Messages 1984 to 2000

Jesus: On the Law of Progress and Change and Growth.

June 17 & 22, 1987

Received by D.L.

 

I am now here to write, my dear brother in Christ, and I come to you this day as a first step taken in the corroborative process you have been informed I intended to enact. I am your brother in spirit, Jesus, who is Master of the Celestial Heavens and the eternal leader of our church.

As you know from K____ ’s message, and even from your own, I have introduced the concept and subject of the Law of Progress and Change, or Growth. “Change” and “growth” can be used somewhat interchangeably; and, at times, I will refer to each in a somewhat synonymous fashion, for change often implies growth. And in the sense that I use this term, I am more often than not speaking of growth when I refer to change.

On earth, as you know, change is a phenomenon that is always in operation. Life never proceeds in a static fashion, but is always accompanied by movements of one form or another. Now, when we speak of “spiritual movement,” we are actually speaking of growth of the soul. The soul, being the man, is ever in a state of flux because it is the activator of his very life and vitality. This is not to say that all flux implies growth in a developmental sense, for some changes that occur are deleterious to a man’s soulful development. But, nonetheless, there is always an active state where the soul is concerned, be the movement headed in a positive or negative direction.

You have been told that, in the spirit world, the state of the soul can be seen by the condition of the spirit body which houses that soul. Beautiful souls filled with the Love of the Father are reflected in the beautiful appearances of the spirit bodies which house these souls. And, conversely, souls filled with sin and error are inferred or made manifest by the unappealing and, in some cases, even ugly appearances of the spirit bodies which house undeveloped souls.

Of course, on earth, the souls of men are not seen by mortals; and, consequently, it is quite possible for a person to manifest a beautiful physical body, even though his soul and spirit body within may be in a very shriveled and unattractive condition. But such concealment of the true condition of the soul on the spirit side of life is not possible, as you also have been told. Now, when I say this, I am not intending to say that spirits on lower levels of soulful development can discern the exact level of development of spirits with higher soul development, because, as you also have been told, there is a law which does not permit lower spirits to be able to determine the development of the souls of higher spirits, except in the surface appearance of their more beautiful spirit bodies. But the true nature of the souls of these higher spirits remain hidden to the sights of all those of a lower level of soulful development.

Now, with respect to growth and development on the mortal plane, you will recall that there is a law of growth operating with a law of destruction, as far as the physical body is concerned. That is, there are cells that are growing at all times to replace older cells which are dying off. And in accordance with genetic proclivities, the appearance of the physical body takes on similar aspects of the progenitors - the parents and earlier forebears - so that we have sons and daughters often resembling their parents in physical appearance.

But where it comes to spirit living, the spirit body is under the operation of different laws that determine its appearance. And whether or not the spirit body is still encased in the mortal, from birth onward, it continues to go through its own process of change. But, in this latter case, change is determined by spiritual law rather than physical law. That is, if a person received a sin-laden inheritance in terms of the tendencies he has for adopting the misbehaviors of his parents or forebears, and he in fact takes on these sins and errors and makes them his own, then the appearance of his spirit body will be affected adversely thereby, and he will begin to follow in the soulful footsteps of his forebears with similar appearance results.

The soul of man is the cause of the spirit body’s appearance. It is the soul which expresses its free will desires for good or evil; and, depending upon the choice it makes, the spirit body takes on a more beautiful or less beautiful appearance ongoingly. And, so, while change in the state and appearance of the spirit body continues all through the mortal life to varying degree, once the physical vesture is discarded and the spirit body with its soul enters the spirit world, at that time, the spirit body’s appearance takes on, and is in fact, the sum total of the life the soul has led. If the life led has been an evil one predominantly, the spirit body will be a perfect reflection of the soul’s past indulgences in evil pursuits. And, for a time, the appearance of such a spirit body will be fixed in accordance with the soul’s true condition.

Now, you have heard that there is another law which does not allow any further retrogression in terms of both the soul and its spirit body’s condition, and this is true. I am speaking now of the soul and spirit body that has entered spirit life. Thus, if the appearance of the spirit body is dark and lacking in beauty, it cannot retrogress even further into greater darkness or a more hideous appearance. And the reason for this is that the free will given to man during his earthly existence is no longer in operation in the same manner in which it was exercised on earth.

