We Know Almost Nothing About God

[Ellen Brown]

The available texts say that God's ways are not our ways.

Isaiah 41:8 says that God called Abraham a friend. He believed God, and obeyed him. Yet, Abraham was chicken in front of Pharaoh's troops, saying that Sarah was his sister.

For private reasons, it has been difficult for me to believe that God loves me, though it is impossible to ignore God's mercy and provisions for us. Yet, people running around saying that God loves them, at times seems silly, even stupid. How would they know?

I know that God can take my soul and cast it into hell, but I trust him, and when I stand before him, despite my many grievous mistakes and sins, I will say that I tried to please him as hard as I could.

Sometimes I search for the pre-religous experiences of our ancestors. It is disappointing to find that so many of them worshiped more than one God. Despite the idea that those who worshiped Ahura Mazda as one God, the idea did not seem to be cemented until Moses was given the ten commandments. Why the tendency to worship more than one God?

Often, I ask God to teach me and speak to me in my dreams, and sometimes "things" happen. I'm not always sure that God was talking to me, though the desire remains.

 

[viole]

Often, I ask God to teach me and speak to me in my dreams, and sometimes "things" happen. I'm not always sure that God was talking to me, though the desire remains.

You nailed it.

Belief in God, especially in a God that interacts with us, is just an instance of wishful thinking. Hope, desire, etc. Always was. And always will be.

And I woudl not be too worried to be cast in hell if i were you. For obvious reasons.

Ciao

- viole

 

[URAVIP2ME]

The available texts say that God's ways are not our ways.
Isaiah 41:8 says that God called Abraham a friend. He believed God, and obeyed him. Yet, Abraham was chicken in front of Pharaoh's troops, saying that Sarah was his sister.
For private reasons, it has been difficult for me to believe that God loves me, though it is impossible to ignore God's mercy and provisions for us. Yet, people running around saying that God loves them, at times seems silly, even stupid. How would they know?
I know that God can take my soul and cast it into hell, but I trust him, and when I stand before him, despite my many grievous mistakes and sins, I will say that I tried to please him as hard as I could.

I find that Abraham was Not chicken because wife Sarah was a half sister.
By saying ' wife' then they could have killed Abraham to have Sarah for themselves.

I find the word ' Father' means Life Giver and Not life taker, so God gives us the gift of life.
We die because we can't stop sinning, and that is why God sent Jesus to be a ransom for us - Matthew 20:28.
Sending Jesus to Earth is proof that God loves us because we can Not resurrect oneself or another.
So, God is Not soul taker, and He does Not cast people into some ' religious-myth hell ' of forever burning.
Biblical hell is just the stone-cold temporary grave for the sleeping dead.
That is why Jesus, at John 11:11-14, taught ' sleep in death '.
Jesus knew the dead sleep because Jesus was well educated in the old Hebrew Scriptures which teach ' sleep in death ' at Psalms 6:5; Psalms 13:3; Psalms 115:17; Psalms 146:4, and as Ecclesiastes 9:5 says the dead know nothing.

The day righteous Jesus died he went to 'biblical hell' as per Acts of the Apostles 2:27 until his God resurrected the dead Jesus out of biblical hell. The Bible's hell (grave) comes to a final end after everyone in biblical hell is ' delivered up ' ( meaning resurrected out of hell ), then emptied-out hell is cast vacant into a symbolic ' second death ' for vacated hell as per Revelation 20:13-14.

As far as mistakes, in Scripture there is a difference between willful sinning and unintentional sinning.
A difference between premeditated sin and accidental sin. Sinning on purpose or by mistake - Hebrews 10:26.
So, we are all given the opportunity to ' repent ' if we do Not wish to perish (be destroyed) as per 2 Peter 3:9.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

The available texts say that God's ways are not our ways.

Isaiah 41:8 says that God called Abraham a friend. He believed God, and obeyed him. Yet, Abraham was chicken in front of Pharaoh's troops, saying that Sarah was his sister.

For private reasons, it has been difficult for me to believe that God loves me, though it is impossible to ignore God's mercy and provisions for us. Yet, people running around saying that God loves them, at times seems silly, even stupid. How would they know?

