Four Eventful Days at Capernaum

 Four Eventful Days at Capernaum

145:0.1 (1628.1)JESUS and the apostles arrived in Capernaum the evening of Tuesday, January 13. As usual, they made their headquarters at the home of Zebedee in Bethsaida. Now that John the Baptist had been sent to his death, Jesus prepared to launch out in the first open and public preaching tour of Galilee. The news that Jesus had returned rapidly spread throughout the city, and early the next day, Mary the mother of Jesus hastened away, going over to Nazareth to visit her son Joseph. 145:0.2 (1628.2)Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday Jesus spent at the Zebedee house instructing his apostles preparatory to their first extensive public preaching tour. He also received and taught many earnest inquirers, both singly and in groups. Through Andrew, he arranged to speak in the synagogue on the coming Sabbath day. 145:0.3 (1628.3)Late on Friday evening Jesus’ baby sister, Ruth, secretly paid him a visit. They spent almost an hour together in a boat anchored a short distance from the shore. No human being, save John Zebedee, ever knew of this visit, and he was admonished to tell no man. Ruth was the only member of Jesus’ family who consistently and unwaveringly believed in the divinity of his earth mission from the times of her earliest spiritual consciousness right on down through his eventful ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension; and she finally passed on to the worlds beyond never having doubted the supernatural character of her father-brother’s mission in the flesh. Baby Ruth was the chief comfort of Jesus, as regards his earth family, throughout the trying ordeal of his trial, rejection, and crucifixion. #dailyteachings #dailynewshorts #dailynewsupdate #dailynews #apocrypha #Apocryphabooks #dailyvlog #dailyvlogger #dailyhappiness #godsword #godswordtoday #godswordtoyou #thechristianincompletearmour #thebreastplateofrighteousness #beltoftruth #shieldoffaith #theswordofthespirit #williamgurnall #god #wordsfromgod #wisdomfromgod #christianity #christianityfocuscentre #christianity_for_all_ #christianityexplored #christianitytiktok #decreesandaffirmations #decrees #jesusisgod #jesus #jesuschrist #jesuslovesyou #jesussaves #jesusmessage #holyspirit #holyspiritfilled #holyspiritfire #holyspiritbringtoremembernce #holyspiritmove #holyspiritteaching #holyspiritministries #thetencommandments #hofvaneden #gardenofeden#Eden #Adamandeve #history #humanhistory #urantia #godsword #god #kingdomofgod

At Gilboa and in the Decapolis

At Gilboa and in the Decapolis 144:0.1 (1617.1)SEPTEMBER and October were spent in retirement at a secluded camp upon the slopes of Mount Gilboa. The month of September Jesus spent here alone with his apostles, teaching and instructing them in the truths of the kingdom. 144:0.2 (1617.2)There were a number of reasons why Jesus and his apostles were in retirement at this time on the borders of Samaria and the Decapolis. The Jerusalem religious rulers were very antagonistic; Herod Antipas still held John in prison, fearing either to release or execute him, while he continued to entertain suspicions that John and Jesus were in some way associated. These conditions made it unwise to plan for aggressive work in either Judea or Galilee. There was a third reason: the slowly augmenting tension between the leaders of John’s disciples and the apostles of Jesus, which grew worse with the increasing number of believers. 144:0.3 (1617.3)Jesus knew that the days of the preliminary work of teaching and preaching were about over, that the next move involved the beginning of the full and final effort of his life on earth, and he did not wish the launching of this undertaking to be in any manner either trying or embarrassing to John the Baptist. Jesus had therefore decided to spend some time in retirement rehearsing his apostles and then to do some quiet work in the cities of the Decapolis until John should be either executed or released to join them in a united effort. #dailyvlog #dailyvlogger #dailyhappiness #godsword #godswordtoday #godswordtoyou #thechristianincompletearmour #thebreastplateofrighteousness #beltoftruth #shieldoffaith #theswordofthespirit #williamgurnall #god #wordsfromgod #wisdomfromgod #christianity #christianityfocuscentre #christianity_for_all_ #christianityexplored #christianitytiktok #decreesandaffirmations #decrees #jesusisgod #jesus #jesuschrist #jesuslovesyou #jesussaves #jesusmessage #holyspirit #holyspiritfilled #holyspiritfire #holyspiritbringtoremembernce #holyspiritmove #holyspiritteaching #holyspiritministries #thetencommandments #hofvaneden #gardenofeden#Eden #Adamandeve #history #humanhistory #urantia #godsword #god #kingdomofgod  

The Actual Birth date of Jesus

8. The Birth of Jesus

122:8.1 (1351.5)All that night Mary was restless so that neither of them slept much. By the break of day the pangs of childbirth were well in evidence, and at noon, August 21, 7 b.c., with the help and kind ministrations of women fellow travelers, Mary was delivered of a male child. Jesus of Nazareth was born into the world, was wrapped in the clothes which Mary had brought along for such a possible contingency, and laid in a near-by manger.

122:8.2 (1351.6)In just the same manner as all babies before that day and since have come into the world, the promised child was born; and on the eighth day, according to the Jewish practice, he was circumcised and formally named Joshua (Jesus).

Going Through Samaria

143:0.1 (1607.1)AT THE end of June, a.d. 27, because of the increasing opposition of the Jewish religious rulers, Jesus and the twelve departed from Jerusalem, after sending their tents and meager personal effects to be stored at the home of Lazarus at Bethany. Going north into Samaria, they tarried over the Sabbath at Bethel. Here they preached for several days to the people who came from Gophna and Ephraim. A group of citizens from Arimathea and Thamna came over to invite Jesus to visit their villages. The Master and his apostles spent more than two weeks teaching the Jews and Samaritans of this region, many of whom came from as far as Antipatris to hear the good news of the kingdom.

143:0.2 (1607.2)The people of southern Samaria heard Jesus gladly, and the apostles, with the exception of Judas Iscariot, succeeded in overcoming much of their prejudice against the Samaritans. It was very difficult for Judas to love these Samaritans. The last week of July Jesus and his associates made ready to depart for the new Greek cities of Phasaelis and Archelais near the Jordan.

True and false Freedom

 

True and false freedom

54:1.8 (614.3)There is no greater error than the kind of self-deception that makes thinking beings crave to exercise power over other beings, for the purpose of depriving these persons of their natural liberties. The golden rule of human fairness disapproves of all such deception, such uncharitableness, selfishness and injustice. Only true, genuine freedom is compatible with the rule of love and the assistance of mercy.

54:1.9 (614.4)How dare the wayward creature infringe upon the rights of his fellow creatures in the name of personal freedom, while the Supreme Rulers of the universe keep themselves in the background out of merciful respect for these will privileges and personality potentialities! No being, in exercising its assumed personal freedom, has the right to deprive any other being of those privileges of existence, which are bestowed upon it by the Creators and duly respected by all faithful associates, subordinates and subjects of the latter.

54:1.10 (614.5)Evolutionary man may have to struggle for his material freedoms with tyrants and oppressors on a world of sin and iniquity, or during early times on a primitive evolving world, but on morontia worlds and spirit worlds this is not the case. War is the inheritance of early evolutionary man, but on worlds with normal advancing civilization, physical combat as a method of settling racial misunderstandings has long been discredited.

#godsword #godswordtoday #godswordtoyou #thechristianincompletearmour #thebreastplateofrighteousness #beltoftruth #shieldoffaith #theswordofthespirit #williamgurnall #god #wordsfromgod #wisdomfromgod #christianity #christianityfocuscentre #christianity_for_all_ #christianityexplored #christianitytiktok #decreesandaffirmations #decrees #jesusisgod #jesus #jesuschrist #jesuslovesyou #jesussaves #jesusmessage #holyspirit #holyspiritfilled #holyspiritfire #holyspiritbringtoremembernce #holyspiritmove #holyspiritteaching #holyspiritministries #thetencommandments #hofvaneden #gardenofeden#Eden #Adamandeve #history #humanhistory #urantia #godsword #god #kingdomofgod

The Passover at Jerusalem

 The Passover at Jerusalem

142:0.1 (1596.1)THE month of April Jesus and the apostles worked in Jerusalem, going out of the city each evening to spend the night at Bethany. Jesus himself spent one or two nights each week in Jerusalem at the home of Flavius, a Greek Jew, where many prominent Jews came in secret to interview him. 142:0.2 (1596.2)The first day in Jerusalem Jesus called upon his friend of former years, Annas, the onetime high priest and relative of Salome, Zebedee’s wife. Annas had been hearing about Jesus and his teachings, and when Jesus called at the high priest’s home, he was received with much reserve. When Jesus perceived Annas’s coldness, he took immediate leave, saying as he departed: “Fear is man’s chief enslaver and pride his great weakness; will you betray yourself into bondage to both of these destroyers of joy and liberty?” But Annas made no reply. The Master did not again see Annas until the time when he sat with his son-in-law in judgment on the Son of Man.

fascinating Era

 

fascinating Era

195:9.2 (2082.7)But paganized, socialized Christianity needs a new contact with the uncontaminated teaching of Jesus: it is leading a languishing existence because it lacks a new vision of the Master's life on earth. A new, fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is meant to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and overthrow the world domination of mechanistic naturalism. Urantia now stands trembling on the threshold of one of its most amazing, exciting epochs of social reordering, moral revival and spiritual enlightenment.

195:9.3 (2082.8)Even though the teaching of Jesus was highly modified, it has survived the mysteries at the time of his birth and the ignorance and superstition of the dark Middle Ages, and is even now slowly triumphing over the materialism, mechanism, and secularization of the twentieth century. And such times of great trial and impending defeat are always times of great revelation.

195:9.4 (2082.9)Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who dare to rely solely on Jesus and his incomparable teaching. If Christianity continues to neglect its spiritual mission while it remains preoccupied with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance will have to wait for the arrival of these new teachers of the religion of Jesus, who will devote themselves exclusively to the spiritual renewal of men. And then these spirit-born souls will soon provide the leadership and inspiration needed for the social, moral, economic and political reorganization of the world.

