The M+G+R Foundation

The Relationship Between "Time" and "Eternity"

Predestination or Free Will

Actually... It Is Both!


Time and Eternity


INTRODUCTION

By means of this document, information will be conveyed to you that may clear up many questions in your mind regarding miracles, alleged heavenly communications, etc.

There are many hidden Eternal Truths which once understood, make total sense and become quite logical. Different religions give them different names: Laws, Maxims, Proverbs, Philosophies, Principles, etc.. They all provide some form of laws to live by.

There are several concrete and very specific reasons for attempting to adhere to those truths. They are all interrelated to our spiritual, psychological and physical natures.

If these reasons were better understood, many of those Divine Truths would appear totally coherent, individually and collectively, thus, they would be easily accepted and its compliance, joyfully sought.

Since many mysteries cannot be explained, and those which may be, are understood only by a precious few, the concept of qualified obedience is to be embraced in many instances. If God gives us a directive, it is for a reason and, whether we understand it or not, it must be heeded for "optimum results" as we live through "Time" in our journey to "Eternity".

We do not explain to a child why he should not drop a crystal ornament to the floor. The concepts of gravity, brittleness of the crystal, danger of cuts and lacerations, the uniqueness of the crystal piece, etc. are beyond the child’s intellectual grasp. Therefore he is told not to drop it and, for "optimum results" is best if he obeys.

Unfortunately the concept of qualified obedience has been dreadfully abused thus mostly abandoned with the ensuing negative consequences.

May the Holy Spirit illuminate your soul as you meditate on this limited rendition of such magnificent Mysteries.


BACKGROUND

Modern theologians have emphasized human logic and reasoning, and de-emphasized mysticism. Not accepting the reality of the supernatural domain, many Heavenly Manifestations and Communications are denied or, worse, misunderstood and/or misapplied.

For example, let us examine the limitation of human reason when deprived of the mystical component: "Artificial Intelligence", created by programming computers is designed to replace man in many facets of industry and science.

This great technical concept has a major limitation in its application: The supernatural component of a human being is missing. (Examples of that intangible component: Love, Loyalty, Complex Fear, etc.).

The imprint of the Holy Spirit of God in the soul cannot be integrated into the computer programs. Thus, "artificial intelligence" is not really "intelligent" since human intelligence is the result of the integration of the natural and supernatural components.

"Artificial Intelligence" is to "Natural Intelligence" what a two dimensional photograph of a landscape is to the actual vision of the landscape.

For a parallel reason: Those who discount mysticism cannot and will not understand the ways of Heaven. Would you believe the evaluation, of say, the Portuguese language, from someone who cannot speak, read or understand it? Even if the individual can read it, speak it and understand it, if he/she has not lived in Portugal long enough to understand the culture, his/her evaluation would still be lacking.

The main purpose of this document is to discuss, and perhaps clarify, certain mysteries that will give us a better grasp of the messages from Divine sources, whether from Holy texts or supernatural manifestations, and how to understand and apply them correctly.


DETAILS

Time and Eternity

Time and Eternity are two completely different frames of reference, yet, they are connected by a continuum (1). Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ exists in Eternity, yet, when She visits us, She functions in the Time frame. Allow me to try to illustrate its harmonious difference in physical terms.

A videotape [or a digital recording of a video, in more modern terms] has a complete movie recorded on it. When placed in a video player you will see what is recorded on the tape at that particular point. You may advance the tape and see what you would have normally viewed fifteen minutes later. You may reverse it to the beginning and you will view again what you did, perhaps, one hour earlier.

That is, the whole movie is in the videocassette but you can only see (can only live) one instant of it at a time. This represents "Time". There is a past, present and future.

For God there is no "past" and no "future"... it is all "present". That is "Eternity". Using the videocassette symbolism: God is like a videocassette player which can play the entire video simultaneously. That is, the entire movie is actively manifest before Him at all times.


Predestination??

At this point these questions may arise: "Isn’t that predestination? What about our free will?"

Allow me to use yet another symbolism to answer those valid and much asked questions which are not fully answered by some religions and philosophies. We shall use the reported, and officially accepted by the Roman Catholic Church, apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal. If you cannot believe in it, please accept the event only as a a frame of reference.

For example, when the Virgin Mary appeared in Fatima She clearly advised us that we had to stop offending God and make reparation because, otherwise, a worse war than World War I would take place (which indeed manifested itself as World War II). (2)

Since She lives in Eternity, She has "seen the complete movie", yet, Divine Mercy demands that we are amply forewarned so that if (when) calamitous events befall us, it is the result of our free will. Therefore, at the time of Divine Justice we have no claims against God.

Another example: Mary’s Divine Motherhood (3), known to God for all Eternity, became a fact as an act of Her free will. God prepared Her beforehand (Immaculate Conception) but She allowed Her becoming pregnant by the Holy Spirit of God by responding to the Divine movement by saying "Yes".

Therefore, when we hear Mary speaking of a certain possible chastisement conditioned to this or that action from our part (4), She knows if it will take place, and it may have already been announced in the Scriptures. However, God in His infinite Mercy, will do everything possible to help us make the right decisions (exercise our free will) and temper its severity.

"Then, what is the use to keep on trying?" some will say. We must keep on trying! Why? Because the Times of Tribulations and Chastisement, the Apocalypse, are foretold in the Scriptures but the length and the severity is variable and depends on our response to the warnings from Heaven. Even if two thirds of the population must perish: There are many ways of dying, some are less painful than others.

For example. If the Scriptures would state that a "Storm will chastise the coast of Northern England", the "Storm" may be a Tropical Storm, a low level Hurricane, a maximum level Hurricane or a direct hit Tornado. Thus, Biblical Prophecy would be fulfilled, yet the severity could range from an "inconvenience" to a "massacre".


Our Journey in "Time"

As you may know, there is a Book of Life [Rev. 21:12] (5) wherein the names of all who are to go to Heaven appear. Why does this Book exist? Because in "Eternity" all is completed and if a soul is going to be in Heaven, even if that soul is in a body and alive on the Earth, in "Time", that soul with its glorified body is simultaneously in Heaven in "Eternity", thus, its name has to be in the Book of Life.

This is also confirmed by Paul in Acts 13:48 : And the Gentiles hearing it, were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to life everlasting, believed.

Therefore, when that soul is born into "Time", that soul is marked to go to Heaven. The question is: "How hard or how easy will that journey be?" That will entirely depend on the manner in which that soul exercises its free will.

God has a plan for our journey in "Time". If we follow that particular and highly individual plan from birth to death our passage through "Time" will be in the easiest possible manner. However, exercising our free will, we may deviate from that "perfect plan".

The additional suffering that we may add to our journey is proportional to how far we may deviate. Suffering springs from Divine Mercy and not from Divine Justice because God wants us to be in the path of "the perfect plan" for our own good.

When Jesus Christ said: "Take up your cross and follow me" (6) He was not necessarily telling us that to be Christians we had to fight the lions every day at the Roman Coliseum. What He was talking about was:

(a) "Take up your cross... ": We are all born with an original sin. This is a "born with cross" which gives us a propensity to sin while, simultaneously, affords us the opportunity to exercise our free will and choose good over evil.

(b) "...and follow Me": If we live as close as we are able to in accordance to His teachings then, we will make it through "Time" with that "born with cross", and all the other crosses that we may pick up along the way, with the minimum possible amount of discomfort.

We will be chastised "...as silver is refined...", yet, the severity, that is, the amount of suffering , still is in our hands and depends on the acts of our free will. We have a difficult time realizing that God has given us more real control over our lives and deaths than we could possible ever have had over anything in this world by any other means. However, to exercise that control we must "follow Him".

And this, brethren, is the real reason why the world has received many true Heavenly Messages since the first half of the 19th century. Heaven keeps trying to help us. So many of the poor members of the clergy who think themselves illuminated through science say: "The last revelations from Heaven ceased when St. John (the Evangelist) died. We do not need messages from Heaven".

What these poor souls fail to see is that we have miserably failed to apply the teachings of Jesus Christ (7), thus, in His infinite Mercy, He is reaching out one last time to lead us step by step back to Himself and help us minimize our suffering (8) as we approach the End of These Times.

The legitimate Divine messages do not tell us anything new, they only incite and encourage us to live as He Himself instructed us in person almost 2000 years ago... and we have not heard because we have been too busy with the affairs of Mammon.


The confusion about the (Biblically announced) Chastisement

Confusion continues to reign regarding Tribulations, Chastisements, End Times, Three Days of Darkness, etc.. If one carefully studies the Scriptural references given with the "Sequence of Events Leading....", (9) confusion will come to an end or, at least, be minimized.

Nonetheless, in this document we are pointing out the most persistent error: The intermingling of Chastisements, the much prophesied Three Days of Darkness and the End of These Times.

Using the Holy Scriptures as a point of reference and demanding, within that frame, internal coherence:

Let us think: When Our Lord returns in Glory to select and take His elect, it will be to "set them aside" while creation is renewed. Then, He will return these elect who, together with the group of the First Resurrection, will reign with Jesus Christ in the renewed creation.

Therefore, this scene which is strictly out of St. John’s Apocalypse, does not coincide with the understanding of many reliable prophecies regarding the period after Three Days of Darkness. For example: "...the earth will be changed into an immense cemetery; the corpses of the wicked and the just will cover the face of the earth. The famine that will follow will be great." (10)

Does this aftermath resemble the New Creation? "Following famine will be great..." Famine in the 1,000 year Reign of Christ on Earth? It does not make any sense whatsoever because the reasoning is wrong. Obviously, the Three Days of Darkness will be sometime before His Glorious Return and the End of These Times.

Remember: We are talking about the End of These Times and not End of The World.


CONCLUSION

Harmony and Coherence

We have many Heavenly Message Seekers and Calamity Prophets who are not praying, nor meditating on the Sacred Scriptures. They are not even obeying the same messages that they so assiduously seek and promote.

Harmony among Messages and the Scriptures must exist. Nothing apocalyptic will happen of which we have not been forewarned for at least 1,900 years. Yet, the degree of severity remains in our hands as we correct and make retribution for our misdeeds.



NOTES           
(1) I am not as yet able to describe the little that has been revealed to me about this "continuum". The movie CONTACT (1997) gives a rudimentary glimpse of it.
(2) Chronology of Fatima Events
(3) Mary’s Divine Motherhood
(4) The Warning and The Miracle
(5) If you do not believe in the Holy Scriptures, once again, we encourage you to view this as an example and notice the demands for internal/external coherence needed when discussing supernatural events and/or prophecies.
(6) Take up your cross and follow me
(7) Example 1 | Example 2 | Example 3 | Example 4
(8) How to minimize our suffering
(9) The Sequence of Events Leading to The End of These Times
(10) This is just an excerpt from a truly representative Three Days of Darkness prophecy. [This one by Marie Julie Jahenny]



Related Documents

God : Man : Miracles : Parapsychology : Faith : Mind

Sequence of Events Leading to the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Suffering? You Do Not Have To! Take Up Your Cross And Follow Me!

Do not despair! Do not give up! It is one step at a time!

Divination and Miraculous Healing, but, What About God?

The Return of Our Lord Jesus Christ. But When?



En Español:  Misterios de Dios que nos permiten entender mejor los mensajes divinos

Em Português:  Mistérios de Deus que nos permitem compreender melhor as mensagens de Deus

Originally issued only for Worldwide Ecclesiastical Distribution on February 8, 1995. Nazare, Portugal • Format updated on August 19, 2022


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