Want to believe, but dont know how

[Kungfuzed]

I used to think God takes care of us too. Silly me. Here's a scripture that made me think that way:

Matthew 6:25-34 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain
[A Public Domain Bible] [KJV at Zondervan] [Zondervan]

25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.


I guess that little kid just doesn't have enough faith.

 

[Ringer]

When we get sick, most of us go to the doctor and don't just sit at home waiting for God to heal us. God works through doctors. God works through all of us each day. When someone smiles at us, picks us up when we are down, God has sent them. God's work is demonstrated through humanity. Where the heck was humanity when that picture was taken? We shouldn't ask God why he/she was letting that child suffer, God should be asking us why we let it happen!

Although this is off topic I'd like to say, "Frubals to you Hema". That picture has been posted before and apparently it's supposed to show God doesn't exist. I'll look at it the same way Hema does and say that God created us to have compassion and love each other the same way we love ourselves. If most of the people in this world followed that rule, you probably wouldn't ever see pictures like that. You see death and destruction and say God doesn't exist. You see life, love, and happiness and still say God doesn't exist.

 

[LogDog]

When we get sick, most of us go to the doctor and don't just sit at home waiting for God to heal us. God works through doctors. God works through all of us each day. When someone smiles at us, picks us up when we are down, God has sent them. God's work is demonstrated through humanity. Where the heck was humanity when that picture was taken? We shouldn't ask God why he/she was letting that child suffer, God should be asking us why we let it happen!

I see. The perceived inaction of humanity to alleviate suffering is actually the inaction of god. And in some twisted way, allowing this child to suffer is gods way of showing his love. Got it.

 

[Willamena]

I see. The perceived inaction of humanity to alleviate suffering is actually the inaction of god. And in some twisted way, allowing this child to suffer is gods way of showing his love. Got it.

That's not a rational follow-up or rephrasing of what was said. What was said was "God works through humanity." What you extrapolated is the opposite: "God works through inhumanity."

How does your mind do that?

 

[LogDog]

That's not a rational follow-up or rephrasing of what was said. What was said was "God works through humanity." What you extrapolated is the opposite: "God works through inhumanity."

How does your mind do that?

If god works through humanity and humanity doesn't act, how can you not extrapolate that it is god who is not acting to alleviate suffering?

 

[Sonic247]

"extrapolate"- nice!

If you think humanity works through itself why don't you do something about it?

 

[ayani]

I am 35 and confused, i want to believe there is a god because if there isnt one then what is the point in life.
I just dont know where to start i have been praying looking for a sign something to show me there is someone there.
I have not had an answer as far as i am aware.
Can someone offer me some advice or even perhaps a church i should speak to, i live in Edinburgh by the way.

i think prayer is the best place to start- i am reminded of Jesus' words: "ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened". Terry's advice struck me as very sensitive and reasonable.

look into different belief systems, religious communities and churches. and hang around here- you will meet many different people of faith, and of no faith. this is a great place to ask questions, converse, and share.

 

[slabbey06]

I am 35 and confused, i want to believe there is a god because if there isnt one then what is the point in life.
I just dont know where to start i have been praying looking for a sign something to show me there is someone there.
I have not had an answer as far as i am aware.
Can someone offer me some advice or even perhaps a church i should speak to, i live in Edinburgh by the way.

Hi lister. Welcome to RF! I would encourage you to realize that your desire to believe that there is a God and that there is purpose in life are desires that come from God Himself. I think you've started in the right place, searching for the truth. Like *Paul* I would recommend that you read the gospel of John and Romans. Jesus claimed, "Iam the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." John 14:6. He also said " I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst." John 6:35. There is a God, and there is joyous purpose to life. And it's only found in Jesus Christ. But don't take my word for it. Read John for yourself:yes:

 

[Darkness]

Hi lister. Welcome to RF! I would encourage you to realize that your desire to believe that there is a God and that there is purpose in life are desires that come from God Himself. I think you've started in the right place, searching for the truth. Like *Paul* I would recommend that you read the gospel of John and Romans. Jesus claimed, "Iam the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." John 14:6. He also said " I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst." John 6:35. There is a God, and there is joyous purpose to life. And it's only found in Jesus Christ. But don't take my word for it. Read John for yourself:yes:

And I would recommend you read the Satanic Bible. I cannot say I agree with everything that it teaches, but it is far more enlightened than the Christian Bible, which teaches absurd morals, and evil commands.

lister, why do you need God to give your life meaning? How does God's existence give meaning to your life?

 

[Hema]

If god works through humanity and humanity doesn't act, how can you not extrapolate that it is god who is not acting to alleviate suffering?

If God wants us to act a certain way and we choose to act differently, it is not God's fault.

 

[Ringer]

And I would recommend you read the Satanic Bible. I cannot say I agree with everything that it teaches, but it is far more enlightened than the Christian Bible, which teaches absurd morals, and evil commands.

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

You're right....EVIL!!!

 

[PureX]

Unfortunately, we often choose not to reflect the nature of our own creator, and so this happens. With God's love comes freedom, and with that freedom comes responsibility. Sadly, we tend to abuse our freedom, and fall short in our responsibilities, and cause our own suffering.

 

[Darkness]

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

You're right....EVIL!!!

1 Samuel 15:3 (King James Version)
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ***.

Genocide isn't evil, eh?

 

[LogDog]

1 Samuel 15:3 (King James Version)
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ***.

Genocide isn't evil, eh?

You walked right into that one jringer04.

 

[Ringer]

1 Samuel 15:3 (King James Version)
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ***.

Genocide isn't evil, eh?

I guess you so happened to leave out the reason for it.

Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.

As I've previously stated in other posts, you will always find a good reason for when God decides to end human life. Obviously, you won't always understand why. But then again, you aren't God. Thats when you have to have faith that God is acting in his good and perfect will, even if that is his unrevealed will. Maybe you should read the whole chapter of 1 Samuel 15 and you would understand the reasoning.

But Samuel said,
"As your sword has made women childless,
so will your mother be childless among women."
And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal

Agag being the leader of the Amalekites. So, apparently God should sit back while the Amalekites destroy the Israelites (His chosen people)? God is loving but he is also just.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

I am 35 and confused, i want to believe there is a god because if there isnt one then what is the point in life.
I just dont know where to start i have been praying looking for a sign something to show me there is someone there.
I have not had an answer as far as i am aware.
Can someone offer me some advice or even perhaps a church i should speak to, i live in Edinburgh by the way.

I've been in the same boat as you. I reacted by going to my library and studying different religious and spiritual POVs.

I was at the time taking philosophy classes that broke down my religious beliefs. By using the philosophical tools given to me, I was able to look at the spirituality I was studying through a different lens and determined what was meaningful to me, and why.

Beyond the surface meanings of myths there are powerful messages that can enlighten you on different aspects of this shared existence we appear to be in. Christianity, Neo-Paganism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Satanism, etc., etc., represent different frames of reference that can add to your own.

Explore! And let your knowledge evolve. Spirituality encompasses all aspects of knowledge. Science and art are treasure troves of info that can be used to forge and hone your spirituality. It is a lifelong process, and you are free to soar above the limits imposed by dogmatic and narrow-minded thinking, and the so-called "spiritual combat" many seem compelled to fight.

Don't limit yourself! Be yourself.

 

[Darkness]

I guess you so happened to leave out the reason for it.

Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.

So when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor we should have utterly killed every last man, women, child, and animal?

As I've previously stated in other posts, you will always find a good reason for when God decides to end human life. Obviously, you won't always understand why. But then again, you aren't God. Thats when you have to have faith that God is acting in his good and perfect will, even if that is his unrevealed will. Maybe you should read the whole chapter of 1 Samuel 15 and you would understand the reasoning.

