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You can believe. You can believe in a God who will never let you down. This God created you out of pure love and will love you not only for the rest of your life, but for eternity. He is both Divine and Human. He is all powerful, and all merciful too. He reaches out to you with open arms, inviting you into his embrace. His name is Jesus Christ. He is a gentle shepherd, a healer, teacher, leader, mentor, even friend. He is not far away, but right here with you. Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). You can know him, understand him, trust him, love him, and have a continually growing relationship with him. And he doesn’t just love you, or one group of people who know him by this name. He loves everyone. He loves Jews and Gentiles, Hindu’s, Muslims, from all different cultures and lands, whether Asian, Indian, African, everyone! But people need to open themselves up to his love, by turning away from evil and learning to love what is good God looks at the heart, because he is Heart. He can enter inside and dwell with those who learn to love, because he is Love. Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

You can believe in yourself. You are not inherently evil or good, though you can choose to become either one. You are free. You are free to choose the path set out before you, free to fulfill your potential, and God’s wondrous dream for you. You are a child of God with the potential for incredible greatness. God created you for a purpose, as a gift to the rest of us. You are so very special. What you choose to become, and to do with your life makes a huge difference to this world. Swedenborg says, “For every smallest fraction of a moment of a person's life entails a chain of consequences extending into eternity. Indeed every one is like a new beginning to those that follow, and so every single moment of the life both of his understanding and of his will is a new beginning.” Make those moments count. Make your life a giveaway. Give that love away, that God-given talent, that certain something that is you that no one else has. Let it shine through. That’s part of being a spiritual person, and it’s fun. It’s joyful.

Life itself is a process, an incredible journey. The journey isn’t completed in a moment, an hour, or a day. It is a lifetime of trial and error, of difficult passages and incredible breakthroughs. I find comfort in knowing that this journey has its tough moments as well as its peak experiences. Why? Because I already know this from experience, and can rest assured that I am not unique in my trials of life, and that God knows what I am going through and cares. When God sent the Israelites Manna in the wilderness, bread from heaven for their nourishment, he told them only to collect enough for that day. That bread symbolizes the good things we receive from God each day, all our happiness. It is our daily bread for which we pray. When we look to God each day, we are living one day at a time. Each new day of our journey God is there for us to feed us. As the Psalmist says to God, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:15-16). God will care for us, give us what we need, bless us. Can you take the mature approach to your spiritual growth by committing to the whole journey, turning your will and your life over to God each day? You can, one day at a time.

In your quest for spirituality you need an authority greater than self to look to as a guide. It is in this way that we have an opportunity to reach for something greater than ourselves. I’m not talking about adopting a person as a guide, but rather adopting a way of living. There are many good books and philosophies on how to live life to the fullest. I recommend that you read as many as you can, and obtain a real sense of what is available out there. But more than anything else, I recommend that the Bible be the devotional book for daily reading. Swedenborg says that, “It is through the Word that the Lord is present with a person and is united with a person, for the Lord is the Word, and as it were speaks with the person in it.” The Gospel of John begins with these words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The truth contained in God’s Word is unlimited, just as God is unlimited. When you approach this sacred book do so with an open mind and heart, and ask to be shown the truth, and experience the deeper levels of truth which this book has to offer. This book is a parable about you. Learn more about the inner meanings of each story in God’s Word and learn about your life, about the secrets of heaven, now revealed through the teachings of the New Church.

Your life is eternal. Your love is eternal. Your relationships which are based on love are eternal. Keep this in mind as you explore your world each day. Look for the higher meaning, strive for the higher goal. It will open up a new reality to you. You will sense the hand of providence in your friendships, in your marriage. When it comes to marriage, to keep that eternal view is to keep that marriage a spiritual institution, and a sacred bond. You can grow so much more and on so many deeper levels with this eternal view. Life is forever. Take the long view. See what it brings. The gifts are amazing and enduring.

Sometimes it can seem a difficult task to adopt a spiritual way of life, and not only learn to believe in God and heaven, but to live a new life according to that belief. The truth is that we can’t do it ourselves. The very nature of spirituality contains within it the recognition that the Divine is the source of our strength, or love, our very life. This knowledge is itself a gift, to learn and to know that whoever we are or whatever our condition may be, we can be lifted up. We can be set on a path that leads to all things beautiful, and we never have to walk that path alone again. We can and will be guided to fulfill our dreams, and God’s dream for us, that we may be filled with the joy love brings, as we become willing participants of that love.

Take that first step. God will take care of you the rest of the way.

by Rev. Grant Schnarr, in You Can Believe