Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: I was unfaithful to my spouse ~ something I thought I'd never do. I stopped the affair, but our marriage is now ending. I have huge regret for my actions but can't get that chapter out of my head. I now feel "blocked" spiritually, like I can't forgive myself and move on. I feel like part of me is gone. Please help.

A: I feel so sorry that you are suffering such painful regret. I understand regret, as I suffered with it for quite awhile in my past - still do, at times - but when it was at its worst, I was no good to anyone...I can understand that space of inertia, where you can't really move forward because the past is just too heavy around your heart...

Whatever your misdeeds were - in this case, infidelity - they are already forgiven. I can say that with absolute certainty, and I hope you can take that in and believe it as well. God has forgiven you, especially since you have recognized and seem to have sincere remorse for what you did.

You are right: a very important piece of forgiveness is to forgive yourself. Jesus said:

"My disciples must not only cease to do evil but learn to do well; you must not only be cleansed from all conscious sin, but you must refuse to harbor even the feelings of guilt. If you confess your sins, they are forgiven; therefore must you maintain a conscience void of offense." (156:2.7)

That is kind of a "wow" statement, but it is very true. When we continually harbor the feelings of sorrow and regret over our failings, we simply cannot move forward. And so, it is important that you begin to actively and seriously think about forgiving yourself.

One technique that was of some help to me during some particularly dark days was to imagine that I was looking at my life as from the outside - as if I was looking at a friend, perhaps. How would I respond to a beloved friend or relative who was in the same situation I was in? Would I withhold my love and care from her because she was unfaithful to her husband? I can see she's sorry...and has taken steps to stop the affair...would I shun her, and expect her to wallow in sackcloth and ashes? Or would I say to her: "You know, we all make mistakes in life. We all fall short of our ideals. One mistake does not define a whole life. I love you, and I know you will do better in the future. You''ll learn from this, and it will never happen again"

In short, practice the same kind of compassionate love on yourself as you would practice on a beloved friend or sister or brother. To refuse to do so effectively says "no thanks" to God's forgiveness. Thinking that you are unworthy of forgiveness is really an act of pride...there is no one who cannot be forgiven - no one. Try to let this truth sink into your inner being...

What you are going through cannot be ignored or wished away. You do have to deal with it, but it does not have to last forever. You say that you feel spiritually blocked. This is understandable. I have some suggestions from The Urantia Book; take all, some, or none, but I want you to know that it is the kind of truth revealed in The Urantia Book that brought me back from the brink many years ago. I know that if you are a truthseeker, you will always benefit from its truths and comforts. And if you do this assignment, maybe you'll be too busy in the present to want to dwell in the past. These activities will help you live in the present moment, which is where we find God and open that channel of relationship with him. God is our heavenly spirit Father and he loves us with a fatherly affection. He wants to help you.

I would like to suggest that you begin your spiritual recovery by doing a bit of reading in The Urantia Book. Start with Papers 1-5 - about God the Father and his love for us, and perhaps you might like to read Papers 100-103 - these are dealing with spiritual growth and reality of religious experience, and are mightily inspiring. Start with either one.

It is important that you try to gain a larger view - one that is not concentrated solely on your problems. You are a human being of eternal destiny and you carry within you a Divine spark of God. I guarantee that if you sincerely acknowledge the presence of God who walks through your life with you, you will find new purpose and a way forward. Not only that, but you will learn new ways of viewing your life and your choices and you'll gain strength to deal with the present problems you are experiencing as a result of this past event.

Another suggestion I can offer is to find someone who needs you - find someone who is worse off than you are and do some service for them with no thought of repayment. There are lonely people everywhere. Look for them...nursing homes, in homeless shelters, women's shelters, hospice...there are volunteer positions you could add to your day - delivering meals to seniors through "Meals on Wheels" for example. Find something to do. Fill your spare time with service to others. Instead of lamenting your loss, you may find a part of you that will fill the empty places. Again, this is an activity which encourages present-moment living - the eternal NOW, where God can be found..

Said Jesus: "My children, if there exists a true and living connection between the child and the Father, the child is certain to progress continuously toward the Father's ideals. True, the child may at first make slow progress, but the progress is none the less sure. The important thing is not the rapidity of your progress but rather its certainty. Your actual achievement is not so important as the fact that the direction of your progress is Godward. What you are becoming day by day is of infinitely more importance than what you are today." (147:5.7)

The fact that you are reaching out now says to me that you are turning a corner. I am so glad that you chose Truthbook.com as a place that you felt good enough about to share this personal time in your life, and I will agree with you in prayer right now that you will from this day forward, seek truth, beauty and goodness in your life, and you will find it.

Labels: forgiveness, God, infidelity, Jesus, service, spirituality, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Monday, November 02, 2009

I am devastated when children are abducted and murdered.

Q: I am devastated when children are abducted and murdered. Please tell me that they are not alone in their last hour. It saddens me while a child is being tortured the world continues and unaware of their pain.

A: All humanity suffers when children are mistreated and murdered. It is an outrage that touches all of us very deeply...

I don't know if I can ease your heart through this pain you feel, but I can tell you that our God is a loving and kind Father to all his children. In life and in death, none of us is ever alone. I do not know for sure, but I like to think that there is some sort of mechanism in the brain that, at some point, shields a victim of such suffering from feeling the full brunt of the pain and fear of such an experience.

Here is a passage from The Urantia Book that may help ease your mind somewhat:

(39:5.11) ...During moments just prior to physical death a reflective phenomenon sometimes occurs in the human mind, and this dimming consciousness seems to visualize something of the form of the attending angel, and this is immediately translated into terms of the habitual concept of angels held in that individual's mind.

We can only hope that a youngster undergoing such a terrible experience may be blessed with such a vision of peace and loveliness. I suspect that the ministering angels do attend these young ones, and ease their passing in ways that we cannot know. And once the child has passed on the the next world, their eternal journey of adventure and joy will begin, despite the terrible circumstances of their death. For this, we can be grateful.

Remember how much Jesus loved children? He was always sensitive to them, and advised all of us to become like children in order to really be able to receive his tender mercies. Knowing this, I am sure that any child who suffers a hard death in this way has a special dispensation of mercy as they pass into his everlasting arms. I can't say for sure, but I prefer to think it is true, since there is no proof to the contrary...

It saddens me as well, to think of the terrible things that happen on our world - not only to children, but to innocent men and women in all kinds of circumstances. Many people are caught in situations all the time that stagger our imaginations and leave us feeling sad and powerless when we dwell upon them. If we were aware of each instance of suffering and pain that occur on our world, none of us could carry on. This does not mean that we are not sympathetic, though. Anyone who hears of such things is saddened and upset by them.

We have a choice though...we can choose to allow ourselves to become paralyzed by sadness and laden with sorrow over these kinds of crimes against humanity, or we can activate our highest mind, and pray for right thinking and a knowledge of God to spread over our world. We can selflessly love the children that we do know, and teach them to love others, and to love God. We can join, or contribute to groups that work to alleviate the suffering of innocent victims. We can put our energy to work in positive ways that serve others. These are activities that we CAN control, and positive action has a ripple effect on our world.

I know that my reply may not give you the kind of relief that you desire, but I do hope that you will open your heart to God and allow him to speak thoughts of peace to your soul. Staying close to God is a sure cure for these times when we feel overwhelmed by events that are out of our control, but which touch our hearts so acutely.

Finally, if you are not already signed up, please take advantage of our free service - Quote of the Day. Each day, you will receive a Urantia Book quote to help lift you up and inspire you to reach your highest spiritual goals.

Thanks for writing. Please feel free to write back any time...

Labels: angels, children, God, Jesus, love, service, Sorrow, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Rick Warren Interview

Rick Warren (REMEMBER HE WROTE 'PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE') also he did the debate with McCain and Obama.

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren.

'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven...

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into an other one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life...

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems...

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy...

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease .

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.

That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD...
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
God's Blessings on you today.

