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Jesus--it literally requires thought and effort every minute of the day. Actually it looks like a full time job! But worse still, it is a solitary path. You have to do it by yourself (if you exclude God, Jesus, the seraphim and the rest of the celestial gang.)
4. Perhaps you are more partial to Moses' God than Jesus' God
Some people have a need for a 'lesser God' than the God of Jesus. They might need judgment day, hell and "the devil made me do it" to explain the ways of this planet, the behaviour of themselves, and the workings of universal justice. Let's face it, hell is an effective way to ensure a fitting future for the Hitler's of this world. It is just and fair!
The 'lesser God' helps individuals to ignore acceptance of responsibility for their actions, as well as to come to grips with their own imperfection. The rub of Moses' God is that if it was not the devil who made you do it, then it was a sin and you are one day to join Hitler. Hence the need for an active-in-mankind's-affairs devil.
Although not exhaustive, the above are the major reasons as to why one person will embrace The Urantia Book, another reject it, and a third accept it alongside contradictory beliefs. The human being is neither rational nor irrational but has a decided leaning towards arationality!
Assuming the new reader has high self esteem, determination, courage, support and/or acceptance, the next major step they take is when they decide to stop reading and start studying. Then the real pain comes in the discarding of redundant values and beliefs, myths and misperceptions, many of which have been such a comfort and solace!
We must be prepared to look at the stories we tell ourselves and call our factual life experiences. If we can acknowledge that there might be a different interpretation from the one we currently hold, then we can allow our Thought Adjuster to tell us the true story--which will be much more beautiful than our myth, for now it will be rich in self-understanding.
The student's pathway becomes a faith adventure whereby we have the courage to make our decisions, discard out-dated values and beliefs, and change our attitudes and behaviours--with the utmost of confidence that we will be guided and supported by God and Jesus.
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