Is God real, or is he simply another abstract of the human mind.
Heaven...
Hell...
It seems so unrealistic to me, "be good or else!"
Yet my comprehension does not go beyond my reasoning. My faith does not go unquestioned.
All I have ever known is my king, never the opertunity, nor the decision, to choose otherwise. I have know proof, yet I need to believe in such a thing. Rarely does he speak to me, even then I question if it is truly him.
I pray day after day, pondering questioning in my heart and mind my bitter dilema. Bitter scorn is the taste apon my lips, for I see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing.
How can such love be real, when all that holds me is myself. No comfort from man can cheer, no love from a women can hold. If I can not find my solice in such a God, then I will have nothing of it at all.
Often I pray for dreams, yet none come my way. My desperate heart cries to know the truth, but my bitter sorrow weeping heart can find no answeres.
The Lord is my everything, at times he has held me, but lately, he seems so distant, it is hard to remember his touch. How wicked are these men who steal us from him with their words of wisdom and inteligence. Proof of other things to catch my eye.
But the world holds nothing for me anymore. Nothing seems to matter more than God, for in his absence, I would just as soon die.
Often I have prayed for my own end, just to know for sure. I would leave this world without a moments worning if he would take me. No love, no possesion, no desire would ever hold me from him.
But countless times my life is saved from my own undoing. I can not die... luck, or devinity?
And every time might heart breaks, it is mended.
Everytime my heart turns sour, it is softened.
I cry my God, for something, anything!
The pain this world has to offer is so easily taken by the poor and week. Yet they enjoy their times and friends and families, while I seperate myself from reality, longing to see his glory.
But I can not turn away. No science, nor anything can substitute the passion of the holy spirit which burns so deep.
And even if he kills me and abandones me, I will still worship his name.
___________________________________
I won't be posting anymore. My questions and answeres frusterate me and bring doubt to my spirit.
God has implored me to seek him and to stop crushing myself.
"Don't do it" he says, " you are only going to heart your faith"
"but I want " I say" I want to test my faith".
and hear I am, confused once again.
"Do not worrie my son, for I will confound the wisdom of the wise, and all shall know the weekness of man. For it is I who created the world and I who decided how things shall be done. My passion for you is not for my works to be understood, but for my work in you to be understood. THose who will not believe will never believe from my works, but from my love for them." He says to me.
Best of luck friends in your understandings, I hope you all have success in your knowledge and your apologetics in regards to saving the lost.
Even if we have all been wrong all along.
GOd bless.
Is it real?
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Canuckster1127
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Tyler, That makes me sad.
It is legitimate to seek God in many different ways including examining his creation and evaluating the claims of the Bible.
It the end however, what Christianity boils down to is a relationship with God through Jesus that cannot be proved to a skeptics satisfaction, nor can it be quantified and measured.
Science has limits that are inherent to its framework and beyond which it cannot go.
Science can only deal with that which can be experienced through the 5 senses, measured and then constructed to deductively or inductively reach a conclusion and even then, it must continually be reevaluated and modified as new information arrives.
It can never, by itself be sufficient to meet the needs of a person's soul and spirit. At the end of the day, that which is most meaningful descends in our lives from that which is not measurable, not fully empirical and that which simply ties into the peace that can only come from a relationship with God.
Pascal said it well. "Within every person there exists a God-shaped vacuum."
I've noticed in your postings that this appears to be an area you are struggling with and you have been approaching it from the premise that you can prove all things that you believe or want to believe to a skeptic's satisfaction. Usually when we do that we are really trying to convince ourselves.
I think what you are finding is that science and reason are insufficient by themselves to bring meaning to life. God exists with them. However God exists beyond them as well.
I hope you find what you are looking for and more importantly I hope you learn how to find it.
The answer for me has been to cultivate a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and I believe that is the only answer God has provided. Science and theology are passions for me, but my faith and relationship are not based ultimately upon them. First and foremost is the relationship, and then I seek to understand and make better sense of things. At some point, there is a leap to make.
CS Lewis said it well in effect, "I believe in the light, not because I can see it, but because by the light, I see everything else."
Maybe there is something there for you.
You are welcome here and I hope you will reconsider and be a part as you have time and availability.
I'm personally glad that you are here and I've appreciated watching you develop and grow in your time here. It would be a shame to see that end, but that is your decision.
Bart
It is legitimate to seek God in many different ways including examining his creation and evaluating the claims of the Bible.
