THE GREATER WORLD CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALIST CHURCH

THE ZODIAC MESSAGES

"FALSE PICTURES"

An address given by the celestial messenger 'Zodiac', (the unnamed scribe of the Bible and a teacher in the Temple of Jerusalem at the time of Christ), at the Zodiac Circle on Sunday, 25th January, 1925.

1. "O GREAT Healer of the heart, the mind and the body, we present ourselves once more before Thee with faith, with trust and with confidence; and we know that, as we wait, so the blessing descends upon us, and we are recharged with vitality and with those needs of the body which must be there in order to carry this work on without hindrance.

2. "Saviour Christ, we know that Thou art always more ready to listen than we are to pray: yet because Thou knowest the frailty and the weakness of Thy children so Love steps in, taking our wish to be even as the accomplished thing, Thou leadest us on out of the desert experience into the Summerland of understanding.

3. "Give us this day our daily bread - that food for the soul, that inspiring of the physical mind - so that we may start anew, each day beginning anew to work out that which Thou hast ordained, forgetting yesterday and not anticipating to-morrow, just starting each fresh day with renewed courage and determination, realising that we are following the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And so guarded and protected, nothing can go amiss, and all will be shown, in the happy years to come, as threads in the Great Pattern on which we have been privileged to work for the redemption and the raising up of mankind.

4. "Father God, we thank Thee, and we ask Thee that we may be taught how to be truly grateful - how to be truly grateful in an understanding way for all the gifts which Thou hast showered upon us. Teach us, O Father, so that we may teach others, and they, in turn, may pass on the glorious message of hope, of cheer and joy - that perfect joy which comes when close communion with Thee is once firmly established. Amen".

5. "GOOD EVENING, MY CHILDREN, and once again we meet together in great peace. Sometimes, my little ones, it seems to you that peace has slipped a little over the border, but if you could see things as they are you would know that this was but a misrepresentation on the part of the shadows who, as I have told you before, spend much time and effort on building up FALSE PICTURES: and the children of earth, in ignorance, think that these travesties of the real represent life as ordained by the Father.

6. "When, however, the children get a little older they are not so easily deceived, and when such mental pictures are presented before them they say: 'No! before I accept this I am going to get down to facts!' So with a will, point by point, they compare the features of the counterfeit picture with the details of their life at the time; and if this is carried through faithfully, before long they discover they have very nearly been tricked again.

7. "My children, in this there is a warning for you all - for all those who are going through their earthly experiences. In regard to my own children, I am as it were, the guardian of their happiness - for this glorious quest on which we have embarked is the only true happiness there is - and I, as guardian of their happiness, bid them take care. It is only just, when two points of view are brought before your attention, to analyse them both with equal patience and thoroughness. It is no use taking the one and agreeing that it is accurate and refusing to examine the other side of the shield. Sunless days upon earth have a way of lowering the vitality of the body, as you know, it is a disadvantage which has to be fought against. But I say this tonight: Is it wise to shut out the sunshine of the Vision Splendid, and so add to the darkness of the physical world the twilight of the Spirit?

8. "You see, dear children, I have a great responsibility in regard to you all. I have called you out of the beaten track: I have urged you to try the sharp, steep road which leads into the understanding of the Greater Wisdom; I have bidden you forsake much which the majority rightly consider an integral part of daily life - all these things I have done, and more. I did them deliberately - I did them by instruction of my Master, Christ. But in no sense does that lift the responsibility from me, and I say tonight that I am conscious of this - I accept it down to the tiniest detail or portion.

9. "On the other hand, you must remember this: that in calling you out of the busy, careless crowd I did not do so without good reason. In the first place, I saw that you would listen to my voice, that you would heed my guiding care. Then I saw the next stage and the next - the strain, the weariness and the struggle; and what was more I saw (and I told you at the time) I saw the fierce battles which must come as an inevitable part of the journey - the battles with the evil forces, which have shaken older and stronger pilgrims than my little children here tonight.

10. "You see I am keeping back nothing - I kept back nothing from the beginning if you will consider my words - but God's gracious goodness threw a veil over their meaning, in the sense that He would not allow you to live through those troublous times in anticipation. The Father knew that when the test came you would want all your courage and endurance - that you would also have to fall back on those resources which had been gathered together by the many years of preparation.

11. "Well, dear children, from an outside point of view, it would seem that I have played rather a cruel part. I led my children away from their kind; I induced them to give up the few toys which remained in their possession, and I started them on a very hard and difficult road which I knew held determined enemies - I will not say 'dangerous' because I have told you from the beginning that the protection is complete.

12. "Ah! my children, it sounds rather a sorry story; and yet it is the brightest and the best and the most beautiful that could be imagined. For, remember, I saw too the enemies overthrown, the sadness despatched forever, and joy and gladness and unity on every side; my little charges my longer bent beneath their burdens but rejoicing in the brightness and the sweetness that is all around. It was necessary to speak on this point tonight, because we have reached a stage in our journey when it seems to those gifted only with half-sight as if darkness lies before even as it lies behind.