In the hells, one spirit can attempt to torment another, to be sure, but actual “physical” harm or destruction is no longer possible. That is, the great sin of murder can no longer be exercised. And, of course, this is equally true of suicide. For, as far as we know, the spirit body in the spirit world is indestructible, and will probably remain so through all eternity. Yet, while this may be so, for only God knows this fact, we do know that, while no further harm can come to the spirit body, either from without or from the exercise of the spirit person’s soul thereafter, the condition and progress of that spirit body will depend upon both expiation of wrongs done and the help that that person may receive from other helpful spirits.

On earth, the free will of man is exercised among all different peoples of varying soul development. And because this is so, what is done with or to one’s brothers and sisters in the exercise of that will, will have diverse effects. When harm is done to the innocent, for example, evil is the by-product, which, in turn, has its effect upon the one or ones violating the innocent. But, in the spirit world, unlike on earth where “rain falls upon the just and unjust alike,” the innocent and the sinful no longer inhabit the same localities. Consequently, it no longer becomes possible for a soul with evil inclinations to violate or cause harm to the innocent. Spirits of like make-up are in association with one another, and this means that evil intentions can only be shared among those of like evil disposition. And yet, even here, no real harm can be done because there is no satisfaction when those who have evil intentions do not have innocent victims to perpetrate their evil upon. Furthermore, the sins of earth lose their effectiveness in the spirit world.

As I have mentioned, neither murder nor suicide are possible any longer. But this applies to other sins as well. Lying among liars does not violate anyone who is innocent. And, as part of their suffering, such liars must endure that which they themselves practiced on earth. Likewise, such a sin as adultery is no longer possible because the sexual function is no longer a part of spirit living. And so it is with other sins, such as coveting the neighbor’s wife or his possessions. In the spirit world, the material no longer holds any value of consequence because all spirits eventually learn to create that of material value or need by virtue of directed thought applied to the formation of the matter desired. Hence, stealing entirely loses any impact because nothing can really be taken from another which cannot be easily replaced.

So, you see, retrogression is no longer possible because sins on earth no longer have application in the spirit world in the sense of violating the innocent.1 If you will consider the Ten Commandments as this applies on earth, upon further reflection, I think you will see that violations or violation possibilities where these Commandments are concerned apply to earthly associations but not to spirit ones. On the spirit side of life, like is attracted to like, and this becomes very clear very soon. And even though an evil spirit regrets this attraction - much preferring and desiring innocent victims upon which to practice his evil designs - he is nonetheless held and bound to those of like disposition until such time as he can fulfill his time of expiation of past sins and thus make his progress to higher spheres of light and happiness. But no matter how delayed this progress may be, even the vilest spirit will one day achieve sufficient expiation to begin his progress at some time. This depends upon both the amount of sin that must be removed and upon the motivation of the spirit himself to make progress beyond the deplorable conditions he finds he lives in and with. And, of course, without the help of other spirits, no real progress would be made.

Well, I think I have said enough for this time around, as you say. I realize that much of this information is not new, but here and there are embellishments I have added to help clarify information that has already been conveyed to you through Mr. Padgett and Dr. Samuels.

Later on, we shall pick up on this subject again. But, for now, I think what I have written has formed a good beginning summary and basis for what will follow. Thank you again for taking my messages, as you have been faithfully doing. In time, your confidence will increase as you come to discover both the corroboration promised and the advanced spiritual quality of the messages themselves. As was said to K____, there will be those who will want access to more of the higher Truths, and it will be our job and combined effort to provide more of those Truths that will be desired, and which the Father wishes to accord his more advanced children who are seeking such Truths.

And, so, I will bid you good day for now, and leave you with the parting promise that humankind will come to learn the Truth, and the Truth will make them free.

I am your brother in spirit and dear friend, Jesus

 

1 Jesus qualifies his statement here, and perhaps that is critical. Because in at least one channeled book a spirit suffered retrogression after obsessing a living human. Perhaps this is almost the only way it can be achieved? G.J.C.