A Thought for Consideration from The Urantia Book

Beginning The Public Work

Beginning the Public Work

141:0.1 (1587.1)ON THE first day of the week, January 19, a.d. 27, Jesus and the twelve apostles made ready to depart from their headquarters in Bethsaida. The twelve knew nothing of their Master’s plans except that they were going up to Jerusalem to attend the Passover feast in April, and that it was the intention to journey by way of the Jordan valley. They did not get away from Zebedee’s house until near noon because the families of the apostles and others of the disciples had come to say good-bye and wish them well in the new work they were about to begin. 141:0.2 (1587.2)Just before leaving, the apostles missed the Master, and Andrew went out to find him. After a brief search he found Jesus sitting in a boat down the beach, and he was weeping. The twelve had often seen their Master when he seemed to grieve, and they had beheld his brief seasons of serious preoccupation of mind, but none of them had ever seen him weep. Andrew was somewhat startled to see the Master thus affected on the eve of their departure for Jerusalem, and he ventured to approach Jesus and ask: “On this great day, Master, when we are to depart for Jerusalem to proclaim the Father’s kingdom, why is it that you weep? Which of us has offended you?” And Jesus, going back with Andrew to join the twelve, answered him: “No one of you has grieved me. I am saddened only because none of my father Joseph’s family have remembered to come over to bid us Godspeed.” At this time Ruth was on a visit to her brother Joseph at Nazareth. Other members of his family were kept away by pride, disappointment, misunderstanding, and petty resentment indulged as a result of hurt feelings.

Goodness

 Goodness

132:2.8 (1458.5)Until you reach the levels of Paradise, goodness will always be more a seeking and pursuit than a possession, more a goal than the experience of having attained it. But even as you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you experience more and more satisfaction in acquiring goodness in part. The presence of good and evil in the world is in itself positive proof of the existence and reality of man's moral will, the personality, which thus identifies these values and is also able to choose between them.

132:2.9 (1458.6)By the time the ascending mortal reaches Paradise, his capacity to identify his self with true spirit-values has been so increased that it has culminated in the attainment of the perfect possession of the light of life. Such a perfected spirit-personality comes to such a whole, divine and spiritual union with the positive, supreme qualities of goodness, beauty and truth, that it is no longer possible for this righteous spirit to cast off any negative shadow of potential evil when exposed to the piercing radiation of the divine light of the infinite Rulers of Paradise. In all such spirit-personalities, goodness is no longer partial, contrasting and comparative; it has become divinely complete and spiritually fulfilled: it approaches the purity and perfection of the Most High.

132:2.10 (1458.7)The possibility of evil is necessary for moral choice, but not its actuality. A shadow is real only in a relative sense. Actual evil is not necessary as a personal experience. At the lower levels of spiritual development, potential evil works just as well as incitement to decisions in the field of moral progress. Evil becomes a reality in personal experience only when a moral consciousness makes evil its choice.

A Thought for Consideration from The Urantia Book

The Ordination of The Twelve Apostles

 The Ordination of the Twelve

140:0.1 (1568.1)JUST before noon on Sunday, January 12, a.d. 27, Jesus called the apostles together for their ordination as public preachers of the gospel of the kingdom. The twelve were expecting to be called almost any day; so this morning they did not go out far from the shore to fish. Several of them were lingering near the shore repairing their nets and tinkering with their fishing paraphernalia. 140:0.2 (1568.2)As Jesus started down the seashore calling the apostles, he first hailed Andrew and Peter, who were fishing near the shore; next he signaled to James and John, who were in a boat near by, visiting with their father, Zebedee, and mending their nets. Two by two he gathered up the other apostles, and when he had assembled all twelve, he journeyed with them to the highlands north of Capernaum, where he proceeded to instruct them in preparation for their formal ordination. 140:0.3 (1568.3)For once all twelve of the apostles were silent; even Peter was in a reflective mood. At last the long-waited-for hour had come! They were going apart with the Master to participate in some sort of solemn ceremony of personal consecration and collective dedication to the sacred work of representing their Master in the proclamation of the coming of his Father’s kingdom.

The Twelve Apostles

139:0.1 (1548.1)IT IS an eloquent testimony to the charm and righteousness of Jesus’ earth life that, although he repeatedly dashed to pieces the hopes of his apostles and tore to shreds their every ambition for personal exaltation, only one deserted him.

139:0.2 (1548.2)The apostles learned from Jesus about the kingdom of heaven, and Jesus learned much from them about the kingdom of men, human nature as it lives on Urantia and on the other evolutionary worlds of time and space. These twelve men represented many different types of human temperament, and they had not been made alike by schooling. Many of these Galilean fishermen carried heavy strains of gentile blood as a result of the forcible conversion of the gentile population of Galilee one hundred years previously.

139:0.3 (1548.3)Do not make the mistake of regarding the apostles as being altogether ignorant and unlearned. All of them, except the Alpheus twins, were graduates of the synagogue schools, having been thoroughly trained in the Hebrew scriptures and in much of the current knowledge of that day. Seven were graduates of the Capernaum synagogue schools, and there were no better Jewish schools in all Galilee.

