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I suggest we take a deeper look at this issue as we actually might find an answer there that doesn’t put off the realization of spiritual fulfillment until we achieve Mansion World status. Jesus never implied that we would have to wait until we get to heaven to receive God’s full measure of love, grace, joy and personal spiritual fulfillment, so why we resign ourselves to either act as if we are fulfilled when we know we aren’t, or simply decide to put our whole hope of realization of these wonders to another time and place, is quite revealing.
First and quite simply, the Bible, the Urantia Book and every other true spiritual teaching source all teach the same ability to receive the exact same fulfillment here as there; it is by one simple methodology. It in fact, is the only methodology we will ever be able to utilize to achieve spiritual achievement, forever. It is called faith. Rather than go into a great study of the passages relating to that word in any book, I will defer to the supreme qualifier of the real comprehension of faith as a procedural process with anticipated and expected results, personal spiritual experience. We study the literature to understand our personal experience, but we must personally experience God to understand him and his processes. The following quote, though, mimics my own personal experience.
In 167:5.2 we read, “That night, in Jericho, the unfriendly Pharisees sought to entrap the Master by inducing him to discuss marriage and divorce, as did their fellows one time in Galilee, but Jesus artfully avoided their efforts to bring him into conflict with their laws concerning divorce. As the publican and the Pharisee illustrated good and bad religion, their divorce practices served to contrast the better marriage laws of the Jewish code with the disgraceful laxity of the Pharisaic interpretations of these Mosaic divorce statutes.”
Now notice the differences addressed by our Midwayer authors. The real value of this lesson and Jesus’ response, isn’t in understanding his view of Jewish marriage and divorce, it is in his diversion of the direction of the issue to the source of the problem, to the heart of it. Jesus is always able to discern the spiritual value of the problems we are having and will guide us to the realization of the truth of them but only if we are willing to hear; present tense here is intentional.
Notice:
“The Pharisee judged himself by the lowest standard (‘I am not worthy and that makes me better’); the publican squared himself by the highest ideal.”
“Devotion, to the Pharisee, was a means of inducing self-righteous inactivity and the assurance of false spiritual security; devotion, to the publican, was a means of stirring up his soul to the realization of the need for repentance, confession, and the acceptance, by faith, of merciful forgiveness.”
“The Pharisee sought justice; the publican sought mercy.”
“The law of the universe is: Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find.”
Both of these, seeking and asking, begin with the recognition of personal inadequacy; the need to repent, confess, and accept forgiveness.
So, the key to all spiritual growth, here or on Mansonia One, Two or wherever, is the same process. It never changes. It never gets easier, or simpler, or less deliberate, because it never gets less personal. Growing up takes all our willpower and all our faith. We have to learn to exercise our faith like we have to learn to exercise our bodies and our minds. We must work it and that means experience it. Once again, "Devotion, to the publican, was a means of stirring up his soul to the realization of the need for repentance, confession, and the acceptance, by faith, of merciful forgiveness."
Death adds nothing to our journey except the experience of having survived. By that statement the Revelation places us right where we are; might as well decide to grow up here and now. The difference is as Bradley says, contrast. But contrast between what and what? Contrast between real and false? Between sin and no sin? Between, difficult to come to terms with personal issues and easily perceived personal issues? If we have postponed our personal growth to be dealt with in the hereafter because we think it will be easier to do then, we are overwhelmingly misunderstanding the challenge of growing spiritually. Postponing dealing with our personal issues is an ability we can exercise on this planet but not on the next. That means that the ability to time delay this process of discovering the reality of our personal issues disappears. There is no ability to postpone the personal growth decisions. The ones we must make when we get to the Mansion Worlds will still have to stir up our souls to the realization of the need for repentance, confession, and the acceptance, by faith, of God’s mercy. In the perception of reality from a personal perspective, it is always ‘now’! Now is when we must decide to grow, to face our fears, to challenge our souls, to experience faith, living faith.
It is not the education of our minds that transforms our souls as we progress, it is the transformation of our souls by faith that enables the transcendent education of our minds. That is true here, now, as well.
Here is a simple little metaphor. Imagine a Chinese Lantern, a flat but intricately designed shape, barely more than a quarter inch thick. Now lift the center by the string and reveal all the folds, holes, and amazingly intricate designs built into it that were hidden in it when it was folded. That is like us. Spiritual faith, spiritual faith alone, lifts us to reveal what absolutely nothing else can. The great challenge is we must be personally willing to unfold each fold. Each fold is our own personal responsibility whether here or on the Mansion Worlds.
Faith is the process of spiritual realization and Faith must be deliberate. It is that deliberateness that is our personal challenge. One, two, skip a few, ninety-nine, one hundred, doesn’t work. It doesn’t work here, and it doesn’t work there.
Personal spiritual growth requires the personal decision to activate our faith on each and every issue of our personality, that is how we grow. As Jesus said, says, and will forever say, the kingdom of heaven is within and it is here, now.
I say, don’t put it off until another day. Now is always NOW! Faith is always and only experienced.
Jim
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