Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, go and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
God's love seeks your complete and unconditional love, which will not leave you the same as you are, instead it will change you and teach you to trust in Jesus.
God's love is making you true witnesses of the goodness of Jesus.
Do not be afraid to witness love in the name of Jesus.
I seeked. I found. My lord and Savior is Ctuhulu. Now what?!
why ask me?
whats your evidence that your version of religion is the right one to choose? or did you not choose?
Friend, I was once lost and now I am found. The livIng God came to me, a sinner, and showed me the way, the truth and life. Seek and you shall find. Ask and you shall receive.
The living God? What does that mean? It's all so confusing to me. People of belief are always so certain but the struggles and suffering remain so ubiquitous.
Life is suffering. It's inescapable. All we can do is learn to cope with that reality as best we can. And we can do it without organized religion.
everyone has a religion though, religion is your intrinsic belief system. Athiesm is a religion. I don't understand what you mean by 'without organized religion'
Religion is not an intrinsic belief system as it's born from a community who indoctrinate and dictate your belief. An intrinsic belief system, by definition, is intrinsic. It doesn't need a figurehead or a revered book to guide you. It's an accumulation of your values based on experience and observation and critical thinking. You can most definitely be compassionate, inquisitive, and spiritual without religion. Philosophy is also a set of beliefs, but it's not religion.
and philosophy is not a religion? you can be philosophical and theological... they absoultley do not eliminate each other
I think people of faith suffer a great deal. Take Mother Teresa of Calcutta for example, she suffered for decades not feeling the love of God and feeling alone but kept her faith. Faith is a gift. We could reason to belief but faith is a gift.
The Living God means God is alive. God is "I am." Or God exists.
God the Father told St. Catherine of Siena the secret of the universe. "I am, and you are not."
It is a spiritual truth that if you ask you will receive. If you sincerely seek God, God in return will give Himself to you. Say a prayer from the heart.. if you exist God please show me.
Thank you for the explanation. I wish I could get on board with the sentiment but I can not. Or rather, will not. At least not until the religions of the world stop murdering one another over semantics. Faith to me, appears to be a great abstraction layer which humans need in order to overcome instincts. It seems as though we are strong because we have faith but also incredibly vulnerable inside of it.
I truly hope this doesn't offend you in any way. I wish the best for you and all of the righteous people in this world. I just know from my own travels that people are mostly good and amazing but can very quickly become misguided. It's in this misguided state that suffering propagates and the best intentions become veils for unimpeded self-interest.
I think you nailed it pretty well. It is not God but us. Humans are broken creatures. And here lies the problem of free will. Yet without it, we would not be free.
But friend, I am not offended in the least. I appreciate the discussion. It does sound like you are saying you refuse to embrace truth because of the failures of others. If that is true, you need to do some more searching inside yourself.
You said it well. We have a ways to go but we're making progress. You are partially right in interpreting what I said as
" you refuse to embrace truth because of the failures of others."
I don't refuse to embrace truth. Context is important. I just don't believe that spirituality should be dictated and/or controlled. To call or equate God with truth is really exactly where I am. Dictated beliefs, particularly when thick in dogma, does not resonate with me. I feel spiritual and connected so I'm confident that your experience with truth, and mine, are similar but not perfect copies. This should be ok, and I'm sure it is to you. My point, is that the great religions of the world tend to draw lines within belief which when crossed, lead to suffering.
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