139:0.4 (1548.4)When your records refer to these messengers of the kingdom as being “ignorant and unlearned,” it was intended to convey the idea that they were laymen, unlearned in the lore of the rabbis and untrained in the methods of rabbinical interpretation of the Scriptures. They were lacking in so-called higher education. In modern times they would certainly be considered uneducated, and in some circles of society even uncultured. One thing is certain: They had not all been put through the same rigid and stereotyped educational curriculum. From adolescence on they had enjoyed separate experiences of learning how to live.

Taoism

 

Taoism

131:8.1 (1451.4)The messengers of Melchizedek penetrated far into China, and the doctrine of the one God was incorporated into the older teachings of several Chinese religions; the doctrine that persisted longest and contained the most monotheistic truth was Taoism. Ganid gathered the following from the founder's teachings:

131:8.2 (1451.5)'How pure and tranquil is the Most High and yet how powerful and mighty, how deep and unfathomable! This God of heaven is the honored progenitor of all things. When you know the Eternal, you are enlightened and wise. When you do not know the Eternal One, this ignorance manifests as evil and thus the passions of sin arise. This wonderful Being existed before there were the heavens and the earth. He is truly spiritual; He exists in Himself and does not change. He is indeed the Mother of the world, and all creation moves around Him. This Great Being communicates Himself to men and thereby enables them to rise above themselves and achieve survival. Even if one possesses only a small degree of knowledge, one can still walk the ways of the Most High; one can conform to the will of heaven.

131:8.3 (1452.1)'All good works of true service stem from the Most High. All things depend on the Great Source for their life. The great Supreme One does not desire praise for His gifts. He is supreme in power, yet He remains hidden from our gaze. Without ceasing, He transmits His attributes as He perfects His creatures. Celestial Reason is slow and patient in His plans, but sure that He will complete them. The Supreme One covers the universe and already sustains it. How great and mighty is His abundant influence and His attraction. True goodness is like the water that is a blessing to all and harms nothing. And like the water, true goodness seeks the lowest places, the very levels that others shun, and this is because true goodness is related to the Supreme. The Supreme creates all things, nurtures them in nature, and brings them to perfection in spirit. And it is a mystery how the Supreme cherishes, protects and brings the creature to perfection without forcing it. He guides and governs, but without asserting Himself. He serves progress, but without dominating.

131:8.4 (1452.2)'The wise man makes his heart universal. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Those who strive for greatness must learn to humble themselves. Through creation, the Supreme One became the mother of the world. When a person knows his mother, he recognizes his sonship. A wise man is he who considers all parts from the viewpoint of the whole. Treat everyone as if you were in their place. Redeem injustice with kindness. If you love people, they will come to you - you will have no trouble winning them.

131:8.5 (1452.3)'The Great Supreme pervades all: he is at your left hand and at your right; he sustains all creation and dwells in all true beings. You cannot find the Supreme, but neither can you go anywhere where He is not. When a man sees the evil of his ways and heartily repents of his sin, he can ask for forgiveness: he can escape punishment; he can turn disaster into blessing. The Most High is the safe refuge for all creation; he is the preserver and redeemer of mankind. When you seek Him daily, you will find Him. Since He can forgive sins, He is indeed very precious and dear to all people. Always keep in mind that God does not reward man for what he does, but for what he is; therefore, you should extend a helping hand to your fellow men without thoughts of reward. Do good without thought of benefit to yourself.

131:8.6 (1452.4)'Those who know the laws of the Eternal are wise. Ignorance concerning the divine law means misery and disaster. Those who know the laws of God are broad-minded. If you know the Eternal, although your body must perish, your soul will survive in spirit-service. You are truly wise when you recognize your insignificance. When you abide in the light of the Eternal, you will enjoy the illumination of the Supreme. Those who devote themselves to the service of the Most High rejoice in this seeking of the Eternal. When man dies, the soul begins to spread its wings for the long flight of the great journey home.'

A Thought for Contemplation from The Urantia Book

Training the Kingdom’s Messengers

138:0.1 (1538.1)AFTER preaching the sermon on “The Kingdom,” Jesus called the six apostles together that afternoon and began to disclose his plans for visiting the cities around and about the Sea of Galilee. His brothers James and Jude were very much hurt because they were not called to this conference. Up to this time they had regarded themselves as belonging to Jesus’ inner circle of associates. But Jesus planned to have no close relatives as members of this corps of apostolic directors of the kingdom. This failure to include James and Jude among the chosen few, together with his apparent aloofness from his mother ever since the experience at Cana, was the starting point of an ever-widening gulf between Jesus and his family. This situation continued throughout his public ministry—they very nearly rejected him—and these differences were not fully removed until after his death and resurrection. His mother constantly wavered between attitudes of fluctuating faith and hope, and increasing emotions of disappointment, humiliation, and despair. Only Ruth, the youngest, remained unswervingly loyal to her father-brother.

