Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book: How do you know that God loves you?

Q: How do you know that God loves you?

A: First, Iâ€™d like to apologize for the length of time itâ€™s taken to get an answer back to you â€” we usually like to have replies sent within a couple of days at least and this is an excellent question. Youâ€™ve asked how do you know so Iâ€™ll reply how I know by first referring to some quotes from The Urantia Book. Long ago when I first started to study this book I accepted its message as being valid and true to me and that is still the case so to me these words ring true. The links at the end of the quotes will take you into the book if you'd like to read more.

The Father's love follows us now and throughout the endless circle of the eternal ages. As you ponder the loving nature of God, there is only one reasonable and natural personality reaction thereto: You will increasingly love your Maker; you will yield to God an affection analogous to that given by a child to an earthly parent; for, as a father, a real father, a true father, loves his children, so the Universal Father loves and forever seeks the welfare of his created sons and daughters. (2:5.9)

Though many of the temple rituals very touchingly impressed his sense of the beautiful and the symbolic, he was always disappointed by the explanation of the real meanings of these ceremonies which his parents would offer in answer to his many searching inquiries. Jesus simply would not accept explanations of worship and religious devotion which involved belief in the wrath of God or the anger of the Almighty. In further discussion of these questions, after the conclusion of the temple visit, when his father became mildly insistent that he acknowledge acceptance of the orthodox Jewish beliefs, Jesus turned suddenly upon his parents and, looking appealingly into the eyes of his father, said: "My father, it cannot be true â€“ the Father in heaven cannot so regard his erring children on earth. The heavenly Father cannot love his children less than you love me. And I well know, no matter what unwise thing I might do, you would never pour out wrath upon me nor vent anger against me. If you, my earthly father, possess such human reflections of the Divine, how much more must the heavenly Father be filled with goodness and overflowing with mercy. I refuse to believe that my Father in heaven loves me less than my father on earth." (125:0.6)

"John came preaching repentance to prepare you for the kingdom; now have I come proclaiming faith, the gift of God, as the price of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. If you would but believe that my Father loves you with an infinite love, then you are in the kingdom of God." (137:8.17)

"You well know that, while a kindhearted father loves his family as a whole, he so regards them as a group because of his strong affection for each individual member of that family. No longer must you approach the Father in heaven as a child of Israel but as a child of God. As a group, you are indeed the children of Israel, but as individuals, each one of you is a child of God. I have come, not to reveal the Father to the children of Israel, but rather to bring this knowledge of God and the revelation of his love and mercy to the individual believer as a genuine personal experience. The prophets have all taught you that Yahweh cares for his people, that God loves Israel. But I have come among you to proclaim a greater truth, one which many of the later prophets also grasped, that God loves you â€“ every one of you â€“ as individuals. All these generations have you had a national or racial religion; now have I come to give you a personal religion. (145:2.4)

"And now you should give ear to my words lest you again make the mistake of hearing my teaching with the mind while in your hearts you fail to comprehend the meaning. From the beginning of my sojourn as one of you, I taught you that my one purpose was to reveal my Father in heaven to his children on earth. I have lived the God revealing bestowal that you might experience the God knowing career. I have revealed God as your Father in heaven; I have revealed you as the sons of God on earth. It is a fact that God loves you, his sons. By faith in my word this fact becomes an eternal and living truth in your hearts. When, by living faith, you become divinely God conscious, you are then born of the spirit as children of light and life, even the eternal life wherewith you shall ascend the universe of universes and attain the experience of finding God the Father on Paradise. (193:0.3)

Putting the words of The Urantia Book aside there are many practical ways I know God loves me. First, I have the freedom to choose rightly or wrongly; the heavenly Father loves me enough to allow me to make my own mistakes. The heavenly Father loves me enough to have made me unique â€” I experience and react to the world around me in a different way from everyone else. I have firsthand experience that circumstances I would not have chosen for myself have nevertheless worked out for my good. I know that Godâ€™s ministers, the angels, have intervened and helped me when necessary. I live assured that God has a plan that is bigger than and extends far beyond this life â€” that God loves me enough to have made provision for my continued growth and experience when my life here is through. God loves me because of the inconsequential things that make life joyful â€” chocolate, butterflies, fireflies, tiger cubs, strawberries, ...

I imagine if I really got into it I could write for hours but I expect you know now why I know God loves me. How about you? Whatâ€™s your list like? How do you know? or if you're not sure, why not.

Labels: experience, God, guardian angels, Jesus, love, The Urantia Book

Permalink 0 comments

0 Comments: