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Jesus came to show us the way back to God....so I do worship Jesus for this but I pray directly to God for his love. We still need to have a relationship with God and seek for the Holy Spirit / Divine Love to fill us to become closer and at one with him. There is still so much more to do on our part and when we receive his love it truly does transform us and this I can tell you SoCalAngel's messages ARE NOT from a false phrophet....Jesus has been trying to reach us since he ascended into heaven because of how people have greatly and tragically misinterpreted his Word here on Earth. All religions that have formed JW, Muslim and even prior to Jesus, the Jews all worship God and not Jesus. Jesus has been trying to reach out to all corners of the globe to set the record straight. He had no idea while here on Earth how the false doctrines would arise.
For the OP....I was brought up Catholic and used to shake in my boots to confess to the priest every Sunday, that I didn't help my Mother with the dishes one day, that my brother and I cursed at each other, etc. I had no relationship with God and so as a teenager I started to educate myself on different religions of the World....I met with a JW, I attended many different Churches.... I read and I read and I read and then I got extremely confused with all of the different religions and started to doubt.
One day I decided to rid myself from all of the complicated beliefs and pray directly to God.....I did this quite intensely for months and as SoCoAngel states, I cried a lot and then came God's Love and I tell you it transformed me and my life. I have never been so happy and blessed and everything in my life is falling into place and I love life and am blessed and there is absolutely no turning back. I suffered a lot as a child and lived in a very dysfunctional home and God is what got me through. Today, I have to pinch myself as I am so happy and I know it is because I have received a vast amount of God's Divine Love and I keepy praying for more. No one - NOT ONE - can tell me that I am on a dark path because God's Love is working in my soul. There is nothing DARK about praying to God directly.
The truth is so very simple and religion has made it so very complex that it is turning many souls away.
All we need to do is thank Jesus for what he did, listen to his message and turn to God for his Love. Its easy as 1-2-3
To the OP: Just try praying directly to God for his Love.....your belief will come and you will feel it and it will bless your life. Keep it simple.
Well, I read it. But it`s possible I didn`t comprehend it.
But this is what you wrote:
So your own words express that you are angry with God. You are angry with God because you feel cheated,you feel God is out to get you,you are somewhat jealous of how easily things come to others, and you are angry with God because he is denying your prayers about the house. These are your own words,not mine! So my point was we shouldn`t be concerned with material possessions. Obviously that is at least PART of your anger towards God. I`m just quoting your own words.
This thread really isn`t about belief. It`s about Anger toward God. You and the OP have belief in God but you are ANGRY because you don`t seem to be getting the material things you think you deserve. I think we all have felt that way.But again,it goes back to the point I made in my earlier post about material things,etc.
I understand what you are saying.I understand you have heard all of these things before. But I don`t think you are really meditating on them. I think you are denying your own words. YOU SAY you are ANGRY with God because of the the house thing.
YOU SAY you are ANGRY with God because you feel he is out to get you.
YOU SAY you are ANGRY with God because others seem to get THINGS easily.
Again, this is what you wrote,not me. Then you turn around in another post and say the house and material things really have nothing to do with how you feel..huh? You are angry with God and a lot of it has to do with material possessions and what others have compared to you. I just pointed out in my earlier post that we should try not to be angry with God about material things. When we base our feelings for God (in this case anger) on material things or lack of it,then I feel we will be frustrated. Because material things only get in the way between us and God. That was my point. In other words, you want to feel closer to God,but the very thing that seems to be keeping you from feeling closer,is the very thing you are angry at him about. That`s my point. Material things stand in the way between us and God. I`m just saying you have to think differently about material things and what God is all about. Then maybe the anger will go away and you will feel the peace that you long for. But you first have to acknowledge the reason for your anger.
I went back and read my original post to see where you were getting that from, and I see. I wrote:
I'm also trying to practice gratitude daily. For example, I'm 51 and have always had financial problems, often due to others that I've "done the right thing" for per Christianity's tenets and gotten screwed by. I've never owned any real estate of my own, but now I make more money and can see the possibility of getting my own condo or a little house. However, every month or so something unexpected arises that causes me to have to use the money I'm struggling to hang onto for a down payment. I get angry, because it seems so many people just get everything handed to them and I can't seem to catch a break. To counteract that, I'm forcing myself to be aware of what I do have rather than what I don't have--I have a job, I can pay my rent, I have heat, I have food, I have a car--so many don't even have any of those things.
I still want a house of my own and I'm still angry that my prayers for that are being denied, but the gratitude-practicing helps alleviate the anger. I have more than many others do.
The "house" story was to support the first sentence and thesis of the paragraph, underlined. The illustration is more concrete by using a material possession. Of course I am angry about that--not the home itself, but the REASON why my finances are not what they should be--because I did the "Christian" thing. It's certainly not the primary focus of my relationship with God, and it worked out to a positive because I have increased my sense of gratitude, and my spirituality, as a result. I thought it might help the OP in some way to state that.
Telling me that the main problem is not about material possessions is akin to telling me that 2 + 2 = 4 when I'm asking for help with an algebra problem.
Here is something non-material: I would like to know what the word "joy" means. It's a word thrown about in churches every Sunday. "The Joy of the Lord." I do not know what that word feels like. Prayer, bible study, church--none of that has answered that question. Just for clarification purposes, I am 51 years old, was raised Christian, did not give up my belief but left the church in my early 20's, returned in my 30's, but by my early 40's realized that I did not feel that God cares about me and that I have always felt that way. But for some reason, I still believe that God exists.
And the thing is, neither a Christian reciting bible verses that tell me God loves me nor the predictable troll who posts "there is no God" can sway me. I want to know for myself, one way or another.
I went back and read my original post to see where you were getting that from, and I see. I wrote:
I'm also trying to practice gratitude daily. For example, I'm 51 and have always had financial problems, often due to others that I've "done the right thing" for per Christianity's tenets and gotten screwed by. I've never owned any real estate of my own, but now I make more money and can see the possibility of getting my own condo or a little house. However, every month or so something unexpected arises that causes me to have to use the money I'm struggling to hang onto for a down payment. I get angry, because it seems so many people just get everything handed to them and I can't seem to catch a break. To counteract that, I'm forcing myself to be aware of what I do have rather than what I don't have--I have a job, I can pay my rent, I have heat, I have food, I have a car--so many don't even have any of those things.
I still want a house of my own and I'm still angry that my prayers for that are being denied, but the gratitude-practicing helps alleviate the anger. I have more than many others do.
The "house" story was to support the first sentence and thesis of the paragraph, underlined. The illustration is more concrete by using a material possession. Of course I am angry about that--not the home itself, but the REASON why my finances are not what they should be--because I did the "Christian" thing. It's certainly not the primary focus of my relationship with God, and it worked out to a positive because I have increased my sense of gratitude, and my spirituality, as a result. I thought it might help the OP in some way to state that.
Telling me that the main problem is not about material possessions is akin to telling me that 2 + 2 = 4 when I'm asking for help with an algebra problem.
Here is something non-material: I would like to know what the word "joy" means. It's a word thrown about in churches every Sunday. "The Joy of the Lord." I do not know what that word feels like. Prayer, bible study, church--none of that has answered that question. Just for clarification purposes, I am 51 years old, was raised Christian, did not give up my belief but left the church in my early 20's, returned in my 30's, but by my early 40's realized that I did not feel that God cares about me and that I have always felt that way. But for some reason, I still believe that God exists.
And the thing is, neither a Christian reciting bible verses that tell me God loves me nor the predictable troll who posts "there is no God" can sway me. I want to know for myself, one way or another.
It goes back to why you feel God doesn`t care about you. There is a reason in your mind why you believe God doesn`t care about you. When you can honestly come to terms with why you feel God doesn`t care about you,then you will be at the root of your problem. But until you are willingly able to admit to yourself why you feel God doesn`t love you then you will always feel the way you do. I think you gave clear examples in your previous post why you feel that way. But you deny it. You say things and your lot in life have nothing to do with it. You say there is nothing anybody can say or no words from God (the scriptures) that will sway you because you`ve heard it all before. So you certainly have a delemma. It`s as if you don`t want anyone to tell you anything or show you scriptures because you`ve been there done that and you can`t be swayed from the way you feel. I guess you aren`t really looking for help or advice from anyone. So good luck and God bless.
It amazes me when one of your own has a crisis of faith that there are sooo many differing opinions and advice and then it degrades to an argument of whose opinion is the correct one. One would think your God would at least give you all the same message to convey but sadly, as it is so prevalent in this neck of the woods, there is no consensus and the messages mixed.
Just an observation FWIW.
Your absolutely correct.... the word has been stretched by so many and misinterpreted. It is all so very complicated. You could be living the life the way you think that God would want you to and then have some other "Christian" tell you that you will not be saved if you believe that way so you live your life hoping that you are on the right path and if not you will burn in hell. No wonder people get angry!
And the thing is, neither a Christian reciting bible verses that tell me God loves me nor the predictable troll who posts "there is no God" can sway me. I want to know for myself, one way or another.
It's not a good feeling to freely give and then end up looking like you've been duped. I commend you for looking at the positives though AND I would suspect you gave out of a pure heart which (IMO) shows the true riches you possess. I suspect that same rich spirit will lead to more positives in your life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by firstborn888
Most people try to find evidences of God's existence separate from themselves - externally fulfilling a promise or bringing about a blessing/calamity.
AISI the way 'religion' works is to try and cause us to see God externally, that is, as separate from our heart/consciousness which is (IMO) a mistake.
I remember thinking once that I loved God so much and was so dedicated that surely no great calamity would/could befall me. Even though book of Job tells us otherwise soooo many would say "That was before the cross" or something to that effect or point out that Job's fear opened the door for calamity (funny how God never berates him for his fear though ).
When calamity (illness) came knocking it led to bankruptcy (I had no health insurance) and to about 12 years of turmoil, suicidal tendencies etc I can say I have emerged a changed person and rich beyond imagination.
It seems at our age (I'm 52) we come to realize that friends = riches and they are my 'proof' of God's love for me as I am for them.
One thing that I do need to mention. Some people view God as they view people and unfortunately people are sinful, they do mean things and are often unloving and unkind. This is why I asked the OP what kind of a relationship she/her had with the parents because parents sometimes represent God in a very negative way. We are supposed to have parents especially fathers who represent the attributes of God but sadly this is not the case in most homes. In fact, it is almost the opposite..
I have found that the ONLY one that I can Trust and depend on and the ONLY one who is loving is God. I have chosen not to believe that God is anything other than Love because of what other people have done to me. I have chosen to not be distracted by the lie of the enemy when he tells me that God doesn't love me because someone is treating me badly, etc.
I pray that this year you would find God's Love, that He is Love, no matter what you feel and that you would believe the Word and ask God to reveal His love to you. He will answer that prayer if you sincerely seek Him with your entire heart. He wants to show you His love and desires a relationship with you. I know it is hard for you to believe but I have struggled as you have and God came through for me because I cried out to Him.
I pray for all of those who struggle in not experiencing Gods love. He does love you..I know it because His Word says it.. and His Word is truth.
I greatly appreciate MightyQueen’s input. While she doesn’t claim to have the answer, she has made a concrete and practical suggestion: adopt a grateful attitude, and try to see the hand of God in little, every day things. Spm62: as human beings, naturally our trials will involve worldly matters. The example that MightyQueen provided was merely to illustrate how she goes about applying the principle that she proposed when dealing with one such problem. I understand what she is trying to say.
Thank you SisterKat and SoCalAngel2009: you both proposed that I present the problem to God in prayer, and leave the task of changing my emotions to Him.
Per DiJay: Ignore my emotions for now, and instead focus on Bible study. Gotcha!
It's not a good feeling to freely give and then end up looking like you've been duped. I commend you for looking at the positives though AND I would suspect you gave out of a pure heart which (IMO) shows the true riches you possess. I suspect that same rich spirit will lead to more positives in your life.
[quote=Raelyn28;12267858]I have found that the ONLY one that I can Trust and depend on and the ONLY one who is loving is God. I have chosen not to believe that God is anything other than Love because of what other people have done to me. I have chosen to not be distracted by the lie of the enemy when he tells me that God doesn't love me because someone is treating me badly, etc.
Very well said Raelyn......we don't have to worry about what he thinks or she thinks - we don't always have to sweat the small stuff. It can be quite stagnating.
God is Love and he will not turn his back from you even when you think that he has. You will see when you look back that he was there all along
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