What a good way to use your money, I'm sure it is one of the ways Jesus wants us to us it. You know you can't take it with you, you most certainly can't buy eternal happiness, and it seems no one is ever satisfied with what they have - they keep wanting.

____________

Please visit our new page dedicated to GOD

Labels: character, eternity, God, Rick Warren, service, wealth

Permalink

Sunday, December 07, 2008

I am so small, how can I ever be accepted in God's world?

Q: I am so small, how can I ever be accepted in God's world?

A: Thank you for this important question.

It is a good thing to have a sense of your own smallness in the larger scheme of things. In The Urantia Book, we learn that "The soil essential for religious growth presupposes ...a normal consciousness of smallness, humility." (read more about humility here">)

But humility is in no way self-abasement, and should not produce feelings of insignificance. Your smallness doesn't mean that you are not needed, or not valued in God's creation. Do you know that you are a completely unique personality? God knows you and loves you dearly, personally, and eternally.

From The Urantia Book: "The love of the Father absolutely individualizes each personality as a unique child of the Universal Father, a child without duplicate in infinity, a will creature irreplaceable in all eternity. ...The love of God ... unmistakably reveals the high value which the Universal Father has placed upon each and every one of his children from the highest creator personality of Paradise status to the lowest personality of will dignity ..." p138:4 (12:7.9)">

You are no smaller than any of God's other mortal children. In God's creation, you stand on an equal footing with everyone else, and you possess the same potentials for eternal life that all God's children enjoy. Knowing this should help you to gain a new self-respect, and to use your unique life to make a difference.

Again, from The Urantia Book: "The door of eternal life is wide open to all; "whosoever will may come"; there are no restrictions or qualifications save the faith of the one who comes. '

Your job is to make the best of whatever life has handed you - to become the best person that you can be - where you are and as you are. Faith in God, faith in your status as a beloved child of God, and service in the brotherhood of man will help you understand that you are a valuable part of God's world, which is also YOUR world, made for you, and for all of us. We all need God, and we all need each other. You are part of a grand family, and you belong, no matter how small you may sometimes feel. Accept your smallness, but also know that you are accepted by God, and needed in his creation; otherwise, you would not be here!

Jesus can offer you some great advice on the business of living HERE. His advice is always practical. Jesus was a truly humble man, and yet he is still the most influential religious person to ever have walked the earth.

Finally, I offer this wonderful quote for your consideration:

Do not allow the magnitude of the infinity, the immensity of the eternity, and the grandeur and glory of the matchless character of God to overawe, stagger, or discourage you; for the Father is not very far from any one of you; he dwells within you, and in him do we all literally move, actually live, and veritably have our being.
p139:1(12:7.12)">

Labels: brotherhhod of man, God, humility, Jesus, service, smallness, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Saturday, July 12, 2008

I Can't Find a Reason To Live. Why Am I Alive?

Q: I have heard that emptiness is the ultimate peak of consciousness. I feel a sort of emptiness in me. I can't find a reason to live. The only thing that is haunting my mind is why am I alive. I wanna die or wanna do something purposeful in life. Please guide.

A: This shouldnâ€™t be too difficult for you to correct â€” your basic assumption just needs some tweaking. The ultimate peak of consciousness is to be fully aware, open, loving, giving and not at all to be empty. Perhaps youâ€™re confusing emptiness with begin unattached to material things â€” material things wonâ€™t bring happiness. A fulfilling job that gives you the wherewithal to live comfortably and to enjoy the good things of life is a worthy goal where simply accumulating things is not.

You may not yet understand why youâ€™re here â€” getting a grasp on that is often a life-long pursuit â€” but any thinking person will easily recognize that there is a purpose to existence, that the scheme of things is too grand to be meaningless therefore the pursuit of meaning is a true spiritual adventure to be experienced now during this life.

With that in mind, dying prematurely will only subvert your purpose for being here now and will merely postpone your struggles, not remove them.

