Abide in Me - Episode 3

The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him. Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News of the kingdom of God. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent and believe the Good News!”  Mark 1:12-15[People], by Divine guidance, are led by means of temptations to a firm acceptance of the truths and the forms of the good that constitute faith. [In Exodus 13, “God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.”] 'God led' is Divine guidance; and 'by the way of the wilderness' is the process that leads people to be tested and so to reach a firm acceptance of the truths and the forms of the good that constitute faith. Temptations are the means by which they become firmly accepted. 'The wilderness' in the spiritual sense, is a situation in which truth has not yet been bonded to good in the person’s spirit, as well as the state of those with whom the two are to be bonded together. This bonding is not accomplished except by means of these tests. Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven §8098“[Love and wisdom] flow in from God. We receive them as if they were ours. In fact, because we feel them that way, they emanate from us as if they really were our own. The Lord grants us this feeling so that what flows in will have an effect on us, and be accepted and stay with us. All that is evil also flows in, not from God but from hell. We feel pleasure as we take evil in, because we were born that way. Therefore we receive no greater amount of goodness from the Lord than the amount of evil we have removed as if we were removing it on our own. It is our repentance and our faith in the Lord that does this removing.” Swedenborg, True Christianity §461)“No one can know what a spiritual crisis is like except the person who has lived through one. The trial mentioned in Mark 1:12, 13 sums up all the Lord’s trials, which consisted in his battling the self-love and materialism that filled the hells, out of love for the entire human race. All trials target the love we feel. The severity of the trial matches the nobility of the love. If love is not the target, there is no trial. To destroy a person’s love is to destroy the core of that person’s life, since love is life. The Lord’s life was love for the whole human race, a love so great and good that it was pure, unalloyed love. He allowed this life of his to be attacked continuously, from the dawn of his youth until his final moments in the world, while he was continually routing, subduing, and vanquishing them. This he did purely out of love for the entire human race. Since his love was not human but divine, and the greater the love the harder the struggle, you can see how fierce his battles were and how savage on the part of the hells.” Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven §1690CREDITSDr. Sue Johnson, “Love Sense” ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DrSueJohnsonEmanuel Swedenborg, ⁠www.swedenborg.com⁠John Clark Echols, ⁠www.clarkechols.com⁠Solomon Keal “Affection for Truth” ⁠www.solomonkeal.net⁠ Podcast Host: John Clark EcholsMusic Credit: Solomon Keal Show Your Support: ⁠⁠PayPal⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠@Abide_In_Me⁠⁠Substack: ⁠⁠@clarkechols⁠⁠I invite you to continue to listen to the next episode. Be well.