Tell me about God (reincarnation, doctrine, woman, Revelation)

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Miss Blue

From the op

This is of course too immature to use in an adult class, but sometimes it is a good thing to shed all you "know" and become as a child

This is similar to what I tell my own children/grandchildren and great grandchildren..

"Look around you. See the trees, flowers, grass, your pets and all the pretty colors in the setting sun? Remember how the moon looks on the water?

People cannot make those things although they may copy them in pictures from their camera's or from a box of crayons. All those things had a beginning just as you did.
There is a maker who we call God who first made all the beautiful things you love so much about what is around you when we are outside or on vacation to the ocean.

God is not a man like dad because God lives inside you as the good part of you that makes you obey me when I tell you not to go near the road. He is the part of you that loves and depend on me and dad (or grandma, grandpa) to always take care of you and warn you when you are about to make a big mistake. You can't see God because he is so good, so pure so loving that there is nothing in this world we can compare him to. God is like the love and comfort you feel when I hold you and rock you and kiss your forehead.

God is the part of you that makes you not afraid when we turn off your bedroom light at night. You can talk to God anytime you desire without saying a word out loud, because he knows you very well.

Like I said it is very elementary but it seems to answer your question.

I love your answer, Miss Blue. I am curious about just one thing (or maybe two ). When you say "God lives inside you as the good part of you that makes you obey me..." are you referring to God the Father or to the Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit, or do you even make a distinction between the two? In nearly two dozen places in the Bible, God is said to be "in Heaven." Forty days after His resurrection, Christ told His Apostles that He was soon going to go to be with His Father "in Heaven." How does the belief that God is "in Heaven" tie in with your understanding that He lives inside you?

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by MysticPhD

The Trinity is a primitive explanation developed in ignorance of the concept of consciousness. All consciousness is of the same "substance" . . . it is God's consciousness . . . because that is the universal field that establishes our reality.

So if I'm understanding you correctly, we are all a single "consciousness." Would that be an accurate way of putting it?

Christ was sent as a human to show us how to do it and as the "designated hitter" for us all.

A pretty inventive metaphor, but I actually quite like it.

[MysticPhD]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

So if I'm understanding you correctly, we are all a single "consciousness." Would that be an accurate way of putting it?

Not quite. My experience of it is that we retain our individuality . . . but we are all comprised of the same "stuff" (Spirit/consciousness). It is what our "spiritual bodies" are made of when we are reborn as Spirit after death.

A pretty inventive metaphor, but I actually quite like it.

Thanks. It is quite accurate, IMO.

[twin.spin]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

Maybe 6 or 8, maybe a little older. Apparently little children do think about God, because they hear their parents talk about Him -- as evidenced in WardenDresden's answer. His link was to a delightful little essay written by a third-grader in response to an assignment, "Explain God." I asked for how you would answer a child because I wanted relatively simple answers, and not answers that would impress and dazzle a more mature mind. If you don't know any children who might wonder about God, then guess what? You can bow out right now..

Thanks for your generosity to indulge

I would explain God to a 6-8 yr old by using one of our text books for Sunday School or home devotions along with a Children's Bible such as
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Originally Posted by Katzpur

I was looking for honest answers, twin. You don't need to post LDS beliefs either. I already know what they are. I am interested in your beliefs. I wasn't asking you to explain to a child what Mormons believe about God. I was interested in having you explain what you believe about God. Even if you believe we have absolutly nothing in common, I had hoped you would at least try to provide something more than bait for a fight. I wasn't looking for a fight. I'm sorry to disappoint you on that one, because I your post clearly implies that that's what you were after.

There's no ulterior motive here. Either contribute by answering the questions or don't post at all.

"Who is God?

John 4:24
"God is spirit.”

Psalm 41:13
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen."

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Matthew 1:23
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

(point of emphasis ... not all at once obviously)

• God has always been God from everlasting to everlasting
• "God is spirit" has always been from everlasting to everlasting
• Jesus is also God

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What is He?

Psalm 7:11
God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day.

Jeremiah 10:10
But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King.
When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.

Psalm 7:10
My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.

Psalm 68:20

Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

• a righteous Judge
• the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King.
• My shield
• a God who saves

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Why did He make me at all?"

Genesis 24:26
Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord,

Matthew 2:11
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.

John 9:38
Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

Psalm 106:48
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord.