I know that God can take my soul and cast it into hell, but I trust him, and when I stand before him, despite my many grievous mistakes and sins, I will say that I tried to please him as hard as I could.

Sometimes I search for the pre-religous experiences of our ancestors. It is disappointing to find that so many of them worshiped more than one God. Despite the idea that those who worshiped Ahura Mazda as one God, the idea did not seem to be cemented until Moses was given the ten commandments. Why the tendency to worship more than one God?

Often, I ask God to teach me and speak to me in my dreams, and sometimes "things" happen. I'm not always sure that God was talking to me, though the desire remains.

Forgive me if I phrased this wrong.

Why dont you try it the other way around?

People call out to god as an external being as if he will come out of the sky with a torch, throw the bad people in hell and the good in heaven. That sounds more like a movie than real life.

Instead, you use your desires and dreams and find god on your own through what you know so you can piece together your life and events to find out more of what you do not.

For example, dont call out to god (in my opinion) saying "god help me. I love you. I want to be a better person if you give me a nudge".

Unless god is an actual person, he cant literally do anything without you.

If you want to know gods love, get to know love in yourself. Meditate and reflect on yourself. Some say creation is a reflection of god. If thats so, the best way to know what god says is through you.

My guess with the multiple deity worship is that each god is responsible for different areas of life and creation. So, you would go to one god for X and another god for Y.

Household full family working full time together. Its more complex than the one-god belief system. Gives more options to be involved in god because there is such a variety that to sustain it all under one god no one cannot (rather) define doesnt make sense.

But, yeah, you can probably find your answers by looking at your own behaviors and your dreams etc. Its like being trapped in jail with the key in your hand but you rather the prision guard let you out than using it yourself. Some people feel egotistical to get themselves out so they wait "until he comes." People been waiting for years.

Anyway, it just means more options and better relationship with life when there are a variety of ways to worship, differing personalities, than just one. Less political.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

And I will not be too worried to be cast in hell if i were you. For obvious reasons.
Ciao
- viole

Good point ^ above ^ to me about Not being worried to be cast into hell because to me there is a BIG difference between biblical hell and the 'religious-myth hell' teaching of a burning hell fire.

Jesus knew there are No flames in biblical hell because Jesus taught ' sleep ' in death as per John 11:11-14.
Jesus knew the old Hebrew Scriptures which teach sleep in death such as Psalms 115:17 and Psalms 146:4.
That is in harmony with King Solomon's words at Ecclesiastes 9:5 that the dead know nothing.
To me that makes the temporary Bible's hell as mankind's stone-cold grave for the un-conscious dead.
Un-conscious dead until Resurrection Day meaning Jesus' Millennium-Long Day of governing over Earth for a thousand years when 'enemy death' will be No more on Earth as per 1 Corinthians 15:24-26.
'No death' then equals No graves ( aka biblical hell ) ever again on Earth.

 

[viole]

Good point ^ above ^ to me about Not being worried to be cast into hell because to me there is a BIG difference between biblical hell and the 'religious-myth hell' teaching of a burning hell fire.

Jesus knew there are No flames in biblical hell because Jesus taught ' sleep ' in death as per John 11:11-14.
Jesus knew the old Hebrew Scriptures which teach sleep in death such as Psalms 115:17 and Psalms 146:4.
That is in harmony with King Solomon's words at Ecclesiastes 9:5 that the dead know nothing.
To me that makes the temporary Bible's hell as mankind's stone-cold grave for the un-conscious dead.
Un-conscious dead until Resurrection Day meaning Jesus' Millennium-Long Day of governing over Earth for a thousand years when 'enemy death' will be No more on Earth as per 1 Corinthians 15:24-26.
'No death' then equals No graves ( aka biblical hell ) ever again on Earth.

This is thrilling. To be honest, I am not sure anymore what is hell and what is heaven.
For, what is better? To live forever, or to sleep for ever? I am not really sure what I would choose, if I could.

Is it possible to choose to be terminated at any time, if you are in heaven?

