Having Jesus In Your Heart 23

“And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ‘Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.” Matthew 10:1-10

“The regeneration of the spiritual man proceeds as follows: At first he is taught the truths of faith, during which time the Lord maintains his affection for truth. At the same time the good of faith, which is charity towards the neighbor, is instilled into him, though in such a way that he hardly knows it because that good lies concealed within the affection for truth. All this takes place to the end that the truth of faith may be joined to the good of charity. As time goes by the affection for the truth of faith increases and truth is seen because of its end in view, which is good, or what amounts to the same, life. That affection grows more and more. In this way is truth instilled into good, and while it is being instilled the person absorbs into himself the good of life in accordance with the truth that has been instilled into it. Thus he acts, or seems to himself to act, from good. Prior to this the truth of faith has been for him the chief thing, but after this the good of life becomes the chief thing….This is how regeneration proceeds. Regeneration is carried out to the end that a person may be received into heaven - heaven being nothing else than the marriage of truth and good, and of good and truth.” Secrets of Heaven §2979

The joining of desire and thought, will and intellect, goodness and truth is described in the Word thousands of times, so it must be important. And it must be important to describe it so many ways because it is not an instinctual way of being. It is not a natural or automatic accomplishment in our living. It is said to make us “spiritual,” rather than remaining natural. And, wonderfully, it is said that joining our sense of goodness with our understanding of truth into a cohesive, congruent unit, creates heaven in us. And so, therefore, around us.

A further conclusion is that having this integrity of desire and thought is the ways we were created to be. Remember, we are created IN His image, predestined to become according to His likeness. So God created the process whereby we are transformed so that we are spiritual, healed, regenerated, saved. He reveals truth to us in many ways. As we adopt the truth for our own (oftentimes clumsily, applying it to others rather an to ourselves!), He has designed our spirit such that the truth attracts the love that causes and creates that truth. So, as we adopt the goodness with in the truth, we become good people!

Here is a living, ongoing example (and I pray you have patience with and compassion for me!) I learned early that the key New Church idea is that God is the Lord Jesus Christ. My first use of this truth was to see how other denominations get this wrong. One time I was a young volunteer at church and, when a visitor asked me about it, I announced that the visitor believed in three gods and we do not. I have regret about treating that person that way. Some years later, at a wedding feast no less, I got into an argument about it with a relative of the bride who knew very little about the New Church. I swore of arguing about doctrine! I now judge that the truth about God that is in my understanding has been so infilled with the love of God, which the concept is intended to give me, that I no longer use it to assess others’ relationship with God! Instead it reveals to me a lot about a person’s relationship with the Lord, and I am ready, willing and able to support them in their spiritual development.

We all have “the facts” which include many truths. Indeed, we have the truths that describe the Lord’s church, which is symbolized by the twelve Apostles. And we each have the power from those truths to do what is good – we can go forth and preach the Good News. We have tools to speak the truth to ourselves and to the world. The task is to dwell in the truths that exist within the facts of our life; to own them, that is, to apply them to our selves. And then patiently practice using them as tools for our spiritual life.

As we do this, we will be able to receive the love that brings healing and joy first to our spirits, and then to the world around us. This is a transformation that happens according to the Lord design. We don’t do it. So it is subtle, gentle and gradual. It is the Lord Jesus Christ working in us, to glorify the truth so that it becomes love, even as He glorified Himself and became Love itself, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Even as my desire, my truth, my actions and my speech are all distinctly one, so too is my God, who is visible and powerful in Himself and in me.

To do our part of this spiritual development, we have to travel lightly and trust the Lord above any other resource. Extra money (magnified self worth), extra baggage (living from the past), extra clothing (exalted self image), or an extra staff (self derived power), all interfere with the process the Lord has designed, which is, in fact, automatic – His free grace. To trust in this process is the hardest task of life. And every time we participate, it brings the greatest reward, which is especially noticed after we have failed and sinned. The Lord’s hand is most evident as we look back and see the food He gave us, and the life coming back into our spirit.

It feels like the Lord is with us, walking along with us, dwelling in us. Indeed it is His love that is infilling the truth we have worked so hard to learn, adhere to, and internalize. It then feels like He is in our heart.