John 11:25
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

• To worship Jesus as God, LORD (Jehovah)
• to only believe in Jesus as substitute for your sin as revealed in John 11:25

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Who am I to Him?
by nature we are born:

Luke 18:13
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Psalm 38:18
I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin

• a sinner
• troubled by my sin
• unclean
• filthy rags

by faith we are:

Psalm 51:2
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin

Galatians 2:20
...The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

• we have all (not some) iniquity removed \ washed away by the blood and death of Jesus
• We live by faith ... nothing else ... by the perfect live and death substitute of Jesus
• going to live with God in his presence forever

[daylux]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

I am preparing a lesson for my congregation's women's auxilliary to be given January 12. I am very interested in exploring some of the similarities between my beliefs and the beliefs of other Christians today. I suppose that City-Data represents a decent cross-section of Christians, so I thought I'd bring my questions to you. Could we start with those in this paragraph, please. Other questions will probably arise when I see your answers.

(We can debate these if you wish, but that is not my primary goal in asking the questions.)

Assume that I am a little child and I ask you to tell me who or what God is. Keep in mind that you’re starting with a clean slate – my open and enquiring mind. Your goal is not to dazzle me with words and concepts I can’t possibly understand, but to help me know who it is you're talking about when you use the word "God." Tell me everything you can think of that I will be able to comprehend. Then tell me what my relationship is to Him. Tell me what He thinks of me (if, in fact, He even knows me). If you tell me that He created me, explain to me why.

Who is God? Our Father.
What is your relationship to him? You're his daughter.
What does he think of you? He loves you.
Why did he create you? For fellowship.

This is nice simple start. But if I were really talking to a 5 year old, I bet each question would lead to dozens more.

[Miss Blue]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

I love your answer, Miss Blue. I am curious about just one thing (or maybe two ). When you say "God lives inside you as the good part of you that makes you obey me..." are you referring to God the Father or to the Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit, or do you even make a distinction between the two? In nearly two dozen places in the Bible, God is said to be "in Heaven." Forty days after His resurrection, Christ told His Apostles that He was soon going to go to be with His Father "in Heaven." How does the belief that God is "in Heaven" tie in with your understanding that He lives inside you?

God lives inside you by way of the Holy Spirit....Father, Son , Holy Ghost three distinct spirits working in perfect harmony. God being the Almighty Father. The son, introducing us to the Fathe's love and finally the Holy Spirit, our earthly guide, comforter and teacher. I do not believe in the concept of the trinity Katz. I would never attempt to explain that to a child. That was the reason for the simplicity of my post.

About God being in Heaven. When the bible was written the sky/ heaven (s) were unknown and therefore the sky and all there and beyond was where God and the angels lived..someplace vast and unknown lit by the stars and where mortal man could not go.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by daylux

Who is God? Our Father.
What is your relationship to him? You're his daughter.
What does he think of you? He loves you.
Why did he create you? For fellowship.

This is nice simple start. But if I were really talking to a 5 year old, I bet each question would lead to dozens more.

Nice answers! I'm totally with you on the first three of them, and I have a question on the last one. What do you mean that God created us "for fellowship"?

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Miss Blue

God lives inside you by way of the Holy Spirit....Father, Son , Holy Ghost three distinct spirits working in perfect harmony. God being the Almighty Father. The son, introducing us to the Fathe's love and finally the Holy Spirit, our earthly guide, comforter and teacher. I do not believe in the concept of the trinity Katz. I would never attempt to explain that to a child. That was the reason for the simplicity of my post.

Thanks for the clarification. I was actually looking for simplicity, so your answer was perfect.

About God being in Heaven. When the bible was written the sky/ heaven (s) were unknown and therefore the sky and all there and beyond was where God and the angels lived..someplace vast and unknown lit by the stars and where mortal man could not go.

So are you saying that you don't actually believe that Heaven is a place where God is? (Not trying to argue the point, just to understand what you're saying.)

[Miss Blue]

Katz, I really don't think God has a "home" He is all in all. Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for us. He didn't call it Heaven and He never said where it was because our minds and our imaginations just can't comprehend the things of God or what the Son is preparing for us.

Personally I think our heaven could very well be right here on a recreated earth "Look, I am making all things new".

I am just looking forward to somewhere more beautiful, more peaceful and filled with the love of God far and above what I can imagine.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Miss Blue

Katz, I really don't think God has a "home" He is all in all. Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for us. He didn't call it Heaven and He never said where it was because our minds and our imaginations just can't comprehend the things of God or what the Son is preparing for us.

Personally I think our heaven could very well be right here on a recreated earth "Look, I am making all things new".

I am just looking forward to somewhere more beautiful, more peaceful and filled with the love of God far and above what I can imagine.

Well, although I disagree with you as to the existence of a literal Heaven, based on your last sentence, I think you'll like this quote by a former LDS leader:

"To believe in God is to know that all the rules will be fair, and that there will be wonderful surprises."