Ciao

- viole

 

[74x12]

For private reasons, it has been difficult for me to believe that God loves me, though it is impossible to ignore God's mercy and provisions for us. Yet, people running around saying that God loves them, at times seems silly, even stupid. How would they know?

Because I felt God's love; not for me so much but for everyone I saw around me and it was the most glorious thing I ever felt. I was baptized in the holy Spirit like in Acts chapter 2 when the day of Pentecost was come. I call it my Pentecost. And I know God loves me and have felt His love many times since then for myself and others.

I know that God can take my soul and cast it into hell, but I trust him, and when I stand before him, despite my many grievous mistakes and sins, I will say that I tried to please him as hard as I could.

Can I say I love God so well? No, but love is truly the best motivation. For me, I've messed up so much I know I have no choice but to trust in God's mercy alone. I know that by the blood of Jesus Christ I'm forgiven. I know God is with me. There is no fear in love.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

This is thrilling. To be honest, I am not sure anymore what is hell and what is heaven.
For, what is better? To live forever, or to sleep for ever? I am not really sure what I would choose, if I could.
Is it possible to choose to be terminated at any time, if you are in heaven?
Ciao
- viole

I find Jesus was sure that biblical hell is just mankind's temporary grave for the sleeping dead.
Heaven is God's home address as per 1 Kings 8:39,49. - Zip code unknown.

We all have the free-will choices to choose.
The living forever would be living forever in perfect health as described in Isaiah 35th chapter.
The figurative ' sheep ' of Matthew 25:31-33,37 are offered life forever on Earth.
The ' brothers' of Matthew 25:40 are offered immortal heavenly life, so once resurrected their future is permanent.
The majority of mankind can live on Earth and as long as they choose to obey God's Law, they can remain forever on Earth.
So, I find the ' opt out ' choice is for people alive on Earth.

 

[danieldemol]

Because I felt God's love

That’s what it boils down to for me.

If you have felt God’s love it doesn’t seem silly to say, “God loves me”

 

[sun rise]

There are some who have reached complete experience of God and spoken of it. Their words illustrate how hard it is to speak about God.

Rumi: Cross and Christians, end to end, I examined. He was not on the Cross. I went to the Hindu temple, to the ancient pagoda. In none of them was there any sign. To the uplands of Herat I went, and to Kandahar I looked. He was not on the heights or in the lowlands. Resolutely, I went to the summit of the [fabulous] mountain of kaf. There only was the dwelling of the [legendary] Anqa bird. I went to the Kaaba of Mecca. He was not there. I asked about him from Avicenna, the philosopher. He was beyond the range of Avicenna... I looked into my heart. In that place, his place, I saw him. He was in no other place.

Kabir: Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God? He is the breath inside the breath.

 

[dfnj]

For private reasons, it has been difficult for me to believe that God loves me, though it is impossible to ignore God's mercy and provisions for us. Yet, people running around saying that God loves them, at times seems silly, even stupid. How would they know?

God is a mirror in our minds. When you say it is difficult for you to believe that God loves you this feeling comes from the following. I once heard a comedian say to the people in the audience, "You want to scare yourself. Think about this. You are not like your parents. YOU ARE YOUR PARENTS." It was a pretty funny bit but it's really true. We really are a carbon copy of each of our parents put into a blender. So when we hate our mother or hate our father this is because we see ourselves in our parents. The reason for this hatred is because our parent's weaknesses are our own weaknesses. And we hate ourselves for our own weaknesses! And we hate our parents for not being strong where they have weaknesses.

Of course our parents also give us our strengths. But since those are good we just take those for granted. Most people go through their whole lives with self-hatred because they cannot reconcile their own weaknesses. For some people, however, with a little psychological awareness there comes a point when you see your parents more like children than Gods. You begin to forgive them for their weaknesses. After all, your parents are really just your grandparent's put into a blender. And most grandparents are off-the-wall and insane! So your parents are only as strong and weak as their parents.

