AC 4054 - the brain, heaven, and uses

AC 4054
The brain, like heaven, is in the sphere of ends which are uses;
for whatever flows in from the Lord
is an end looking to the salvation of the human race.
This end is that which reigns in heaven,
and thereby reigns likewise in the brain;
for the brain, which is where the mind is, looks to ends in the body,
in order that the body my subserve the soul,
so that the soul may be happy to eternity.

AC 4032 - the Lord only works in freedom

AC 4032 [4]
... it is freedom by which the Lord works, and by no means compulsion;
for compulsion in things of a holy nature is dangerous,
unless it is received in freedom.

AC 4013 - trees

AC 4013
... trees in general signify perceptions and knowledges,
perceptions when predicated of the celestial person,
but knowledges when predicated of the spiritual person.
Hence trees specifically signify goods and truths,
for these pertain to perceptions and knowledges.

AC 4007 - the Lord's righteousness and merit in man

AC 4007
... the light of heaven,
which is from the Lord
and is the source of brightness and whiteness,
signifies truth;
and therefore that which is enlightened by that light,
and becomes shining and bright,
is that which is called the Lord's righteousness and merit in man.

AC 3994 - in all good there must be innocence

AC 3994
In all good there must be innocence in order that it may be good.
Charity without innocence is not charity;
and still less is love to the Lord possible without innocence.
For this reason innocence is the very essential of love and charity....
An own (or proprium) that is innocent is to know, acknowledge, and believe,
not with the mouth but with the heart,
that nothing but evil is from one's self,
and that all good is from the Lord...
When a person is in this confession and belief from the heart,
the Lord flows in with good and truth,
and insinuates into him a heavenly own,
which is white and lustrous.

AC 3993 - the spotted and the speckled from Laban's flock

AC 3993 [7]
... "speckled"... signifies the good with which evil is mingled...
... "spotted" signifies the truth with which falsity is mingled.
These are the things that were taken from the good of Laban
in order to serve for introducing genuine goods and truths.

[8]
... the evils with man are of various kinds;
there are evils with which goods cannot be mingled,
and there are evils with which they can be mingled;
and it is the same with falsities.
Unless this were so, no man could be regenerated.
The evils and falsities with which goods and truths cannot be mingled,
are such as are contrary to love to God and love toward the neighbor;
namely, hatreds, revenges, cruelties,
and consequent contempt for others in comparison with one's self;
and also the consequent persuasions of falsity.
But the evils and falsities with which goods and truths can be mingled,
are those which are not contrary to love to God and love toward the neighbor.

The rest of this number has excellent examples and explanations.
You can find it in comments under today's posting.

AC 3986 - soft & yielding vs. stiff resistance

AC 3986 [4]
... the good of love to God
and the good of charity toward the neighbor,
however various may be the truths and the affections of truth,
are nevertheless receptive of genuine truth and good;
for they are so to speak not hard and resisting,
but are as it were soft and yielding,
suffering themselves to led by the Lord,
and thus to be bent to good,
and through good to Him.
Very different is the case with those
who are in the love of self and of the world.
These do not suffer themselves to led and bent
by the Lord and to the Lord,
but resist stiffly, for they desire to lead themselves;
and this is still more the case
when they are in principles of falsity that have been confirmed.

AC 3969 - Lord's "royalty" and "priesthood"

AC 3969 [15-16]
The Lord's Divine Spiritual
is that which is also called His "royalty;"
for the Lord's "royalty" is His Divine truth;
and His "priesthood" is His Divine good.
The Lord's royalty itself is that which is represented by Joseph,
in his being made king in the land of Egypt...

As regards the Lord's Divine Spiritual, or the Divine truth,
which in the supreme sense is represented by Joseph,
is it not in the Lord,
but is from the Lord;
for the Lord is nothing but Divine good;
but the Divine truth proceeds from the Divine good.

AC 3965 - the reward of charity

AC 3965
To those who are in charity,
the reward consists in being able to show kindness
and in being allowed to do so,
and in the kindness being accepted.

AC 3954 - the Word serves people on earth and angels

AC 3954
... with the internal sense of the Word
the case is that when the sense of the letter ascends toward heaven,
and thus enters into the sphere where the thought is from the Lord
and concerning the Lord
and what belongs to the Lord,
it is at last so perceived by the angels....
For the sense of the letter cannot come to the angels,
because it treats in most places of worldly, earthly, and corporeal things,
of which the angels cannot think,
because they are in spiritual and celestial things,
and thus far above what is earthly.
For this reason a Word has been given that can serve people
and at the same time the angels.
In this the Word differs from every other writing.

AC 3951 - foresight and the conjunction of good and truth

AC 3951
... all the conjunction of truth with good, and of good with truth,
in a person, is effected from foresight;
that is, from the Lord's Providence....
For good is not good in a person until it has been conjoined with truth....
The Lord's Providence is especially concerned with this conjunction.

AC 3938 - loving goods and truths

AC 3938 [4]
... the further a person advances into the delight of the affections of truth and good, the more does he begin to regard the delights of evil and falsity as vile; and at last to hold them in aversion.

AC 3934 - good

AC3934 [2]
... thinking good and willing good are not possible without doing good.

AC 3921 - "God judging me" and "hearing my voice"

AC 3921
"God judging me"
signifies the Lord's justice....
His "hearing my voice"
is mercy;
for the Lord judges all from justice,
and hears all from mercy.
He judges from justice because from Divine truth,
and He hears from mercy because from Divine good;
from justice He judges those who do not receive the Divine good;
and from mercy He hears those who do.
But still when He judges from justice,
it is also at the same time from mercy;
for in all Divine justice there is mercy,
and in Divine truth there is Divine good.

AC 3906 - regard for self

AC 3906 [2]
...what is a person's own cannot but have regard for self,
and thus to the preference of self above others,
and consequently a contempt for others,
and moreover a feeling of self-merit in the good that we do.
These things are within external truth
before internal truth has been conjoined with it;
and this cannot be conjoined
until regard for self begins to cease
and regard for the neighbor begins to be felt.

AC 3901 - Isaiah 40:31

AC 3901 [2]
They that wait upon Jehovah shall be renewed in strength,
they shall mount up with strong wing as eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:31)

"To be renewed in strength"
is to grow as to the willing of good;
and "to mount up with strong wing as eagles"
is to grow as to the understanding of truth, thus as to the rational.
The subject is set forth here as elsewhere by two expressions,
one of which involves the good which is of the will,
and the other the truth which is of the understanding;
and the case is the same with the expressions,
"they shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint."

AC 3892 & 3895 - the celestial compared to the persuasive

AC 3892
...the most ancient people, who were celestial people,
and above all other people were in love to the Lord,
that they had not external respiration such as their posterity (us) had,
but internal;
but that they respired with the angels,
with whom they were in fellowship because they were in celestial love.
I was further informed that their states of respiration were altogether
according to their states of love and of the derivative faith.

AC 3895 [2]
The persuasion of truth when a person is in the life of evil
is of such a nature that he persuades himself that truth is truth,
not for the sake of good as the end,
but for the sake of evil as the end,
namely, that he may thereby gain honors, reputation, and wealth.
The very worst of all are able to be in such a persuasion,
and also in apparent zeal,
to such a degree as to condemn to hell all who are not in truth,
however much these may be in good.
When such persons first come into the other life,
they believe themselves to be angels;
but they cannot approach any angelic society;
being as it were suffocated by their own persuasion
as soon as they come near it.

AC 3881 - the spiritual sense?

AC 3881
... the histories of the Word are believed to be merely historical;
and the prophecies to be of the things
that have been consigned to oblivion,
except some from which doctrinal tenets may be drawn.
That there is a spiritual sense in them is not believed,
because at this day it is not known
what the spiritual sense of the Word is,
nor even what the spiritual is.
The principal reason of this is that people live a natural life,
and the natural life is such that when it is regarded as the end,
or is loved above all other things,
it obliterates both knowledges and faith;
insomuch that when spiritual life and a spiritual sense are mentioned,
it is as though a kind of nonentity were spoken of,
or something unpleasant or sad, that excites loathing,
because it is in disagreement with natural life.

AC 3880 - "to confess"

AC 3880
... all the doctrine of faith and charity must be from the Word; because from himself man knows nothing of things celestial and spiritual, and therefore he can know them only from Divine revelation, which is the Word. That in the supreme sense "to confess" signifies the Lord, is because the Lord is the Word...

AC 3877 - the quality of charity

AC 3877
The case with respect to charity is
that it contains within itself the willing of truth;
and through this
it contains within itself the understanding of truth;
for whoever is in charity has these.
But before a person comes to charity,
he must first be in the external,
namely, in the understanding of truth;
next in the willing of truth;
and lastly in being affected with truth,
which is charity.
And when a person is in charity,
he then looks to the Lord...