138:0.2 (1538.2)Until after the resurrection, Jesus’ entire family had very little to do with his ministry. If a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, he is not without understanding appreciation save in his own family.

Was Ramses III the Exodus Pharaoh? An Extraordinary Discovery in a One-Hour Documentary

 

Freedom - According to Lucifer, and Jesus

This audio lecture contrasts the tenets of Jesus's religion with those of Lucifer's. Robert Sarmast argues that the core difference lies in the concept of a personal God, with Jesus's religion emphasizing a personal, involved deity, while Lucifer's promotes an impersonal, pantheistic view where all is God. This fundamental distinction, the speaker claims, drastically alters the interpretation of key religious concepts like good and evil, judgment, and salvation. The lecture ultimately suggests that a crucial upcoming conflict will involve distinguishing between these two belief systems, which both advocate for truth and freedom but with diametrically opposed means of achieving them. The speaker highlights the need for discernment to avoid being misled.

@invisiblebrotherhood5424

The Origen of Ideals

 

The origin of ideals

103:5.1 (1133.6)The early evolutionary consciousness gives rise to a sense of social duty and moral obligation, stemming primarily from emotional apprehension. The more positive impulse to serve the community and the idealism of altruism come from the direct impulse of the divine spirit dwelling in human consciousness.

103:5.2 (1133.7)This idea-ideal of doing good to others-the impulse to deny the ego something for the benefit of one's neighbor-is at first very limited in scope. Primitive man considers as his neighbor only those who are very close to him, those who also treat him as their neighbor; as religious civilization progresses, the concept of neighbor widens and comes to include the clan, the tribe, and the people. And then Jesus extended the concept of neighbor to all of humanity, to the point that we must love even our enemies. And there is something inside every normal human being that tells him that this teaching is ethical - right. Even those who practice this ideal the least admit that it is correct in theory.

103:5.3 (1134.1)All people recognize the morality of this universal human urge to be unselfish and altruistic. The humanist attributes the origin of this urge to the natural workings of material consciousness; the religious man recognizes that it is more accurate to say that the truly selfless urge in mortal consciousness is a reaction to the inner spiritual directions of the Thought Giver.

103:5.4 (1134.2)Yet 's human interpretation of these initial conflicts between the ego-will and the on-the-other-will is not always reliable. Only a fairly well unified personality can act as arbiter between the multifarious claims of the ego's desires and the burgeoning social consciousness. The self has rights as much as the neighbor. Neither has the exclusive right to the individual's attention and service. When left unresolved, this problem raises the earliest form of human guilt.

103:5.5 (1134.3)Human happiness can be achieved only when the ego desire of the self and the altruistic drive of the higher self (the divine mind) are coordinated and reconciled by the unified will of the integrating, supervising personality. The consciousness of evolutionary man always faces the complicated task of acting as arbiter in the struggle between the natural expansion of his emotional impulses and the moral growth of his altruistic impulses based on spiritual insight - true religious reflection.

103:5.6 (1134.4)The attempt to obtain for oneself as much good as for the greatest possible number of others constitutes a task that cannot always be resolved to full satisfaction in a time-space framework. Starting from an eternal life, such antagonisms can be worked out, but in a single short human life they cannot possibly be resolved. Jesus was alluding to such a paradox when he said, “Whoever will preserve his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for the sake of the kingdom will find it.

103:5.7 (1134.5)The pursuit of the ideal - the striving to be like God - is a constant effort, both before death and after. Life after death is no different in essentials from mortal existence. All the good we do in this life contributes directly to the elevation of the life to come. True religion does not breed moral indolence and spiritual laziness by giving man the vain hope that all the virtues of a noble character will be bestowed upon him once he has passed through the gate of natural death. True religion does not belittle man's efforts to make progress during the span of mortal life. Every progress of the mortal is a direct contribution to the enrichment of the first stages of his experience of survival as an immortal.

103:5.8 (1134.6)It is fatal to man's idealism when he is taught that all his altruistic impulses are no other than the development of his natural herd instincts. But he is veined and greatly strengthened when he learns that these higher impulses of his soul emanate from the spiritual forces that dwell in his mortal consciousness.

103:5.9 (1134.7)Man is lifted above himself once he becomes fully aware that something lives and strives within him that is eternal and divine. And so it is that a living belief in the superhuman origin of our ideals validates our belief that we are sons of God, and gives reality to our altruistic convictions, the feelings of the brotherhood of man.

103:5.10 (1134.8)Man does indeed have free will in his spiritual realm. Mortal man is not the helpless slave of the immovable sovereignty of an all-powerful God, nor the victim of the hopeless inevitability of a mechanistic cosmic determinism. Man, in the truest sense, is the architect of his own eternal destiny.

103:5.11 (1135.1)Yet by pressure man is neither saved nor veined. Spiritual growth sprouts from within the developing soul. Pressure may disfigure the personality, but it never stimulates growth. Even pressure applied in education and upbringing is only negatively helpful in the sense that it can help prevent disastrous experiences. Spiritual growth is greatest where all outside pressure is minimal. “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Man develops best when the forms of pressure from the family, from the community, from the church, and from the state are least. Yet this should not be taken to mean that in a progressive society there would be no place for the family, for social institutions, for a church, or for a state.

