God's Will

Indeed, O people in Zion, dwellers of Jerusalem, you shall not have cause to weep. He will grant you His favor at the sound of your cry; He will respond as soon as He hears it.   Then your Guide will no more be ignored, but your eyes will watch your Guide; and, whenever you deviate to the right or to the left, your ears will heed the command from behind you: "This is the road; follow it!"  Here the Lord is addressing the faithful and true remnants, as well as the downtrodden and humble. The amazing statement regarding our "Guide" is exactly the teaching of the Urantia Book, i.e., that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us, in the form of the indwelling spirit of God, which "guides" us from within our consciousness and keeps us from "deviating to the right or the left" from God’s Will straight ahead. The true way, the kingdom of heaven within, is an ancient way although it seems new to our modern world. The true way is the Kingdom of Heaven within, Jesus’ true message, and the main subject of the Urantia Book.

Refining those who elect God’s Will

God is clear: anyone who would, can come. He is a loving father, actively pursuing the embrace of every mortal being in the world. The eternal covenant is open to all who have faith and who would follow God’s Ways and Will. Man is not absolved of suffering, but he is lifted up over it, in the "peace that surpasses all understanding." And this is the "kingdom of heaven" that is "within" as spoken of by the Son of Man. What are God’s Ways? What would God have us do? Here is God’s answer through His inspired prophets. We will first review the Old Covenant with its external commands and then the New Covenant with its internal guidance. Together they are the Way of God.

And so, God tells us through his prophets what He wants of us; very simply and very clearly.  But for most of mankind these instructions are unappealing! After all, aren’t we free?   Sovereigns of our own destiny? Aren’t we able to choose our own paths without any assistance from anyone, including the infinite and loving Being we call God? Little do we realize that we throw away infinity for an illusion, never suspecting the treasure buried within, encased in fear and subverted by pride. Only by paradox, can the infinite be alluded to because true freedom is "slavery" to God’s will, for such slavery is a slavery of love, that unshackles every yoke of human limitation. The very intention of God’s Will is love.   We have considered the old covenant between God and man. Now lets turn to the new   covenant. We move from external, negative commands to internal, positive guidance.   Kingdom of Heaven Within, the New Covenant, Internal Guidance,  the true way, the gospel and message of Jesus

Matthew Not every one that saith unto me (Jesus), "Lord, Lord,"
7:21-23 shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but rather he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

DSC 4Q174 ‘But the wicked shall do wickedly and shall not understand,
but the righteous shall purify themselves and make themselves
white (Daniel.12: 10)’ ...the people who know God shall be strong.

The Teacher of Righteousness recognizes the unique understanding that these people will possess, they know God in their hearts and understand His Kingdom of Heaven within. Scripture is reinforcing and repeating important information. Information so reinforced, is very likely to be accurate judging from past performances.

The door represents entrance into the kingdom of heaven within where man communes directly with God, as son with Father. For the price of faith and obedience, God promises to do everything else. Jesus is the personification of faith and of obedience to God’s will: "not my will but Your will be done," Jesus prays. And so, the Father is glorified in Jesus and Jesus is glorified in his Father. "The kingdom of heaven is the will of God enthroned in the heart of man." (UB)

Put simply we become holy, the word derives from the Old English hal, whole or integrated and complete.  Transcendence, overcomes the paradox of duality, the experience of the reality of the Kingdom of heaven within allows us to identify with a higher, spiritual reality, instead of a lower, material reality. The higher completes the lower. And the Highest Reality, the source of all reality is God, who’s very Will is motivated by love and guided by wisdom.

The "perfectest communication" heard in silence is the spirit within.Within is also the location of its "indorsement" or realization. Who we are is far more important than what we know.  "Those who uphold the covenant (do God’s will), turn from walking in the way of the people." It may be necessary for those who follow God’s will, to separate themselves from the opinions, people, and possessions of our present culture to follow the truth on an isolated, lonely, and perhaps dangerous road. Such painful and trying choices will act to establish our priorities and expose them to view. Choosing God’s will in the face of such trials will be the "flame of affliction," which will soften our mettle (metal) for the anvil of adversity and the hammer of mercy. And so we will count the cost and remember that this road is also called the ‘Sacred Way’, and that the ‘redeemed shall walk it.’ Consider further this road:

Isaiah 57:14 Build up, build up a highway!
Clear a road!
Remove all obstacles
From the road of My people

This "road" is referred to and described in many places and by many prophets in the Old Testament. God will be removing obstacles to its use by those who elect His will.  The Teacher of Righteousness reveals a personal understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven within, the new covenant of God and man. The Teacher of Righteousness has learned to abandon himself completely to the Will of God, through the leading of the spirit within. The kingdom of heaven within intersects with the Kingdom of God on earth.

E.D. #751 My Worthiness is all my Doubt –
1863 His Merit – all my fear –
Contrasting which, my quality
Do lowlier – appear –
Lest I should insufficient prove
For His beloved Need –
The Chiefest Apprehension
Upon my thronging Mind –

Emily questions her worthiness throughout her poetry. Poverty to Emily is living without the experience of God, the kingdom of heaven within, and not lack of material wealth. She tells us that without this unsurpassable experience, "being is beggary."  Revealed religion is unified because it comes from a common source – the divine world. Here are a few more Urantia Book related poems about the Thought Adjuster which is the name given to the indwelling spirit of man that is given us by God. The Thought Adjuster is a fragment of infinity bestowed by God upon all men and women. Since God puts a spiritual piece of himself inside each human being, He is our spiritual Father and we are his spiritual sons and daughters. This is exactly analogous to the biologic father and mother who give a biologic-genetic piece of themselves to their biologic children. This spirit fragment is the foundation for the living spiritual connection between God and man. God is in us and we are in Him. By nature of this living spiritual connection, God "becomes what we are, to make us what He is." Each of us are a potentially part of the divine circuit of energy which pours forth from God, out through his sons and daughters, and into the lives they lead and the people they touch. And what goes out from the Source of love, returns in the end through praise, transforming our hearts and our minds in the process. This new heart and new mind lies dormant within every man and every woman, awaiting the day they wholeheartedly choose and desire to be led by God from within. When the self yields sovereignty to the spirit, the process of new inner growth begins. Most importantly, it is our will that decides and chooses between: self or other, anger or forgiveness, hate or love. The will is the ultimate determining factor in all of man’s existence.  Absolute love requires absolute freedom. God must wait at the door of the Kingdom of heaven within until we knock and truly desire to enter. When we seek Him with our whole heart and our whole mind and our whole soul there is nothing that can stop the circuit closing between man and God. His divine energy (love) pours over, around, and through us, filling our cup; hollowed out with suffering; but now hallowed with overflowing joy.

First hand spiritual experience is what we lack and what we need most of all. It is only as far away as was Kansas in the Wizard of Oz; just as far as our hearts desire. "Ask and you shall receive." "Search and you shall find." "Behold, all things are becoming new."  The spirit fragment or Thought Adjuster acts as a guide showing us "the way" if we only so desire. The mind which chooses becomes progressively attuned to God’s will or way, which is the way of truth, the way of beauty, and the way of goodness: each in all and all in each – fused in the triune experience of living joy. Our minds are adjusted, by right of our desire, to connect the dots between what we are and what God would have us to become. And our Father encourages our spiritual striving; saying, "Become perfect, even as I Am perfect." Perfect not in mind, thought, or deed but perfect in love; our lives a fount of blessings to all those we meet.  St. Francis said it best, "Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace." 

Quote from "The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand"   by Ed Roache