I understand the reasoning. The soldiers from Amalek slaughtered the innocents of Israel, so God wants the Israelis to become monsters and slaughter Amalek's innocents.

I guess you have blind faith that God is telling the truth and that His actions make moral sense somehow. You give up your own reasoning and give yourself over to what you think God is. If something doesn't make sense to me and I know it is evil, I will call it evil irregardless of what God thinks.

But Samuel said,
"As your sword has made women childless,
so will your mother be childless among women."
And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal

Agag being the leader of the Amalekites. So, apparently God should sit back while the Amalekites destroy the Israelites (His chosen people)? God is loving but he is also just.

You can kill the soldiers. Just don't kill innocents.

I wrote a post a few days ago, which applies nicely here.

When it comes to truth, doubt will set you free. It is absurd to blindly follow a religion, a dogma, or a god. Be skeptical. Ask many questions. Jesus Christ encouraged us to approach God as little children. A child is very impressionable and tends to believe things are true without any facts or evidence. In other words, let God tell you what is right and wrong. This is a very dangerous position to hold. Many Christians simply accept something as righteous because God says it is. It doesn't matter that God orders the death of small children and outright genocides or that God commands us to presecute homosexuals without explaination. Christians trust in God, that what He is doing is righteous and makes sense somehow. Calvinists even go as far as to say God forces us to sin and yet it is still our fault that we sin. Reason and rational thought is discarded.

Considering God exists, He may be our parent and much more intelligent than us, but are all parents Good and Loving? Are there not parents who emotionally and physically absue their children? Simply because God is more advanced than us does not mean He is a good Father. Even the psychotic parent tells his child he loves him/her after he is done beating the child. This brings to mind the Ori on Stargate SG-1. The Ori have millions of followers who will swear they are the true path and the gods of righteousness. The Ori demand blind obedience (they are advanced and know best) and in exchange for following the path, you will recieve salvation in the form of ascendence. It turns out the Ori offer a spiritual pipe-dream and the truth is that the Ori need people to believe in them so they can drain the life-energy of their followers, making the Ori stronger. So to all those who have blind faith in their God I ask you, why should you trust your God blindly? If something doesn't seem right it probably isn't. Put God on trial and think for yourself.

 

[Ringer]

So when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor we should have utterly killed every last man, women, child, and animal?



I understand the reasoning. The soldiers from Amalek slaughtered the innocents of Israel, so God wants the Israelis to become monsters and slaughter Amalek's innocents.

I guess you have blind faith that God is telling the truth and that His actions make moral sense somehow. You give up your own reasoning and give yourself over to what you think God is. If something doesn't make sense to me and I know it is evil, I will call it evil irregardless of what God thinks.



You can kill the soldiers. Just don't kill innocents.

I wrote a post a few days ago, which applies nicely here.

The whole chapter is meant to show the when God gives an order you obey it. That's not going to be something you'll understand because you don't believe in God. But, when God gave Saul an order it wasn't meant to be optional. He acted out of his own judgement and because of that he was removed from his authoritative position as leader of the Israelites. We aren't always going to be able to understand what God wants from us or why he does things a certain way. The point is, your knowledge of the way things work in the world are infinitesimally next to nothing when compared to God. I wasn't at this particular scenario but I can bet that Samuel probably didn't understand either, be he obeyed. You call it blind faith but blind faith to me is a stranger telling me that he needs to use my car and he'll be right back with it. When God tells me that even though I wont understand his ways but he promises me that if I'm obedient I will be blessed because of it, I'm listening and following the best I can. You can rest assured that God has a better than average track record with keeping promises.

 

[Ringer]

You walked right into that one jringer04.

Didn't see that one coming

 

[gnostic]

I always thought the "believing" was the easy part. It's "not believing" the hard part, particularly if you have brought up with the faith. Leaving religion is extremely hard, because the person have stopped believing or that the religion has stopped having any meaning for that person.