103:5.12 (1135.2)When a member of a religious community has fulfilled the requirements of such a group, he should be encouraged to religious freedom in the full expression of his own personal interpretation of the truths of religious faith and the facts of religious experience. The security of a religious group depends on spiritual unity, not theological uniformity. A religious group should be able to enjoy the freedom of free thought without becoming a group of “freethinkers. One should expect the best from any church that glorifies the living God, affirms the brotherhood of men, and dares to abolish all pressure of creeds on its members.

A Thought for Consideration from The Urantia Book

Seraphim of the morontia worlds - transitional servants

Seraphim of the morontia worlds - transitional servants

48:6.1 (551.6)Although all orders of angels, from the planetary helpers to the supreme seraphim, serve on the morontia worlds, the transitional servants are charged more exclusively with these activities. These angels belong to the sixth order of seraphim servants, and their service consists in facilitating the transition of material, mortal creatures from temporal life in the flesh to the first stages of morontia existence on the seven dwelling worlds.

48:6.2 (551.7)It should be understood that the morontia life of an ascending mortal really begins on the inhabited worlds at the conception of the soul, at the moment when in the creature-consciousness with moral status comes to inhabit the spirit-Richter. From that moment on, the mortal soul has the potential capacity to function in super-mortal ways, even to be recognized at the higher levels of the morontia worlds in the local universe.

48:6.3 (552.1)However, you will only become aware of the service of the transitional seraphim upon reaching the dwelling worlds, where they work tirelessly to advance their mortal pupils. They are appointed to serve in the following seven divisions:

48:6.4 (552.2)1. Seraphic Evangelists. The moment you come to consciousness on the dwelling worlds, you are classified in the archives of the system as an evolving spirit. True, you are not yet a spirit in reality, but you are no longer a mortal or material being; you have begun the pre-spiritual career and are duly admitted to morontia life.

48:6.5 (552.3)On the dwelling worlds, the seraphic evangelists will help you choose wisely among the optional routes to Edentia, Salvington, Uversa and Havona. If a number of these routes are equally recommendable, they will be presented to you and you will be given permission to choose the one that attracts you the most. These seraphim then make recommendations to the twenty-four counsellors on Jerusem as to the course which will most benefit each ascending soul.

48:6.6 (552.4)You shall not have unlimited freedom in your choice concerning your future course, but you may choose within the limits of what the transitional servants and their superiors in their wisdom determine is most suitable for your future spiritual level. The spirit world is governed on the principle that your free will choice is res- pected, provided the course you choose is not detrimental to yourself or harmful to your companions.

48:6.7 (552.5)These seraphic evangelists devote themselves to proclaiming the gospel of eternal progression, the triumph of attaining perfection. On the dwelling worlds they proclaim the great law that goodness preserves and dominates: no act that is good is ever completely lost. Such an act may be opposed for a long time, but it is never entirely nullified, and has eternal power according to the divinity of the motivation from which it was performed.

48:6.8 (552.6)Even on Urantia, they advise human teachers of truth and righteousness to adhere to the preaching of “the goodness of God, which leads to repentance,” to the proclamation of “the love of God, which drives out all fear. This is exactly how the following truths have been proclaimed on your world:

48:6.9 (552.7)The gods are my keepers; I will not go astray;

48:6.10 (552.8)Side by side they lead me along the clean paths and through the glorious refreshment of eternal life.

48:6.11 (552.9)In this Divine Presence I shall not hunger for food nor thirst for water.

48:6.12 (552.10)Though I descend into the valley of uncertainty or ascend into the worlds of doubt,

48:6.13 (552.11)Though I move in solitude or with my peers,

48:6.14 (552.12)Though I triumph in the corn of light or stumble in the lonely places of the worlds,

48:6.15 (552.13)Your good spirit will serve me, and your glorious angel will comfort me.

48:6.16 (552.14)Though I descend into the depths of darkness and death itself,

48:6.17 (552.15)I will not doubt you nor fear you,

48:6.18 (552.16)For I know that in the fullness of time and the glory of thy name

48:6.19 (552.17)Raise up and make me sit down with you on the pinnacles in the high.

48:6.20 (553.1)This is the story that was whispered to the shepherd boy in the night. He could not remember it word for word, but rendered it as best he could remember it, almost in the words in which it is recorded today.

48:6.21 (553.2)These seraphim are also those who proclaim to the entire system, as well as to the individual ascendants, the gospel of the attainment of perfection. Even now, in the young system Satania, their teachings and plans already include provisions for the future ages, when the dwelling worlds will no longer serve as steps by which one reaches the worlds on high.