There is no better guide for living than to know and to understand the life Jesus led while here â€” thatâ€™s one of the great messages provided by The Urantia Book. Jesus came to the world for everyone, not just for Christians, and itâ€™s up to us to learn about him, who he was, why he came, what his message was â€” thatâ€™s hard to do when filtered through Christianity but is a wonderful, inspiring story when told as the angels tell us through the words in The Urantia Book. The life and teachings of Jesus in The Urantia Book gives Jesus to us before the Christian Church got ahold of him. So to get a good handle on your own life, where you are, why you are, where youâ€™re headed you owe it to yourself to read just this enthralling portion of the book. You can read the life and teachings of Jesus on-line from our site or from the book which can be ordered from Amazon. For the on-line version, take the left hand link "The Urantia Book" on our home page at www.truthbook.com and then the link "Urantia Book Introduction." Scroll clear to the bottom of the page and take the "Go to Part IV of the Urantia Book" link â€” you may want to skip Paper 120 which ties Part IV with the preceding 3 Parts and go right to Paper 121 to begin your reading. I think you'll soon find your spirits lifting and life beginning to look more promising to you.
____________________

I hope you will not mind a second answer to your searching question...Larry gave you some great advice, and I agree completely. Knowing the life of Jesus is the ideal place to find answers, as Jesus was our great teacher and the highest example of how to live and why to persevere, even when life is hard. He was the original Son of God, and he showed us how we can also live as sons of God, which we are, in truth. He is your spiritual brother and is with you always. Reading of his matchless life as a real human man, while also a true God, is endlessly inspiring. Even though his life was lived over 2000 years ago, his words ring clear and relevant to our present lives. Please follow this advice. Take advantage of our Truthbook.com site. We are here for YOU!

This emptiness you speak of is part of the human condition. It has been called "existential loneliness," among other things. Many people have experienced this, and so you must not feel as if you are alone, even though it does feel that way sometimes.

Why do we feel so lonely? We learn in The Urantia Book that this planet earth (Urantia) that we live on is a very disordered kind of world. We have been in spiritual isolation for a very long time, and because of this, we have to discover on our own the reality of the spiritual life. This discovery will change your life, as it puts all of the sorrows and hardships of our lives into a larger perspective, and gives us a solid, indestructible foundation from which to deal with everyday problems and moods of the mind.

You hold within yourself a "pilot light -" a spark of God himself. He has been inside you for a long time, and waits patiently for you to recognize his presence, so that he can share your life, your sorrows, your confusion - and your joys and spiritual victories, too. When you get quiet and ask for him, he will answer you in a "still, small voice." It is hard to hear this voice sometimes, but when you really desire it, you will hear. You are never alone, but God does not call attention to himself. He waits for you to turn to him, and then he can truly commune with you. Far from "emptiness," the consciousness of God is the highest consciousness that there is, and worth every effort to achieve.

Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. He taught us that all you have to do to enter this holy kingdom is to believe that you are a son of God. Very simple. And after that, the best way to experience the joys of the Kingdom is to do something for someone else. Do some kind of service for another. This will take you out of your own problems, if even for a little while, and will help you to see what even a small kindness to another can do for your self-esteem and your own sense of self-worth. I am sure that you know someone right now in your life who could benefit from a service offered by you in love.

It is a difficult world we live in, and I know that sometimes, it is very discouraging to keep on, when we see so much emptiness - not only in ourselves, but in the world around us. The only thing that can fill that emptiness is God. Once you have found God within yourself, you will become energized once more, and will have a new reason to live. God intends that we live lives of joy and originality, and you have within you all that you need to make this a reality.

As Larry pointed out, you cannot escape the business of living and spiritual growth. Even if you leave the earth by your own hand, you will still have to make progress in the next world. It is just the way it is. We will always have to make progress, for "progress" is the watchword of the universe. When you decide to enter the Kingdom by faith now, you are making a great step towards improving your life - and the lives of all who will benefit from your love, understanding, tolerance, and brotherhood. And that is real, here-and-now progress...

As Jesus was fond of saying, "Fear not."
And he also said "the kingdom of Heaven is within you."
Open up your life, instead of ending it. The best is yet to be!!!

Labels: consciousness, God, Jesus, kingdom of heaven, loneliness, service, The Urantia Book