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I probably should have not said convince huh? I am seeking answers, and I guess I am looking for them to maybe tell me of their personal stories rather than quote the book (which anyone can do). I am spiritual I believe. I have had experiences but none of the God's presence kind. Those have proven more to me of their presence than the presence of God.
oh, o.k. ... i see.
well, i'd say that meditation and prayer (in whatever way suits you) are the way (or a way) to orient yourself spiritually.
and your experiences will be yours.
someone was telling you what to expect and, though i appreciated some of his post, i don't think it's wise to tell someone what kind of experiences they're going to have or how and in what ways their life will change.
we're all very different and i tend to think that it's best to just be open without expectations ... good or bad.
you can open up to spirit in the way that feels true and authentic for you and don't need to follow other peoples prescriptions although if you need that kind of support, then fine.
humbly asking (through prayer ... even if you don't know who or what you're praying to) for guidance in how to approach your spiritual path may be helpful.
and if the experiences you speak of were not loving and kind, don't give them power by engaging with them.
and if you feel threatened by such experiences, pray for protection.
if you were raised as a christian (or even if you weren't), you could pray to the archangel Michael (for example) for protection.
you don't have to "throw out the baby with the bathwater" if you know what i mean.
if you were raised as a christian but do not feel that it's your way to take part in the religiosity, it doesn't mean that you can't appeal to an archangel, or Jesus or the Christ.
as i see it, the problem with religion (or one of them) is that for a whole variety of reasons, many people are simply turned off and don't realize that there is a way to have a relationship with spirit, god, jesus, the christ, etc., etc. without needing to be under the thumb of the religion that was given to them as a child.
if religion works for someone, ie; increases love, compassion, kindness, courage to face the dark side of things, openness, helpfulness, etc., etc., then wonderful.
but for many, it does not.
and many people who have been raised in a dogmatic christian environment realize that they don't want to take part in it and so find another path to partake in ... like buddhism for example.
it's o.k. to grope around in the dark as you find your way back to your spiritual nature or the source or god or whoever / whatever.
I am an agnostic, basically I just don't know either way. Convince me of God WITHOUT quoting anything from the Bible. I promise to listen ( or read!) with open mind.
I to was agnostic for many years and admitted that I didn't know if there was a God, or if there wasn't.
Won't give you bible quotes.
The bible does say that through God's Grace is how you get faith
Thinking your getting some Grace here, like I did, and it really makes you fill up. It took many years before I came fully to God with complete 100% faith, no doubts.
Why not do a Christian Study, bible study and see if things start appearing as "truth" to you. It sounds like your open.
Listen to some contemporary worship music, do you feel moved? I know I am really touched now . . . and there is a video on God Tube and You Tube that makes me ball . . . YouTube - Lifehouse's Everything Skit . .
watch it, it has convicted me time and time again, and I am not a pushover, hated bible thumpers, and the word "saved" made me mad . . . now I am on my knees daily, blessings.
I to was agnostic for many years and admitted that I didn't know if there was a God, or if there wasn't.
Won't give you bible quotes.
The bible does say that through God's Grace is how you get faith
Thinking your getting some Grace here, like I did, and it really makes you fill up. It took many years before I came fully to God with complete 100% faith, no doubts.
Why not do a Christian Study, bible study and see if things start appearing as "truth" to you. It sounds like your open.
Listen to some contemporary worship music, do you feel moved? I know I am really touched now . . . and there is a video on God Tube and You Tube that makes me ball . . . YouTube - Lifehouse's Everything Skit . .
watch it, it has convicted me time and time again, and I am not a pushover, hated bible thumpers, and the word "saved" made me mad . . . now I am on my knees daily, blessings.
I really like this skit, because we did the same thing at my church. We go through this in our everyday life. We start out walking in line with Jesus and then life throws us a curve ball, and we think that He leaves us. But He is always there, but we just move away from Him and we feel the blows that He was protecting us from, due to us walking away from Him.
