Happy Thanksgiving!
The latest Richard Urban Show:
Are the Proclamations of Rev. Sun Myung Moon Valid, or Are They Null and Void? https://youtu.be/yGSVxL2Uy8A
Ephesians 4
4 As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. 3 Try your best to let God’s Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. 4 All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God’s people. 5 We have only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. 6 There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.
1 Kings
46 Everyone sins. But when your people sin against you, suppose you get angry enough to let their enemies drag them away to foreign countries. 47-49 Later, they may feel sorry for what they did and ask your forgiveness. Answer them when they pray toward this temple I have built for you in your chosen city, here in this land you gave their ancestors. From your home in heaven, listen to their sincere prayers and do what they ask. 50 Forgive your people no matter how much they have sinned against you. Make the enemies who defeated them be kind to them. 51 Remember, they are the people you chose and rescued from Egypt that was like a blazing fire to them.
The Path of Life We Must Go, Entertaining Hope
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 22, 1959
Jesus is a man who lived having given up all the earthly hopes people normally cherish from the time of his youth. We must know that Jesus lived from early on with a hope for which he could forsake his family, his environment, his religious denomination, and even his nation. He had a firm belief and hope in Heaven that no one could change. The hope that he cherished in his young mind was an immutable, thorough-going one with which he could withstand whatever difficulties he might encounter. Therefore, we must remember once again that Jesus ran the path he had to take with unflagging perseverance.
Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem with his parents when he was twelve. His parents came back first, and Jesus remained there. When his parents came looking for him later, Jesus scolded them, saying, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49) We must know that Jesus cherished hope only for the Father.
Jesus ceaselessly toiled to put the surrounding environment in order as he matured. He had faith for the sake of Heaven; the kind of faith no one else had. Although there were many difficulties on the path he walked, because he had faith that he would build a new kingdom, a new world of hope, those difficulties could not take away his hope.
Jesus did the work of a carpenter in his private life. In spite of working in an environment that was not free, one in which he felt extreme difficulty, he did not retreat but overcame the situation. We know that he fought on, bearing a mind with ardent hope that cared for Heaven.
When Jesus stepped onto the path of adventure as he reached thirty, nurturing a will and new determination and resolution, the people around him did not support him. His family, the church, and society persecuted him in their respective ways. No one paid attention to him. Jesus overcame those difficulties even when he could not help being disappointed. He was able to do this through his unique faith, that is, the one hope he had. We must know that Jesus put the environment in order, overcoming all difficulties, by embracing such a hope and faith.
Even though he raised twelve disciples, Jesus was pursued here and there. However, the more he was pursued and the more people were unable to understand his heart, the more ardently he thought about the Father’s nation and the Father’s heart. Although many battles and difficulties knocked against him, they could not crush Jesus’ perennial hope.
Jesus fought with that hope, from the time of his birth to the end. He never gave up that hope, even though the religious denomination, the people, and even his disciples betrayed him. Furthermore, we must know that he did not recede. He held onto his hope in spite of his imminent crucifixion.
It is beyond dispute that one’s life is precious. However, because Jesus had hope for eternal life after death, his mind was greater, and he was able to go over even the path of the crucifixion with dignity. We know very well that Jesus bore witness to the hope in its entirety, through dying in the presence of heaven and earth. The more Jesus was swept by the horror of death, the more deeply he felt that the day of hope was approaching. He prayed on the last path of the crucifixion, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
Feeling that a new world of hope would be spread out before him after he surpassed physical death, Jesus longed for that world. We know that because Jesus wished for and cherished the thought of resurrection as a being of eternal freedom, he was able to have the glory of being resurrected after death.