It the end however, what Christianity boils down to is a relationship with God through Jesus that cannot be proved to a skeptics satisfaction, nor can it be quantified and measured.
Science has limits that are inherent to its framework and beyond which it cannot go.
Science can only deal with that which can be experienced through the 5 senses, measured and then constructed to deductively or inductively reach a conclusion and even then, it must continually be reevaluated and modified as new information arrives.
It can never, by itself be sufficient to meet the needs of a person's soul and spirit. At the end of the day, that which is most meaningful descends in our lives from that which is not measurable, not fully empirical and that which simply ties into the peace that can only come from a relationship with God.
Pascal said it well. "Within every person there exists a God-shaped vacuum."
I've noticed in your postings that this appears to be an area you are struggling with and you have been approaching it from the premise that you can prove all things that you believe or want to believe to a skeptic's satisfaction. Usually when we do that we are really trying to convince ourselves.
I think what you are finding is that science and reason are insufficient by themselves to bring meaning to life. God exists with them. However God exists beyond them as well.
I hope you find what you are looking for and more importantly I hope you learn how to find it.
The answer for me has been to cultivate a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and I believe that is the only answer God has provided. Science and theology are passions for me, but my faith and relationship are not based ultimately upon them. First and foremost is the relationship, and then I seek to understand and make better sense of things. At some point, there is a leap to make.
CS Lewis said it well in effect, "I believe in the light, not because I can see it, but because by the light, I see everything else."
Maybe there is something there for you.
You are welcome here and I hope you will reconsider and be a part as you have time and availability.
I'm personally glad that you are here and I've appreciated watching you develop and grow in your time here. It would be a shame to see that end, but that is your decision.
Bart
Dogmatism is the comfortable intellectual framework of self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is more decadent than the worst sexual sin. ~ Dan Allender
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BGoodForGoodSake
- Ultimate Member
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Re: Is it real?
You've stumbled onto the truth right here. Don't be disheartened in your quest to satisfy your rationality. You know that no matter what you find in your search that there is a love, and guiding fire which does not lie to you.tyler_demerhcant wrote:"Do not worrie my son, for I will confound the wisdom of the wise, and all shall know the weekness of man. For it is I who created the world and I who decided how things shall be done. My passion for you is not for my works to be understood, but for my work in you to be understood. THose who will not believe will never believe from my works, but from my love for them." He says to me.
Have fun, seek knowledge, remain grounded in your faith.
It is not length of life, but depth of life. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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FFC
- Prestigious Senior Member
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- Christian: Yes
- Sex: Male
- Creation Position: Young-Earth Creationist
- Location: Pennsylvania, USA
Tyler,
Don't give up. What you are going through is the dark night of the soul. You are in good company. I would venture to say that many of us have gone through the same thing at times in our life. God knows I have.
David, the man after God's own heart, has many psalms relating to this. God calls him to be the King of Israel and then he has to run and be hunted like a dog for years. Feeling hopeless and frustrated and wanting to just end it all is not uncommon among God's children. Elijah, Moses, Jonah, and even the apostle Paul despaired of life.
Teresa of Avila, after going through a stretch of crisis in her life, said that she heard Jesus tell her "this is how I treat my friends" to which she relied "no wonder you have so few friends".
Give up on yourself and your unanswered questions if you must, but know that God will never give up on you. God is doing a work on you and it is does not feel good, but know this, trusting Him even in all of your uncertainty is where He wants you to be right now. There is something good at the end of this.
Jeremiah 29:11 says " 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."
God bless.
John
Don't give up. What you are going through is the dark night of the soul. You are in good company. I would venture to say that many of us have gone through the same thing at times in our life. God knows I have.
David, the man after God's own heart, has many psalms relating to this. God calls him to be the King of Israel and then he has to run and be hunted like a dog for years. Feeling hopeless and frustrated and wanting to just end it all is not uncommon among God's children. Elijah, Moses, Jonah, and even the apostle Paul despaired of life.
Teresa of Avila, after going through a stretch of crisis in her life, said that she heard Jesus tell her "this is how I treat my friends" to which she relied "no wonder you have so few friends".
Give up on yourself and your unanswered questions if you must, but know that God will never give up on you. God is doing a work on you and it is does not feel good, but know this, trusting Him even in all of your uncertainty is where He wants you to be right now. There is something good at the end of this.
Jeremiah 29:11 says " 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."
God bless.
John