13. "So you see that I, as your loving companion, as your guide, as the one who, in Christ's Name, calls you on, I am sensible of my responsibility; and I want you, as much as possible, to forbid the dark days in your world to cast a shade over that part of your mind which, of necessity, is in an extremely sensitive condition just now. These encounters, dear children, leave their mark for the time being; and there are those among you who are only conscious of the wounds, and the sense of victory has been obliterated by the weariness of the contest.

14. "I speak to all, for each, in a different way, according to the point they have reached, have had their struggles and, in proportion, they are suffering from a sense of shock. But oh, dear children, isn't it wonderful to think that in comparatively so short a time we have got so far? Isn't it glorious to think that we can mark off so many of these encounters as that which has taken place, and not that which lies before us? Yes, I think, viewing things in the broad way - in the way of the Spirit - it must impress you that you have every reason to rejoice, and that really at this stage mourning is a little out of place.

15. "I want you to consider, dear children, one thing more, and that is the generosity of our Father, God. Put it to yourselves: Just suppose that there were friends who loved you well enough to undertake a long and dangerous journey - dangerous so far as physical well-being was concerned - that you heard that these dear ones had started. And you were in the position of witnessing, although, apparently, afar off, their many trials and vexations; then, as they proceeded, the real suffering which came as an inevitable result; and, again, those treacherous passes, those sharp rocks on either side - that from your point of vantage you were able to witness their sense of dismay, their wondering how it would be possible to proceed. And then you noted with pleasure that after a little consideration, and perhaps delay, they went forward braving the anticipated dangers and certainly enduring both weariness of mind and body.

16. "Well, I think as you watched your friends advancing and as you saw how strong was the love within their hearts; how anxious they were to see you - well, dear children, wouldn't it be only natural that you would look round and see how you could welcome them in a way that expressed something of what you felt.

17. It is a crude illustration but it must serve. Of course the great difference between you and Christ lies in this way: that the Saviour never watches merely, but shares: that the Saviour is never afar off but at your side, and that the Saviour does not wait until the journey's end to show His love in an outward and visible way, but, step by step, as the pilgrim progresses, so are the gifts of the Spirit found on either side.

18. "You see, dear children, that when I talk to you everything is so beautifully simple, so straightforward, so exactly like Love Itself. And so I would remind you of the picture, the false picture which evil builds up so eagerly, hoping that it may catch your eye. Tonight I am presenting the truth as it stands; and I think you will allow that it is only fair to view both the real and the unreal and to see to which your heart responds the most.

19. "Once you can get firmly fixed in your physical mind the companionship of Christ - that intimate, personal companionship which is never absent from you for one second - If once you could get a grip on that then I should not have to point out the glories and the beauties of the quest on which you are engaged: and it is that great comfort which the shadows are so determined to prevent.

20. "But, children, as you have been told before, in everything there are two voices - one the Voice of God and the other the voice of the world. If you listen to the second you cannot hear the first: and, again, if you listen to the Voice of the Spirit its sweetness blots out any other voice there could be.

21. "Oh, it is not so hard; it is far easier than man understands, but the first stages are difficult, I own. Once the tests have been put and accepted; once evil has been faced as evil and overcome, then, dear children, comes the dawning of that harmony of the Spirit, and its influence is so great, so attractive, both to the mind and heart, as well as to the soul, that the struggle is o'er. The real self within yields itself up to the Divine counterpart. It is, as it were, as though for a time something had come in between two great forces - the force within and that all-enveloping force which you call 'the Spirit'.

22. "But I tell you - and this applies to all, although with some the breach indeed seems great - I tell you the force of the Spirit is of so dominant a character that that which is within - its counterpart in miniature - must be reunited, must go back to its Source. And though all the powers of evil may concentrate on preventing this, yet because that which is within belongs to God, nothing can prevent the unity in the end. The Father stretches out His Hand and the soul, waking from its sleep, gets one glimpse of Beauty - nothing more at that stage. But that revelation of Beauty - which can be made its own - so rouses within the desire for the highest and the best that it is only a question of time.

23. "And here, my little ones, once more I bring in the exquisite patience of our Father, God. It seems to you sometimes that you make so little progress; that, in going through your own heart and mind, you see so many weeds and the flowers are delicate indeed. But, children, have I not told you that the first thing a gardener has to learn is patience? And so it should not be difficult for you to grasp how your Father feels - He Who is patience itself; patience in a way that can think of aeons and aeons of time and build for the future, knowing that although man may stray far from His loving guidance, yet His care can reach to the furthest point. And though the guidance has been rejected, yet His Love, at last, shall turn the steps of the wanderer home.

24. "Oh, my little ones, do not lose heart. I am in rather a difficult position: If I tell you not to grieve over your limited spiritual resources then I am blocking your progress; yet. dear ones, if I say to you that you should have done better, then I am not representing the Father's attitude towards you at all. Keep these two points clear: The Father calls you on and on because He knows that safety and happiness lie in front, because He knows that once past this difficult stage you are protected from sorrow, as you regard sorrow, for evermore.

25. "But, at the same time, the Father understands that to children the road is heavy indeed, and though the call rings out again and again, 'Come up higher and I will show you the things I have prepared for you,' yet even as the words go forth, the Father understands that it is difficult to hasten the pace; and His love and protection and companionship are with you every step of the way. There is no blame in the Mind of Love because the steepness of the road brings forth your sadness; nothing but perfect understanding of the child's view towards the unknown.

26. "My children, tonight I am most anxious to comfort you in every way I can, I am so anxious to bring into your midst - nay! into your hearts and minds - some realisation of God and His unlimited Love. It is terrible to us - we who have seen and who know that Love - so far as we are able to take it in - it is terrible to us that the little children of the earth find it so hard to get the 'personal' aspect of the Love of Christ. 'God so loved the world!' (St. John 3, 16) Yes, but even that statement does not convey the personal side, which the Father has tried, is trying, and will never cease to try to force upon the physical minds of His little ones on earth.

27. "The 'universal' Love of the Father presents one element of danger, from our point of view: In saying that 'God so loved the world', it conveys to the mind of many unconsciously, a generalisation rather than the personal aspect, which is literal fact. Say then to yourselves, dear children: God loves me; Christ is my Saviour; the Father has me under His direct care! This is not selfishness. I put that in because to some minds it may read thus. But what humanity is crying out for today is a personal Christ, a personal God an individual Father, and until we can force this on the physica1 minds of men and women so will the mourning and the grieving and the misunderstanding go on.

28. "Because God is the Father of the world, of the Realms of the Spirit and of all those states and conditions which are far beyond your range, it does not alter this Divine truth: that from the highest to the lowest and from the lowest to the highest, so far as spiritual attainment is concerned, God is the personal, individual Father of each one; that He is the Christ, the Saviour, the Redeemer of each one, and you are bound to Him by that strongest tie of all - you are of Him. Because within there is that emblem of God, that aspect of the Godhead, that priceless part of the Creator - within you is the Holy Spirit, which is God - and in recognising your kinship, your sonship, and your daughtership, you are only acknowledging that which is your own.

29. "My children, it has been difficult to convey my meaning - difficult because your language is so limited, your conception of Love so limited, your understanding of the Father so terribly limited as well. But just try and take from my words something of what it means to be a child who wants to love God; something of the happiness, the harmony and the infinite joy of - when you are free from the body - meeting your Father 'face to face' and receiving from Him the 'kiss' which a Father bestows upon one whom He has cherished and guarded and watched right back through those long periods of time which entirely escape your imagination.

30. "There I must leave it. I pray God that greater understanding may come, that the joy - which you have worked for - can be taken - taken as your right, taken as an inseparable part of your physical daily life - and in so making it your own you may get some reflection of the illimitable Love behind it.

31. "Well, my children, we must close now because the time has gone, and nearly - but not quite - my child's strength as well. Now that's just a little point which is so often overlooked.

32. "I want you to remember this always: that although, at times, you feel that your strength is going, God will always step in before the last stage is reached.

33. "This is speaking of an extreme case. But I am ever mindful of that 'suggestive' work of the shadows, and so I am referring more to the times when, in imagination, you feel that the last straw has been laid upon your back, and that nothing remains but to bow under the load.

34. "Now, dear children, I am not laughing at you - not a bit of it, because I understand so well. Yet I do want you to get things into their right proportion; to realise that this is opposite to Love, and that instead of the Father allowing burden upon burden to be thrown upon His helpless children, even as the days go on the burdens that are there are being lightened, they are being sorted out, and those which have served their purpose tossed aside.

35. "Perhaps you haven't thought of things like that. Yet, my little ones, go back on the last few months and you will say: 'Zodiac is right!' And Zodiac, because he speaks by the direction of his Master, is going to be right all through.

36. "That which God has ordained will come to pass. And in His good time, as was promised, wildernesses and deserts will give place to gardens of the Spirit; and in those gardens are beauties and sweetnesses and joys too great, too near to God, to be put into words by me.

37. "Rest then, dear children, in the thought of the Father's care. Hold close the gift of a personal, individual Christ, and say to yourselves: 'God is my Father and I am safe' - God is your Father, and you are safe indeed.

38. "The peace that we found here has grown, and has gained such power that I think you are conscious of it in a way that perhaps has not been possible before. The peace of God and the strength of the Holy Spirit have closed you in, far from the world and its noisy unrest . . yes, closed you in, binding you fast to Holiness - the Holiness which you have set out to find, and which, in God's Name, I can say you shall find in very truth.

39. "Goodnight, my little ones."

GIFT

Instead of having to connect to the Internet to read the wonderfully revealing Zodiac Messages on this site, it is possible to have them on your computer. A setup file installs the Messages in a folder of your choice, and can be given as a gift simply by clicking HERE. Then a message can be read at anytime giving immense inspiration, guidance, reassurance and spiritual renewal.

Other highly recommended reading...

“Life Beyond The Veil”
“Paul and Albert”
“Spiritual Realms”
“The Ministry of Angels”