Assuming you get past the first stage of finding peace with who your are as a result of being born from your parents, the next step is existence. Everyone eventually gets the equation we are all sons and daughters of the same first two human beings. We all share the same parents at some point back in time. And it goes all the way back to God who created the first human beings. Let's not get technical about how God created human beings. Whether God created human beings by miracle, or by evolution, or by a social construct created through the invention of language, it doesn't really matter. The point is God created all of us with weaknesses and imperfections.

So many people will hate God for their own imperfections. It's only when you begin to realize everyone has imperfections. And nature itself is a wild roller coaster ride of unimaginable possibilities because of our imperfections. Then you can see our imperfections are actually our greatest strengths as human beings. Then you will forgive God. Once you forgive God for your own imperfections you will open up a space to see God in your mirror without any dirt. At that point, you will accept that even you, no matter what your imperfections may be, are just as deserving of God's infinite love as every other piece of existence and consciousness God is responsible for bringing into being.

 

[dfnj]

You nailed it.

Belief in God, especially in a God that interacts with us, is just an instance of wishful thinking. Hope, desire, etc. Always was. And always will be.

I'm not sure you can prove a negative. God may at some point in the future interact with us in such a way there is no denying it or labeling it as delusion. It is possible no matter how unlikely you may think it may be. To claim, "And always will be" is reaching and impossible to prove.

 

[LuisDantas]

I long for the day when referencing god-concepts will no longer be a very frequent religious practice.

 

[TheBannerofHomuraAkemi]

The available texts say that God's ways are not our ways.

Isaiah 41:8 says that God called Abraham a friend. He believed God, and obeyed him. Yet, Abraham was chicken in front of Pharaoh's troops, saying that Sarah was his sister.

For private reasons, it has been difficult for me to believe that God loves me, though it is impossible to ignore God's mercy and provisions for us. Yet, people running around saying that God loves them, at times seems silly, even stupid. How would they know?

I know that God can take my soul and cast it into hell, but I trust him, and when I stand before him, despite my many grievous mistakes and sins, I will say that I tried to please him as hard as I could.

Sometimes I search for the pre-religous experiences of our ancestors. It is disappointing to find that so many of them worshiped more than one God. Despite the idea that those who worshiped Ahura Mazda as one God, the idea did not seem to be cemented until Moses was given the ten commandments. Why the tendency to worship more than one God?

Often, I ask God to teach me and speak to me in my dreams, and sometimes "things" happen. I'm not always sure that God was talking to me, though the desire remains.

I think people have to high of expectations of our biblical heroes that they tend to forget that they were just human after all. Yes, Abraham was a friend of God, but he still was human so he made bad choices occasionally. Like lying to the Pharaoh about his wife and sleeping with his wife's hand maiden.

So there's are occasionally times where we will fail god, but that is the way God made us. We are often failures, but in God's eye's we are his precious creations.

 

[Windwalker]

I long for the day when referencing god-concepts will no longer be a very frequent religious practice.

I long for the day when referencing God will no longer be tied in our thinking to the inherited anthropomorphic concepts of our historical childhood, but rather to the lived nature of Reality itself as awakened adults in the present moment.

 

[WalterTrull]

I ask God to teach me and speak to me in my dreams, and sometimes "things" happen

Yeah, I know that feeling. What I'm still trying to figure out is the path from asking to knowing.
"whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
That seems harder in practice than you would think.

 

[Windwalker]

Yeah, I know that feeling. What I'm still trying to figure out is the path from asking to knowing.

Meditation.

 

[WalterTrull]

Meditation.

Maybe. I'm not so sure. Meditation often seems like a form of self-hypnosis to me. Hypnosis can make it seem like the mountain is moved to the individual, but it actually isn't moved. Knowing (faith) can actually move the mountain. Baby steps I guess.

 

[LuisDantas]

I long for the day when referencing God will no longer be tied in our thinking to the inherited anthropomorphic concepts of our historical childhood, but rather to the lived nature of Reality itself as awakened adults in the present moment.

Works for me. At the end of the day, a word is just a word, and has exactly the meanings that people lend it.

 

[Lyndon]

Saying God loves you is not half as silly as saying God doesn't exist!!