48:6.22 (553.3)2. Racial interpreters. The races of mortals are not all alike. It is true that a planetary pattern runs through the physical, mental and spiritual nature and inclinations of the several races of a given world, but there are also distinct racial types, and the offspring of these various human archetypes are characterized by very particular social inclinations. On the worlds in time, the seraphic interpreters of the races promote the efforts of the racial commissioners to harmonize the divergent viewpoints of the various races with each other, and they are also still active on the dwelling worlds, where the same differences often remain to some degree. On a confused planet like Urantia, these magnificent beings have hardly had a fair opportunity to perform their work, but they are the skilled sociologists and wise ethnic advisors of the first heavens.

48:6.23 (553.4)When you allow the statement about “heaven” and the “heaven of heavens” to circulate within you, heaven as most of your prophets imagined it is the first dwelling world of the local system. When the apostle told of being “lifted up into the third heaven,” he was referring to that experience in which his Richter was detached from him during sleep and in this unusual state made a projection into the third of the seven dwelling worlds. Some of your wise men have seen the vision of the greater heaven, “the heaven of heavens,” of which the seven dwelling-world experience was only the first; the second is Jerusem, the third Edentia and her satellites, the fourth Salvington and the teaching worlds surrounding her, the fifth Uversa, the sixth Havona and the seventh, Paradise.

48:6.24 (553.5)3. Seraphim of consciousness planning. These seraphim devote themselves to effectively bringing morontia beings together in groups and organizing the teamwork of these beings on the dwelling worlds. They are the psychologists of the first heaven. This special division of seraphic servants, for the most part, has had previous experience as guardian angels of the children of the age, but for some reason their pupils on the dwelling worlds have not come to personalization, or else they have come to survival through the technique of fusion with Spirit.

48:6.25 (553.6)The seraphim of consciousness planning are tasked with studying the nature, experience and status of the Richter souls en route through the dwelling worlds and facilitating the appointment and advancement of these in groups. But these seraphim do not intrigue, manipulate or otherwise abuse the ignorance or other limitations of students on the dwelling worlds. They are perfectly fair and highly equitable. They respect your newborn morontia will; they regard you as independent beings of will and they seek to encourage you to develop quickly and make rapid progress. With them you are face to face with true friends and understanding counselors, angels who are truly able to help you “see yourself as others see you,” and “know yourself as the angels know you.

48:6.26 (553.7)Even on Urantia these seraphim teach the eternal truth that if your own consciousness does not serve you well, you can exchange it for the consciousness of Jesus of Nazareth, who always serves you well.

48:6.27 (554.1)4. Morontia Councillors. These servants bear this name because they are appointed to teach, guide and counsel the surviving mortals of the worlds where humans arise - souls on their way to the higher academies at the headquarters of the system. These are the teachers of those who seek insight into the experiential unity of diverse levels of life, those who seek to bring about the integration of meanings and the union of values. This is the function of philosophy in mortal life, and of mota on the morontia worlds.

48:6.28 (554.2)Mota is more than a superior philosophy, it relates to philosophy as two eyes to one: it has a stereoscopic effect on meanings and values. Material man sees the universe, as it were, with a single eye - flat. Students on dwelling worlds acquire a cosmic perspective - depth - by superimposing the perceptions of morontia on the perceptions of physical life. And they are largely enabled to truly focus these material and morontial viewpoints through the tireless service of their seraphic counselors, who very patiently teach the dwelling-world students and the morontia continuants. Many teaching counselors of the supreme order of seraphim began their careers as advisors to the newly liberated souls of mortals of the ages.

48:6.29 (554.3)5. Technicians. These are the seraphim who help new ascendants adjust to the new, relatively alien environment of the morontia worlds. Life on the transitional worlds involves real contact with the energies and materials of both the physical level and the morontia level, and to some extent with spiritual realities. Ascendants must acclimate to each new morontia level, and in this they are always greatly assisted by the seraphic technicians. These seraphim act as liaisons to the Morontia Force Supervisors and to the Master Physical Controllers, and they have comprehensive work as instructors of the ascending pilgrims concerning the nature of the energies used on the transitional worlds. They serve as traversers of space in emergencies and perform numerous other regular and special duties.

48:6.30 (554.4)6. Registrar-Teachers. These seraphim are the registrars of operations in the borderland between the spiritual and the physical, of relations between humans and angels, of morontia operations in the lower regions of the universe. They also serve as instructors on the efficient and effective techniques of recording facts. There is a certain artistry in the intelligent collection and coordination of interrelated data, and this art deepens in cooperation with the celestial artists; even the ascending mortals thus find connection with the recording seraphim.

48:6.31 (554.5)The registrars of all seraphic orders devote a certain amount of time to the instruction and training of the morontia continuants. These angels, who are the keepers of the facts of the times, are ideal instructors of all who seek facts. Before you leave Jerusem, the history of Satania and its 619 inhabited worlds will be very well known to you, and this story will be told to you largely by the seraphic registrars.

48:6.32 (554.6)These angels are all links in the chain of registrars that reaches from the lowest to the highest keepers of the facts of time and the truths of eternity. One day they will teach you to seek both truth and facts, and to expand both your soul and your consciousness. Even now thou must learn to water the garden of thy heart as well as to search for the dry ground of knowledge. Outward appearances are without value when lessons are learned. No chick can emerge without the eggshell, and no eggshell is of any value when the chick is hatched. But sometimes error is so great that if it were rectified by revelation, it would be fatal to those slowly emerging truths that are indispensable to overthrow it experientially. When children have their own ideals, do not pry them loose, but let them grow. And as you learn to think like adults, you should also learn to pray like children.

48:6.33 (555.1)The law is life itself and does not consist of the rules according to which one should lead it. Evil is a violation of the law, not a violation of the rules of conduct concerning life, which is the law . Untruth is not a matter of narrative technique, but something deliberately contrived as a distortion of the truth. The creation of new images from old facts, the reformulation of the lives of parents in the lives of children - these are the artistic triumphs of truth. The slightest distortion contrived with untrue intent, the slightest distortion or perversion of that which is principle - that is falsehood. But the fetish of factualized truth, petrified truth, the iron ring of so-called immutable truth, traps man like a blind man in a closed circle of cold facts. One can be technically right regarding facts, and at the same time forever wrong regarding truth.

48:6.34 (555.2)7. Auxiliary Reservists. On the first dwelling world, a large corps of transitional seraphs of all orders is kept in readiness. After the destination servants, these transitional servants are seraphim of the order closest to man, and many of your free hours you will spend with them. Angels take pleasure in service, and when not assigned they often serve as volunteers. The soul of many an ascending mortal is first ignited by the divine fire of will-to-serve, by personal friendship with the voluntary servants who belong to the seraphic reservists.

48:6.35 (555.3)From them you will learn to bring stability and security through pressure, to be faithful and honest, and above all cheerful; to accept challenges without complaining and face difficulties and uncertainties without fear. They will ask you: if you fail, will you rise undaunted to make another attempt? If you succeed, will you always remain balanced - maintain a stabilized, spiritualized attitude - in every effort in the long struggle to break the shackles of material inertia, and achieve the freedom of spirit existence?

48:6.36 (555.4)Like mortals, these angels have many disappointments to their credit, and they will make it clear to you that your most disappointing disappointments have sometimes become your greatest blessings. When a seed is sown, sometimes it must first die - the death of your most ardent hopes - before it can be reborn in order to bring forth the fruits of new life and new opportunities. From them you will also learn to suffer less grief and disappointment, first by making fewer personal plans involving other personalities, and then by accepting your fate when you have faithfully done your duty.

48:6.37 (555.5)You will learn that you weigh down your burdens and reduce the chances of success when you take yourself too seriously. The work of the world of your status - this world or the next - comes before everything else. Very important is the preparatory work for the next, higher world, but nothing is as important as the work of the world where you actually live. But although the work is important, the work itself is not. When you feel important, you lose energy to the wear and tear of the ego's dignity, leaving little energy for the work. It is the feeling of one's own importance that exhausts immature creatures, not the importance of their work; it is the element of the self that exhausts, not the effort of accomplishment. You can do weighty work if you do not develop a sense of your own weightiness; you can do several things as easily as one thing if you leave yourself out of it. Variety gives relaxation; monotony is what tires and exhausts. Day after day then is the same thing - nothing more than life, or the alternative of death.

A Thought for Consideration from The Urantia Book

The Secret of Greatness and the Soul of Goodness

 28:6.20 (317.1)6 and 7. The Secret of Greatness and the Soul of Goodness. The ascending pilgrims having awakened to the import of time, the way is prepared for the realization of the solemnity of trust and for the appreciation of the sanctity of service. While these are the moral elements of greatness, there are also secrets of greatness. When the spiritual tests of greatness are applied, the moral elements are not disregarded, but the quality of unselfishness revealed in disinterested labor for the welfare of one’s earthly fellows, particularly worthy beings in need and in distress, that is the real measure of planetary greatness. And the manifestation of greatness on a world like Urantia is the exhibition of self-control. The great man is not he who “takes a city” or “overthrows a nation,” but rather “he who subdues his own tongue.”

28:6.21 (317.2)Greatness is synonymous with divinity. God is supremely great and good. Greatness and goodness simply cannot be divorced. They are forever made one in God. This truth is literally and strikingly illustrated by the reflective interdependence of the Secret of Greatness and the Soul of Goodness, for neither can function without the other. In reflecting other qualities of divinity, the superuniverse seconaphim can and do act alone, but the reflective estimates of greatness and of goodness appear to be inseparable. Hence, on any world, in any universe, must these reflectors of greatness and of goodness work together, always showing a dual and mutually dependent report of every being upon whom they focalize. Greatness cannot be estimated without knowing the content of goodness, while goodness cannot be portrayed without exhibiting its inherent and divine greatness.

28:6.22 (317.3)The estimate of greatness varies from sphere to sphere. To be great is to be Godlike. And since the quality of greatness is wholly determined by the content of goodness, it follows that, even in your present human estate, if you can through grace become good, you are thereby becoming great. The more steadfastly you behold, and the more persistently you pursue, the concepts of divine goodness, the more certainly will you grow in greatness, in true magnitude of genuine survival character.

A Thought for Consideration from The Urantia Book