I was once blind and now I see. WE just have to seek God. Just like the girl in the skit. She was fighting her way to get to Jesus, and it seemed like she would never get there. But Jesus say her deligently fighting to get to Him, and then He comes in and begans to fight your battle. All Jesus wants to see is you trying to get to Him and He will meet you half way. Jesus knows that if He doesn't meet us half way, we would never make it to Him.
I'm so glad that I serve a God that knows how much I can take, and will come in at the right time and save me. When I watch this again, I have tears, because I can relate to some off the things that are going on in the video. I had to fight at one time in my life. But then the fight was over, and Jesus came and fought for me. So, I vow to never leave Him. I know I will make mistakes, but my life is with Him.
Last edited by Miss Shawn_2828; 07-01-2009 at 12:36 AM..
Our relationship with God affects what we hear when we pray. The only message an unbeliever will ever hear from God is that they are a sinner who needs to look to Jesus as their Savior. Until a person knows Christ as their personal Savior, they will not hear God speak on any subject other than salvation.
i would think that if a person is praying for help, God would answer if you believe or not. That would be the ultimate showing of love. I don't get that God only comes to those that believe. If God is a truly loving God, he would answer even those that are not sure, they are praying, that is a sign they are trying. I think this is my biggest dilemma. All these rules ( not the ten commandments) you have to just follow in order to be a part of God. My other dilemma is, just show yourself or give an unmistakable sign. Why thousands of years ago? Why were those people more deserving of your presence than us? Everything needs updating now and then.Why not put all questions to rest so we can live peacefully? Why allow these religious people( wackos, not the everyday people) conduct wars past and present in your name? Seems a lot of it is to invoke fear and power over people.
Ok, just so you know,you will NOT convince me of God with an argument of where space came from. If everything has a creator, who created God?
The logical answer would be that there has to be an uncaused cause. You can't have an infinite regression of uncaused causes, as that would require an infinite amount of time that has passed. How do you pass an infinite amount of time?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aeroman
You believe God always existed?
I believe matter and or energy has always existed!
Impossible. Unless it's the ultimate cause itself it had to have a cause.
Our relationship with God affects what we hear when we pray. The only message an unbeliever will ever hear from God is that they are a sinner who needs to look to Jesus as their Savior. Until a person knows Christ as their personal Savior, they will not hear God speak on any subject other than salvation.
God doesn't communicate that way. He doesn't see us as sinners. He sees us as children experiencing this life with all of the errors. Would you teach your own child to not ever make a mistake and then tell them that they aren't good enough for you when they do? Would you reject your child if that child did something you didn't like? God loves us more that you could ever love your own child. He is not vengeful nor does He punish. We are the punishers and our guilt does the punishing.
Love is the saving grace and no person can save another from anything. Only God can do that. When we get back to the love we were created for and it becomes ours, we are then saved from ever sinning again because we will then have no inclination to sin or turn away from God.
I accept what Jesus taught and I do not accept that Jesus is my personal savior and yet God talks to me about Love and not salvation. He tells me about His love for me, that I am His friend and child. I'm sorry that you have been misled.
I am wondering if God's presence with me is in my love for my kids. Maybe that is how he shows me his love, my gift from him was them?
Absolutely! our children are all gifts from God. They do not belong to us but to Him and how we treat our children is how we treat God.
God loves us no matter what we do from the murderer to the saint. He just want's us to be Love. When we are happy, God is happy.
I'm not saying to go out and murder but I am saying that those murders forget who they are so they do an injustice to God. They are still loved however.
God shows us love everyday. We are just too blind to see it all sometimes. I feel His love for me and that is my proof that He exists.
Absolutely! our children are all gifts from God. They do not belong to us but to Him and how we treat our children is how we treat God.
God loves us no matter what we do from the murderer to the saint. He just want's us to be Love. When we are happy, God is happy.
I'm not saying to go out and murder but I am saying that those murders forget who they are so they do an injustice to God. They are still loved however.
God shows us love everyday. We are just too blind to see it all sometimes. I feel His love for me and that is my proof that He exists.
Oh sure!!! He gets claim to them yet I get the diaper duty, not to mention pain of birth, not fair!!!LOL if he really loved me he would have made it painless!!
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Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
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