Soul Development through Control of Thoughts and Influences
In this mediated message, Luke traces the origin of good or evil thoughts to humans themselves, assisted by spirit and human influences, as well as objects and circumstances. Therefore control of thoughts and influences is important to experience soul development in natural love. This message directly follows from a previous one by Luke. For more on this topic, see this page.
Luke Continues His Discourse on the Development of the Soul in Its Natural Love
I AM HERE. Luke.
Well, do you think you can take my message tonight? It looks like you may. At any rate, we will try. As I was saying, in what way is a man to obtain this development of the soul in its natural love?
In the first place, he must recognize the fact that he does not live to himself, alone—that what he conceives to be the workings of his own mind and will are not always the result of thoughts and desires that originate in him, but are largely the products of the influences of the workings of the minds of spirits who are around him, trying to impress him with their desires and wills. Consequently, you will understand that it is very important to man as to what kind of spirit influences he has surrounding and working upon him. If these influences are good, the better it is for his progress in the development of this natural love; but, if they are evil influences, then, of course, such development is retarded.
Consequently, the first thing for a man to do is to attempt to attract influences to himself of the higher nature. And he can do so by trying to cultivate good thoughts and to indulge in good and moral acts.
The great Law of Attraction that we have written about applies and works in such cases as this, as it does in every other relation of God’s Universe. If a man’s thoughts are evil, there will always be spirits attracted to him of similar thoughts. And when they come to him, they attempt to, and succeed in, intensifying these evil thoughts of his which attract them to him.
It must be emphatically understood in this regard that man may and often does originate his own thoughts and desires, and it is not necessary that any influence of these evil spirits should be present and operate upon his brain or affections in order that these evil thoughts and desires should come into existence. And, again, man has a will power that is susceptible to being exercised, free from the wills of these evil spirits. You will see how true this is when you remember that he can exercise that will power free and independent from the Will of God, Himself!
So, I say that these thoughts and desires may and do originate in man, free and independent of the wills or influences of these evil spirits. And, as a fact, these spirits are attracted to him only when these thoughts that he has originated are evil.
Now, if man would have this progress that I speak of, he should endeavor to have good and pure thoughts and desires. Then he will attract spirits to him who are good and pure, and their influences will help him in strengthening and increasing these thoughts to a wonderful degree, making it less and less likely that evil thoughts will arise in his brain, or evil desires in his affections. And, as a consequence, his will power will be exercised in doing those things which are good and moral.
Now, while man may originate these thoughts and desires, he must also know as a Truth that this progress is not dependent upon himself, alone. For when he is in that condition to attract the good spirits, they will invariably come to him and render their help, and it will prove to be a wonderful and never-failing help.
Now, man’s thoughts and desires are not always the result of something that may be hidden within himself, as may be supposed, and of which he may not know its existence. I mean not in all cases, and probably in only a minority of cases. For, most frequently, these thoughts and desires are the children of an objective influence that comes to him by reason of objects becoming sensible to his ordinary senses, which, in turn, create or suggest these thoughts or desires.
Without going into details, you will understand what I mean. But, as a mere illustration: To a man who likes whiskey, a glass of whiskey may and does suggest the thought and desire that he should take a drink, thereby bringing his will into operation, which is followed by the act of drinking. And so with many other objects which a man meets in the course of his daily life. But these thoughts and desires arise not only from seeing objects but also from feeling and tasting them.
And, again, these objective suggestions, causing these thoughts and desires, arise and exist not only from the real object sensed but also from words and thoughts which are expressed by other human beings in the course of conversations, or in books and literature; and, when they come in this way, they are frequently more effective than in any other. Hence, as these objective words and thoughts enter the mind of man, they create similar thoughts which frequently intensify and attract the evil spirits of like thoughts, with their degenerating influences.
Hence the importance of a man avoiding companionship where such communications take place, and avoiding the books and literature where these evil suggestions are made.
It has been well said that evil communications corrupt good manners. And I may add that such communications corrupt good thoughts and produce evil desires, and retard the progress of the soul in its natural love. For it must be remembered that this love is pure and free from all evil or taint of defilement when it is fully developed. And anything that tends to defile it retards the progression of the soul in this particular.
So, the plain lesson to be drawn from all this is that, in the first place, man must make the effort to have only good and pure thoughts and desires from his inner self; and, next, he must avoid those objects and associations that tend to cause these evil thoughts to arise in him; and, thirdly, he must learn the truth that, when he has these evil thoughts, he attracts spirits of evil to himself who can and do intensify these evil thoughts and desires by their influence.
As regards this last mentioned truth, I know that the majority of men have no knowledge of its existence. But it is time that they should learn that such a danger to their souls’ progression does exist and is always imminent.
And they should learn this other fact that, when their thoughts are pure and free from defilement, they have the influence of good spirits surrounding them who work to increase and make permanent their good thoughts; and, as these good thoughts continue, the natural love develops towards its pristine condition of purity, and man comes nearer to his designed condition of existence.
So, you will see from this that, as man’s thoughts and desires become freed from these things that tend to defile him, he naturally progresses toward that condition which is necessary in order for him to have this development of the soul in its natural love.
Again, the development may be helped very much by man thinking and doing acts of charity and kindness, and by observing the golden rule. For every act of charity and kindness and self-sacrifice, for the sake of others, has its reflex action in man’s own condition of love and soul, and helps with his development.
In short, the observance of all the moral laws by man, which are many and varied, tends to bring about the development of the natural love. And this must be remembered: that as this development proceeds, the tendency to indulge in the perverted appetites of the flesh, as they are called, will disappear; and, as they disappear, this love, of course, becomes purer and sweeter and brings man nearer to his state of perfection.
And, again, the meditation upon spiritual things, and the outflowing of this love towards the Father, will cause the progression. For while all men do not seek for the Divine Love, as we have said, yet, as all men are children of God, He helps them to the full extent of their desires towards happiness and the perfecting of this love in its natural, pure state, and with which He endowed them at their creation. The nature of the help which the Father gives to them depends upon their will and aspirations. But He always gives His Help and Blessings, and to the fullest. His Great Desire is that man shall become perfect in that love which he possesses and which he seeks for, and that the natural love may become as perfect in its qualities in man as may the Divine Love in Its Qualities. Each is just as much in harmony with God’s Universe, in its respective qualities, as is the other.
So, I say, man is helped, and more than in any other way, by his meditations upon the higher things of his being, and by prayer and aspirations to the Father Who hears the prayers of the man who has only this natural love, and Who answers them just as He does the prayers of the man who has the Divine Love in his soul.
Ultimately, all sin and evil will be eradicated from the universe; and, in his mere natural love, man will become pure and perfected and happy.
In my inefficient way, I have tried to show man how he may progress in the development of his natural love; and, if he will follow my advice, he will succeed. For as man fell to a low degree of degeneracy by the indulging of these perverted appetites of the flesh, and by the exercise of this will power, so can he rise again to his condition of purity in his natural love by ceasing to indulge in these perverted appetites and by redirecting the exercise of that same will power.
And, besides, he has the Help of the Father and the good angels in his efforts to recover, and also the experience of the result of his fall, which he may not be conscious of but which has an existence in his inner self and is continually working.
Well, my dear brother, I must stop. I feel that you have taken my message very successfully. Read it over and correct errors of construction.
I will come soon and write again.
Your brother in Christ, LUKE.
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