you to share what had awakened you to life .... Then you will always be successful and able to work beneficially on earth as well as in the spiritual kingdom. There is immense darkness everywhere and countless spiritually dead souls dwell in this darkness. But life also means light ....

Only the soul that is touched by a ray of light which radiates warmth of love and thus has an invigorating effect on the hardened soul will awaken to life. These dead souls have to be touched by a light of love, then they will awaken to life for sure. And you shall take this ray of light to them by giving them My Word, which has a most comforting effect on them if it is offered with love. This healing water of life constantly flows to you as a result of My love and grace so that your souls will recover and find the true life, and thus you need not fear the death of the soul any longer .... Yet the many souls which rest in their graves .... which in their thoughts are still living on earth and yet are spiritually dead and in depressing darkness .... are surrounding you, and you should help them by lifting them out of the night of death into the light of life. For you have an effective remedy, you have the only medicine which can help them, you have My Word, the emanation of strength and light of Myself, which will never remain ineffective if only it can touch the soul ....

As long as My Word is merely reaching a person's ear it cannot as yet affect the soul, for only the soul is receptive to the effect of My Word. Yet only love will open the door so that I Myself can touch the soul with the strength of My love. And your love will open the door for Me if you endeavour to help these dead souls and proclaim to them My Word with love. Consider how much power is given to you: You are able to awaken the dead to life with My Word .... And if you are only urged by love to spread My Word I will bless your efforts .... Carry the Word into the darkness wherever it may be .... look after all those who are dead in spirit, remember your lifeless fellow human beings as well as the dead in the beyond .... want them to awaken to life and bring My Word to them with love .... And the strength of My Word will work miracles, the souls will awaken to life and light, and they will never ever lose their life again ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Prayer for poor souls ....

B.D. 4305 from May 19th 1948, taken from Book No. 51

Souls in darkness suffer terribly. Their strength is depleted; it is a state of utter hopelessness as long as they don't know about the strength of love, which can lighten their fate. They wander around, their will is lethargic, and they will remain in this agonising state for an extremely long time if they do not receive help through prayer. You humans on earth are able to help them if you lovingly remember such poor souls and would like to ease their plight. For only love will give them strength. A prayer without love is worthless; it is a mere formality without effect. Only the degree of love determines the amount of strength they will receive. And thus you have to visualise the fate of these poor souls and know that they will beseech you to give them strength once they have felt the strength of love. They depend on your help as long as they are still in the abyss, as long as they cannot increase their strength themselves through knowledge, which, in the beyond, consists of loving actions for other needy souls.

Every kind, compassionate thought for those souls eases their plight, they feel this and then remain close to you. They ask for your loving intercession by pushing themselves into your thoughts. Don't forget them, don't turn your thoughts away from them. Give them a loving prayer and thereby help them to ascend. Alleviate their torment and, most of all, demonstrate the power of love to them, so that their love for other distressed souls arises and, by helping these souls, that they can liberate themselves from their own hardship. Their surroundings correspond to the state of their soul, dark and desolate, and when a prayer for these souls rises up to God a faint state of twilight occurs which gives the soul a glimmer of recognition and benefits the soul after the constant darkness. The degree of love in the intercession determines the brightness of light emanated into the darkness, and the soul turns towards the ray of light always expecting and pleading for more rays. Grant them their wish, don't leave them alone in their need, and give them the help which you are still able to give to them. But also bring the Gospel to them in thought, remind them that they should lovingly consider others in their environment and help them to receive a blessing of light as well by giving to them in turn what they received from you. You can alleviate immeasurable amounts of suffering, you can participate in the redemption of these souls because the gift of strength through your prayer affects their will which then becomes active in the right way. The soul uses the strength it receives to lovingly help other poor souls, and it begins its ascent for which it will be eternally grateful to you ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Great work of redemption in the beyond .... Jesus Christ ....

B.D. 7386 from August 5th 1959, taken from Book No. 78

A great campaign of redemption is in progress, for wherever beings of light were allowed to incarnate on earth they also advocate the proclamation of the Gospel amongst their fellow human beings. And their efforts are supported by the beings from the world of light which influence people's thoughts in every way, making them receptive for the divine Word as soon as it is offered to them. At the same time a great work of redemption is also taking place in the beyond, where beings of light dare to descend increasingly more often and aim to carry light into the darkness. Nevertheless, it always depends on whether the beings' are willing to accept the light or turn away from it if time and again flashing sparks of light intend to show them the path to a source of light .... If they follow this path then the darkness could quickly recede and radiantly bright light would surround them .... but if they ignore it they will still be engulfed by thick darkness for eternities, and they will be banished again in the creations of earth. But whatever can still be done to save all these souls will truly be done on part of the world of light .... and wherever on earth there is still a chance to bring people light, the bearers of light will truly not pass it by, since they are embodied all over the world during the last days in order to work for the benefit of people and to show them the path to redemption ....

