Obsessed with UR

[GodIsLove]

Hello! I was raised Catholic but fell away. I have always been searching for God though. I looked ion other religions, some new agey stuff, was agnostic for a while, then I had a powerful experience where I felt the love of God/holy spirit and felt repentance for my sins. It blew my mind and left me feeling changed, so I went out and bought a bible and tentatively began reading (this all happened 5 years ago). I bounced around to a couple Protestant and Catholic Churches but never felt satisfied, but prayed and read the bible and found answers that way. More recently I have been talking to a friend that converted from Catholicism to a very KJV believing Protestant church that believes almost everyone is going to hell. Prior to this point I mostly focused on how God was changing me but didn't give hell much thought (or pushed it out of my brain). I began to feel worried (what if I wasn't good enough, what if my kids fell away from believe in Jesus, what about all of my family and friends who aren't practicing at all)... I began to stay up at night thinking, reading... I came across this site and some others (merciful truth) and I had so many emotions--fear (was I being misled, is this from the devil  (of course my friend said it was), hope (this is exactly what I hope and want to happen), confusion, excitement, a thirst for more information. I have been obsessed lately. I finally prayed to God (I'd been praying right along) and said that I wanted to know, once and for all so I could have peace, is this true? And then I opened my bible app to read and the first verse that was on the screen (the verse of the day) was "every knee shall bow..." And I cried. Now I know full well it *could* have been a coincidence but it felt to me that it was an answer to my prayer. I am still reading the bible and these web sites every night.

Sometimes doubt creeps in but for the most part this is what I believe God's plan is. Does anyone have any luck with finding like minded people in their local area? Both of my christian friends rejected the idea, my mom now believes it I think, other than that I haven't talked about it much.  It is great to have a forum like this, I have been "lurking" for a bit now and finally decided to join!

[Searching_For_The_Truth]

Welcome to the Tent

[Shev]

Welcome to the forum - that is a pretty amazing scripture to be the one to open up to after prayer! May it be followed with many more, so that any doubts are blown away by the bright light of the Christ's glory, and the reality of His total triumph over sin and death!

I can't answer for others, but I have rarely found much local UR fellowship, as those who believe seem to be scattered here and there, and many are not part of a institution either. I expect some of the other brethren on here have had very different experiences, though.

May this forum be a blessing to you, as the Spirit leads you into all truth!

[Lazarus Short]

Welcome to the Tent!  :friendstu: :gimmefive: :friendstu:

Not only will EVERY knee bow, but your Bible also says that "we shall be like Him."  I don't have chapter & verse handy for that, and I'm not a chapter and verse kind of guy, but I remember concepts.  Anyway, that blows my mind, kind of like Luther's mind was blown by "The just shall live by faith."

Dig this:  At some time in the future, death and hell (the grave, actually) are tossed into the Lake of Fire.  With death and the grave thus destroyed, how can anyone [ANYONE!] be dead and/or in Hell after that?  No, the LoF must give up its dead just as the sea did.  Further, much further in the future, God the Father will be All in all.  If that is so, how can anyone still be dead and/or in Hell.  It is excluded.

[Eduard]

Welcome and be blessed here!  :friendstu:

I've had very, very similar doubts to yours in the beginning since I was raised Orthodox, but through discussion and studying Scripture and Christian Universalism through this site and other resources, I was helped to overcome them and grow a little as a believer.  :cloud9:

[Ross]

Welcome;
We shall be like Him- Phillipians 3;21
1 Cor 15 speaks stuff about the fact that;   As in Adam ALL die; so IN CHRIST WILL ALL BE MADE ALIVE."
We are sown in mortal stuff to learn good from evil.
Christ knew that before the world began.
So the plan is awesome. Hence the term Gospel literally means Good News.

[bushy]

"And then I opened my bible app to read and the first verse that was on the screen (the verse of the day) was "every knee shall bow..." And I cried. Now I know full well it *could* have been a coincidence but it felt to me that it was an answer to my prayer."

I'm sure lots of people would say it wasn't a coincidence but it doesn't matter. It is so true that 'every knee will bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father', NOT to the horror of most people as they are thrown into hell for not believing before some fictional deadline.

[Lorenzo]

I once asked God whether salvation were for everybody or not. I looked at my right and saw a screen showing the word"universal"

[GodIsLove]

It really is an amazing moment isn't it Lorenzo, to have your prayers answered and the scales fall from your eyes!

[Lorenzo]

GodIsLove, yes it is really awesome!

[Ross]

Absolutely true brothers in Christ.
Nothing can keep us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Plus we have to attempt to grasp the magnitude of His love in Ephesians 3.
More than we can comprehend in our current state, yet a glorious promise for what we become going beyond what we can imagine.
Amen!!!!!

[marie glen]

Hi! I missed this thread until now! How nice to read! All of it.. but especially:

I began to stay up at night thinking, reading... I came across this site and some others (merciful truth) and I had so many emotions--fear (was I being misled, is this from the devil  (of course my friend said it was), hope (this is exactly what I hope and want to happen), confusion, excitement, a thirst for more information. I have been obsessed lately. I finally prayed to God (I'd been praying right along) and said that I wanted to know, once and for all so I could have peace, is this true? And then I opened my bible app to read and the first verse that was on the screen (the verse of the day) was "every knee shall bow..." And I cried. Now I know full well it *could* have been a coincidence but it felt to me that it was an answer to my prayer.

Very powerful! I too had a "is this true?" prayer which He answered.. He is so wonderful..!! :gsmile:

[marie glen]

Great posts in this thread all! But I especially liked -

I once asked God whether salvation were for everybody or not. I looked at my right and saw a screen showing the word"universal"

    :Egyptdance2:  :cloud9: :cloud9: