An address given by the Christ messenger Zodiac through the deep trance mediumship of Miss Winifred Moyes, printed in the Greater World newsletter on Saturday, May 18th, 1985 (date of Message not given)
"Today I have been sent into your presence to speak to you upon: 'Predestination and Religion'. What do we mean by Predestination? There has been much talked about human fate, about the impossibility of extricating the individual from what is his lot. And there is a certain amount of truth in this, for before the physical body was donned, each individual had the choice of their experiences, and although, when the physical mind governs, they may repudiate this grave statement, it is true.
"The kind of body you have inherited, the circumstances of your life, are part of the pattern; and you can see at once that if your life had been on easier lines, if things had gone the way you desired, much of your present experience would have been left out. You were predestined for a hard life simply because the Spirit within you was strong enough to take on those trials and tests, strong enough in its love for God, for the sake of the by-and-bye.
"It is obvious that the only way to progress is to learn, and the only way to learn is to take up certain lessons, pleasant or unpleasant, and pursue the path until that which represents personal experience has been made your own.
"So, dear children, when we talk of human fate, first of all we have to consider that 'before' stage. You were as a conscious living soul before you became a babe to be born into this world, and, what is more, in a previous state to that, and in many previous states, you were a soul with a consciousness and intelligence according to your progression. You have had lives innumerable in other worlds with other kinds of bodies, just as you will have lives in many worlds after the physical stage is over, and your bodies will vary from the terrestrial to the celestial, until at last you bear likeness to the angels of God, and can recognise in yourselves your sonship or daughtership with the Most High.
"I speak of this subject because there are many who complain that they have not had their chance of happiness, or of health, or of realising ambition - somehow these things have been blocked all along the line. At times man grows very weary of discipline, he feels that somehow or other he has not had a fair deal. God understands!
"But those in the body who are training for leadership in the World of Spirit, necessarily must take on many adverse experiences. The only way the training can be put in is by meeting those obstacles and seeing the battle through. How can love be tested unless love is assailed? How can truth be proved to be truth unless there is something attached to it that may appear as a lie? How can loyalty be shown to represent a high and holy thing if loyalty is not attacked by enemy forces?
"You see, dear children, it is all so logical. It is useless for one and the other to say: 'God should intervene!' God has given man free-will. How could God interfere and rob His children of progression? Where God comes in is in this wise: He gives strength to the weak, courage to the frail, confidence to those who feel that faith is like a dying candle; and there is no one who has ever turned to God for help in all sincerity who has failed to receive that help.
"The world as a whole is governed by the same law of predestination, and yet because God has given man free-will, the Plan can be thwarted and changed for a while. So you had those great wars which seemed to many as if they were going to throw back civilisation hundreds of years, and so nearly was this accomplished that you will never understand it until you are free from the flesh and trace the record of those events and marvel at the strength given, because man was inspired by the desire to do his best.
"Was the world predestined to such dreadful tribulations? Not in that sense, dear children. That great nation (note: Germany) was predestined by God to be, as it were, the elder brother of the smaller nations, to raise up the weak, to teach them the various laws of hygiene, and those that govern the well-being of the individual in the states and the towns. They had remarkable gifts, the capacity to work, patience - all, as you will see, excellent qualities; and yet, because they listened to the voice of the tempters, because they were determined to be rulers by force, for a time the plans of God were shattered.
"And yet out of the very wreckage God has saved so much. War is evil, but those who take part in it are often very good; they make tremendous sacrifices, endurance is torn out of them, courage, faith and the determination to carry through their part to the bitter end. All these things are good.
"And so when you think of war, you have to balance that which is evil, which is against God's will, with that which is good; and you can understand there are those who, if they had escaped the discipline of war, would be nonentities, spiritually as well as physically. They were brought up to have an easy time, to seek pleasure for pleasure's sake, and to extricate themselves from any unnecessary discipline, so far as work was concerned. These things are human, but they are not Divine.
"So you see that when this short stage is over, by all the suffering they endured, by the anxiety and the holding on to faith, by those desperate moments when everything of this world seem to fail the individual, there will be something wonderful to be shown for the ones concerned. They were predestined to be heroes. But God cannot interfere with free-will.