Nevertheless, it is not an easy beginning, since the voice of the world is much louder. Where God's Word is proclaimed there will only ever be just a few people, whereas the world has countless more followers who rather choose darkness than light and therefore cannot find redemption during their earthly life either. But all souls will be fought for, since every effort is also being made in the kingdom of light above to direct people's thoughts towards the kingdom that is not of this world. The world of light in the spiritual kingdom is constantly trying to radiate light onto the darkened human race, and thus time and again contacts are being established from the spiritual realm to earth, and people willingly fulfil the light beings' suggestion as to what is necessary and beneficial for their fellow human beings' salvation. And they will comply with the light beings' influence .... which is recognisable by their diligent work in the vineyard of the Lord, by the proclamation of the Gospel, by the distribution of the divine Word, by spiritual conversations, explanations and constant references to Jesus Christ, the divine Redeemer.

His name will be mentioned time after time, and their enthusiasm will not lessen but increase, because everywhere some seed will also fall on good ground .... because Jesus Christ Himself will seize the people who direct their steps towards Him, who turn their eyes upon Him and thus wish to be redeemed by Him. He will never leave these, be it on earth or even in the beyond .... a heartfelt call upon Him will always be heard and the soul will be granted what it desires. A heartfelt call is evidence to Him that He is acknowledged by the soul, and then its fate in eternity will be assured .... This is why every work of redemption is blessed by Him, and Jesus Christ Himself is participating in every work of redemption, Who only requires the person's free will in order to accomplish His act of Salvation on the soul, so that it will be released from sin and death and in this freedom be able to enter eternal beatitude ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna

Blessings of the last days .... Death before the event .... The beyond ....

B.D. 3135 from May 28th 1944, taken from Book No. 41

God will be merciful to those who still recognise their wrongdoing in time and distance themselves from it, but He will inflict severe punishment without mercy on those who are unyieldingly cruel, who have no compassion even for their fellow human beings and thus pass judgment on themselves through their unkindness. And the approaching time will testify of people’s depravity, the most unimaginable means intended for destruction will be devised; and people will not hesitate to use these means to accomplish their plans, and humanity’s despair will increase. The leaders, as well as their followers who agreed and supported their plans, will be held responsible for everything. For God is just and He passes judgment according to thoughts, words and deeds .... Nothing is hidden from Him; He looks into the human heart and every genuine emotion determines the amount of mercy at its disposal, that it is granted to him when the end has come .... For the end will come without fail .... It will be accelerated by people’s behaviour and thus an era will come to an end that would not result in a better human generation even if God extended His patience and offered humanity many more opportunities to change themselves. But they no longer make use of them and thus God will put an end to earthly life ....

This period of development was particularly gracious for humanity and could have sufficed completely for its salvation. Although God will support people until the end with remarkable gifts of grace they will be mostly ignored, just as everything in relation to God or the benefit of their own souls will generally not be taken notice of. Thus a longer stay on this earth would be inappropriate, that is, it will only benefit the body but not the immortal soul. Therefore the soul’s earthly opportunity will be taken away, but it still has the assurance for further development in the beyond if it does not reject God’s Word in the beyond too, and only if it loses its physical life before the Last Judgment, before the end of this earth, and is accepted into the realm of the beyond. Death before this event is even an exceptional mercy for the human being if he has not made his decision on earth. Afterwards in the beyond he will still find ample opportunity to be helpful and serve with love and in so doing continue his interrupted development, indeed he can even start it if he does not refuse to listen to helpful souls. In that case he can regress even further and return into most solid matter, after which he has to repeat the long earthly path before he can embody himself as a human being again. Thus God still has many blessings available before He destroys the old earth but He will not force people’s will, and depending on how they accept His mercy they will derive benefit for their souls .... they will remain empty and incapable on earth as well as in the beyond if they ignore and reject all blessings, or they will rapidly achieve higher development by readily allowing every gift of grace to take effect on themselves and thereby receive much more strength. For God is exceedingly gracious and merciful but also just, and He will give to people according to their will ....

Amen

Translation handled by Heidi Hanna