1036 on 3.8.1939
You should be of living faith and not only satisfy the form. .... This is what the Father demands of His children, and you will have to comply with this demand if you also want to stand in the blessing of this faith. If you are taught true faith and you accept it only outwardly - i.e., you do not connect the acceptance of faith with the deed at the same time, then this faith is dead, because it does not awaken the Spirit in you .... It is only a form, calculated for the world, but of no use for yourselves.
On the contrary, such a belief can still give rise to the erroneous view of having fully satisfied one's duty and thus of being relieved of all responsibility. But such a formal faith has caused immense damage among mankind, for thousands arm themselves with the shield of such a faith, and their souls are dead and do not derive the slightest benefit from it. Faith becomes alive only when man consciously contacts God; when the thought of the eternal Godhead makes him think and act differently than was originally the case.
Living faith must determine all thinking, something must not be recognized only as a precaution or trial, which one is then anxious to prove, but without being able to produce the proof, the conviction must be present in the heart of man that God exists .... and this conviction must again trigger the will to put the Divine will before one's own. Then, what the person believes, is put into action, and this is then no dead faith, since it animates the person .... thus stimulates to activity.
Nowadays, however, only a minutely small part is able to feel the power of faith in itself, because this Word is not only an empty concept for them. Although people speak of faith because they have been taught to do so, they do not even realize what faith is in itself. Not only the affirmation of something which cannot be proved .... it is the faith rather an affirmation of everything what cannot be grasped with the senses, and a going into it and unconditional acceptance of all demands which are placed before us by exactly this faith.
If man does what the eternal Godhead demands of him, he recognizes this demand and has thus become alive - i.e., the power from God now has an invigorating effect on the one who completely confesses God. He will not fulfill what is demanded of him out of habit or for the sake of his fellow men, but solely for the sake of Him who, according to faith, is the embodiment of everything; he will affirm precisely because he believes, and thus become wide awake in the spirit .....
Amen
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