"And I bring in this point because it affects human life and individuals wherever they may be. You are predestined to act here and now as a spirit in touch with God; but God does not force you to undertake this great responsibility, He merely urges you for your own sake. Some may say: 'I am tired of the struggle, I am tired of giving up, I am tired of the grey days of physical life!' Yes, we can understand that, but these tests and trials are building up strength for the by-and-bye, contributing to the beauty of your real home, to the vitality of the next garment that will be worn.
"Can you not visualise how dreadful it is when some pass into Reality and see, to their sorrow, that so little divided the false from the true? They wanted to make themselves felt but only materially, they did not realise that that kind of ambition was to introduce them to the real kind of ambition. Earthly things so soon pass away but those which are of God remain for ever. You may impress one here and there with your material success - they may envy you, they may be willing to barter much to get what you have attained - but they do not love you; far from it, jealousy permeates their being.
"But if you take a man who has a spiritual ambition realised, he has the power to win love as well as to give love. These are the people who pass through the barren places of the earth and leave flowers behind. They are remembered by so-called strangers, there are those who say: 'I feel better for a word from that man, that woman!' They are in training for the realisation of true ambition, and when they pass out of this limited stage, they shall find the gates of revelation are opened to them.
"So you see, dear children, that in thinking of predestination, you have to admit at once you are predestined by God to be as Christ. Let not despair hold your heart and mind because that great ideal is so far off - you have Immortality ahead. You will be surprised when you pass out of this dim condition, to see the result of little things - the little acts of self-discipline which you long since have forgotten, how they are there transmuted by the Love of God and shown as something essential for your peace in the Spirit World.
"There is nothing that is common. Just a brief thought of sympathy, a kind thought when another looks tired, a helping hand, all passing in a swift instant, and yet preserved for evermore. These things make up life; they are, as it were, the cement that holds together the bricks of your effort, and without that cement you may build beautiful things but there is no power or strength to keep them together; like a pack of cards they fall at the first attack.
"So we come to religion; and what is your religion? You may say: 'I believe in Christ and I believe in Spirit Communion!' That is good, but how far does it take you? - because the kind of religion you adopt is going to have an enormous influence on predestination, so far as you individually are concerned. A man may claim much from a religious point of view, but if the religion is only of the mind, only of the thoughts, then, like the dew that fades before the hot sun, it cannot last.
"Always remember this: Religion is not a question of theory or of belief; it is essentially something expressed in action.
"If you say that you believe in Christ and Spirit Communion, and you do not translate that belief into action, you are on the losing side - badly on the losing side. And when you pass out of this physical condition and want to come back and communicate with those in the body, you will find many barriers erected. That is the Law. It is not what we believe but what we do, which acts as the 'Open Sesame' to our spirit's desire.
"Some of you have found, to your sorrow, that under certain circumstances you cannot gain the help from others you desire. Why? There seems to be something missing in you, as well as something missing in them. The Law is, dear children, that as a crisis arises and something untoward happens in life, there should always be a helping hand, not necessarily from one of your own; it may be from a stranger, or it may be from a book, or something you see, or something you hear. God never leaves His children untended, and I want you to think of this when trouble knocks upon your door, to have the faith which is founded on certainty, and to say to yourselves: 'I know that God will help me!' - and as you think that, immediately to translate your faith into action, for indeed God helps those who help themselves.
"If you analyse the life of Christ, you will find that He was always on the active plane. His thoughts transcended the thoughts of anyone - but we are not thinking of His thoughts but His actions. If it had been only His great thoughts, this world would not be Christian today, or not as Christian as it even is.
"You must remember that Christ could have come down from the Cross, but He was predestined to make that Great Sacrifice, for human nature is framed on these lines: That only something spectacular can hold the attention and remain in the memory. The life of Christ was far greater in power than the Crucifixion. That was one act of suffering, and where it stands out is this: That Christ suffered far more spiritually than He did physically, in the sense that He is Love; and it was a torment to Him to feel that He loved humanity so much and yet they wanted to make Him suffer.
