Fear is the Chief Enslaver of Mankind

[Jim Spencer]

This evening, I went to bed relatively late after attending a birthday party for a man that was turning 65.

I thought, "gosh, I'll be at that age 2 1/2 years from now". I went home and went to bed, foregoing my usual sleeping aid. I felt that I was pretty tired, and, it had been a long day of accomplishment on earth.

As some of you know, I have been a Urantia Book reader since 1986. The man that was turning 65 is a Shakesperean actor, a writer, and a Urantia Book reader. So, there were a few other readers at the party. I got to talking to a lady named Susan, who I had met a couple of years ago. She told me that she lived on a farm on Hawai called, "The Children of Jesus" farm. I remember this place from yet another person that was there years ago. I remember it because he said that they used cannabis as a daily sacrament.

My first question to this lady, (her name is Susan) was----"so tell me, you lived on this farm, what is your relationship to Jesus?"

I asked this question for an important reason. I asked it because even though the whole second half of The Urantia Book (over 1000 pages) is about the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth---I have never met a Urantia Book reader that could say that they met Jesus and had made him the center of their lives even though they manifested parts of Jesus' Gospel----you know---the one that He said they were to spread to all the world about the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man? Many people are doing that, in their own manner---and must be commended for living lives of faith.

The secret here is this; until you know him personally, He knows you but you don't really know him. And yet, You may be receiving the gifts of the spirit of his love. It may sound like an arrogant statement and even offensive to someone that has not had the personal introduction and has turned over their entire life to him. But I assure you---once you meet him, and undergo a BAPTISM OF THE HEART---He can't totally give you His gift of love. Jesus, the Son of Man, demonstrated this principle by himself by being baptised by John the Baptist at the River Jordan. He said, "I must do this, in order to show humankind the way of the transformation of the heart. I tell you in truth, you must be born again".

I have met many Christians who clearly know Jesus, worship and adore him---even though they might be extremely narrow-minded in other ways. I have studied Hindu-based teachers such as Amma and Yogananda; that; even though they know about Jesus and what he stood for--do not subscribe to following him as their guru.

 

Back to my story; I was surprised and gladdened when Susan, the UB Book reader, told me that she personally knows Jesus (Michael), communicates with him daily, and places him at the center of her life.

She is the only non-fundamental Christian, in all my travels of 38 years, that acknowledge that they personally know the Resurrected Jesus and have placed him at the center of their lives, and live with him personally, as a known being-----on a daily basis----calling him by name.

Isn't that funny? Of course, people think that I am insane; (especially Urantia Book Readers--who fancy themselves intellectuals) and they say, "of course we know Jesus---he just means something else to us". They say, "to each, his own". He says that He will say, "Lord, Lord, didn't we do many great things in your name?" And, "the sheep know that I am their personal shepherd" I am only waiting for an invitation from their own free will for me to enter their hearts and make my personal presence known to them through my Spirit (The Spirit of Truth)."

 

Friends----when you meet Jesus personally, as the Creator Son of this universe sector---and you enter into his living presence-----your life is forever changed. You no longer live alone. You start to live with a Presence more powerful than anything you have ever felt and drink the living water that produces the peace that passes all understanding.

Isn't this the way the followers of Father (Rev. Moon) who have accepted him as the True Parents feel about others that don't follow him?

 

The last part of the story, and the reason that I am writing; now; at 2AM----is that I woke up from my slumber, with a very deep, intense emotion of fear. And, as I awoke, I was consciously but spontaneously; while in the realm between sleep and conscousness; giving a certain deep-seated fear that I have held in my subconscious for decades---away to Him----consciously to Jesus himself, while feeling his personal presence. We don't know how deep our own pain goes sometimes---and how difficult it is to bring it to the surface; and how to give it back to the universe. We don't understand how each one of us represents history; our geneology; our nations; and our families. Pain and Resentment are human conditions--and many must walk the difficult path toward self-forgiveness.

A common error that men make, is that they project the pain they carry onto God himself. They humanize God. God is concerned with men because we are His sons, and He loves us. It is through loving Christ; allowing him to come into your life; and turning it all over to him---every day; every minute; every problem---Faith---that we become Faith Sons of the Father.  

 

Back in the early days of the UC, Father (rev. Moon) had such a relationship with Jesus---and he lived a life in communion with Jesus. His speeches and prayers testified to that. But among the different works that I study; it says; "we are saved through faith----but then---we must go on bearing the fruits of the spirit. The fruits of the spirit are, love, service, unconditional forgiveness, and the daily emptying of ourselves to His presence through prayer and meditation." We are saved through faith, but we can fall back if we allow the cares of this world lead us off the narrow pathways towards Him. If you are one of those fallen warriors, my brothers and sisters----get up! Get up again! The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

This is just the personal observation of a spiritual soldier, fighting the good fight, trying to stay in the light of His Presence, and trying to shine that light out into the darkness so that other's may find their own unique trail back to Him.