"Some of you mothers can understand. You remember the pangs of bringing to birth a child, and yet you would say to me: 'That was nothing in comparison with seeing in my child's eyes dislike or a lack of understanding over the essential discipline I had to give!' Can you imagine what a mother's heart feels like when the child over which she has poured her loving thoughts, turns from her with hate? And this is possible, indeed it is not uncommon. Such a soul is dominated by the evil ones, and there is some strong force there that makes him desire to strike the one who loves him, even as the Master was struck on Calvary.
"I want you to think over these things. The Crucifixion had to take place. Christ could have come down from the Cross, and the miracle might have attracted the world, but that would have been a sign of power from a material point of view. The power shown by the Christ was the power of Love. He suffered to the very end so that men should remember Him by the Crucifixion and, still more, by the Resurrection.
"You see, dear children, that little Child was predestined to change the religion of this material world; but it was changed only by the rod of love. And I want you to visualise love as a rod of power; it is like a flaming torch and everywhere it goes the darkness is swallowed up, it is triumphant; and you have it within your power to demonstrate love in its spiritual sense.
"You may say: 'But I have offered love, and other people did not seem to want it!' You may say again: 'If I go about giving out love, people will think I am sentimental!' But there is a vast difference between that sentimental element and true sentiment. Again, it is shown by action; a sentimental person is governed by the emotions; sweet sentiment is shown only by action - by doing, by helping, by hoping, by building up something beautiful in the world that will not pass away.
"As you face your various ordeals, remember that because you have Christ within, you can rise to far greater heights than has ever entered your understanding. Make haste for the time is slipping by; you cannot say how long you will be in the body, but what you do know is this: That which you have sown you will reap, that which you have garnered will be your harvest in the sweet by-and-bye. I do entreat you mentally and physically and spiritually to be about your Father's business.
"Earthly ambition is not wrong, man was told to pray for his daily bread, it is right for man to ask God to help him in the toil of daily life. If man prayed more over his business prospects, this world would be a far, far happier one, for greater protection would be given, and there would not be those pitfalls into which so many fall. Yes, pray to God over your business, that He may guide you so that you may produce the wherewithal which is essential for those dependent upon you.
"Remember that your business life can represent a great asset for your Spirit life. So many think that after physical death takes place it is a cessation of this, of that, and the other, but surely that would be folly? You learn certain lessons to work them out, perhaps in a changed form in the great Life to come. There is nothing wasted - nothing that has been drawn in just for the sake of being there; it is all part of the pattern, part of that great scheme of predestination which moulds your future, and which eventually will be shown to the world as religion in its highest form.
"I ask you, dear children, to think on these things, take stock of yourself. You wonder where the pathway of your life is leading you, and you make up your mind that it shall lead you to the Gates Celestial. And then when you enter into the peace and the joy, you will see from the Master's face not only greeting - that is for each and every one - but commendation. You have done what you could, you are predestined to be for ever as a son or daughter of the Most High, for your religion is action.
"So in the Name of Christ I bless you, and indeed it is my prayer that those who are gathered here may take stock of their equipment and of the circumstances of their lives, and will not feel that it is a grey prospect, one that leaves much to be desired. Can you not see, dear children, that if you have but little equipment, that shows you are a strong soul? You may think: 'If only I had this, and if only circumstances had been like that!' But maybe - indeed I know it - the purpose of your earthly life would not have been accomplished. You came deliberately with few tools, perhaps with a limited horizon and circumstances dead against you. But you have not lost faith, have not lost courage, and are determined to see the battle through. So you are predestined to happiness, peace and revelation.
"I bless the workers. I say it has been a joy to come into these conditions where there is the desire to do the best that is possible for the spreading of this Truth. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither be disappointed when things do not materialise as you hoped. Keep your eyes upon the Cross, then nothing can go wrong, and when this short stage is over, the gift of leadership shall be your own.
"Farewell, dear children, but when sleep holds you this night we shall meet again. Farewell."
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