A personal relationship with God?

[Kriya Yogi]

i'm glad you are not taking offense to my inquiry, thank you for being so accommodating...

No problem. I love helping people!

i get that, but then is this putting a limit on god by depending on avatars? because you do seem to be one who calls and seeks him earnestly... :rainbow1:

No you don't have to rely on Avatars. There is more then one path to God. You can rely wholely on God and he will guide you to him however he sees fit for you. Avatars, Guru's or knowers of God are there for us to follow and listen to for they have found a path to God. It makes it easier for earnest seekers to find God. Why reinvent the wheel when they have already laid out a path that they know works for sure. Also thank you for the compliment. I am earnest and have found my Guru's every word to be true. It's an amazing, blissful, and life changing adventure.

thank you for clarifying.

Not a problem brother!

 

[waitasec]

No problem. I love helping people!



No you don't have to rely on Avatars. There is more then one path to God. You can rely wholely on God and he will guide you to him however he sees fit for you. Avatars, Guru's or knowers of God are there for us to follow and listen to for they have found a path to God. It makes it easier for earnest seekers to find God. Why reinvent the wheel when they have already laid out a path that they know works for sure. Also thank you for the compliment. I am earnest and have found my Guru's every word to be true. It's an amazing, blissful, and life changing adventure.



Not a problem brother!

i just have to say that i admire your theistic POV.

 

[Kriya Yogi]

i just have to say that i admire your theistic POV.

Thank you! I seem to get more challenges then compliments on here. Understandingly so though.

 

[McBell]

I'm fundamentally confused by this particular notion. God-believers want other people to have a relationship with God, but how is that even possible? Where is God? How do you talk to him? How does he talk back? Is prayer like leaving a message on an answering machine except God never calls back? It's like someone commissioning forty odd authors to write down everything they want to say to you nearly 2,000 years ago and then just disappearing without a trace. Yet that person still demands that you believe that they love you or else he'll set you on fire forever.

The entire relationship would be based on the rather impersonal method of commissioning someone else to write about it rather than direct interaction on a personal level, which is how I conduct my personal relations with other people. I know some believe in signs here and there, but you can make any ambiguous event mean almost anything and it's still impersonal. I mean a single child survives a tsunami and it's called a 'miracle'. Never mind the thousands of people, including other children, that died without a reason because then it's called 'God works in mysterious ways'.

So essentially I'm asking how can I have a personal relationship with God, much less worship him, whenever I've never even met him in person or know whether he even exists?

What baffles me is why some people want to push their personal relationship on others?

 

[Kriya Yogi]

I remember a time when all respected men claimed the Earth was flat and the sun orbited around it. Who's to say this isn't the same thing?

That was an assumption on their part. These are statements made all the same all throughout the ages and have never changed. They are based on divine experiences that allow them to actually know. Kind of like how satellites were created and allowed all men to really know the earth isn't really flat.

 

[waitasec]

What baffles me is why some people want to push their personal relationship on others?

great question!

 

[McBell]

That was an assumption on their part. These are statements made all the same all throughout the ages and have never changed. They are based on divine experiences that allow them to actually know. Kind of like how satellites were created and allowed all men to really know the earth isn't really flat.

So an assumption is true until it is proven wrong?

 

[YmirGF]

So an assumption is true until it is proven wrong?

Unless, of course, there is no way to test the claim, then you are good to go - indefinitely, apparently.

 

[Pegg]

I'm fundamentally confused by this particular notion.

So essentially I'm asking how can I have a personal relationship with God, much less worship him, whenever I've never even met him in person or know whether he even exists?

You certainly can have a personal relationship with God...everyone can. But few choose to.

The onus is on us to come to him first. There is only one way that God will reveal himself to us so that we can 'see' him (not physically, but internally/spiritually)
We must first be willing to submit to HIS righteousness. If we do that and make an earnest effort to live by his standards, he will reveal himself to you.

Paul explains why not everyone can get to know God at Romans 10:2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God; but not according to accurate knowledge; 3 for, because of not knowing the righteousness of God but seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

Do you notice the reason Paul gave for why some people (even those who believe in God and think they are worshiping God) do not come to know God? Read it again...
Vs 3 for, because of not knowing the righteousness of God but seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.


God will only reveal himself to those who willingly subject themselves to his righteousness. This means his moral standards, his love, his mercy, his kindness etc... when you submit yourself to God, he will clearly show himself to you and this is why Jesus and so many of Jesus followers were willing to die for their faith. God is real and living and when he reveals himself to you, you can move mountains.

 

[waitasec]

We must first be willing to submit to HIS righteousness. If we do that and make an earnest effort to live by his standards, he will reveal himself to you.

i'm baffled by this comment...
i have yet to see an ability believers have obtained that would set them apart from non believers.

 

[Kriya Yogi]

So an assumption is true until it is proven wrong?

No an assumption is an assumption until proven true.

 

[Matthew78]

What baffles me is why some people want to push their personal relationship on others?

I get the impression these people are doing it as a form of vindication. They don't feel 'God' in their lives so they seek to impose their beliefs on others as a way of vindicating themselves. It they bring others into the fold, then they must be doing something right. If they "witness" and someone converts, then they feel that they're doing God's will and doing God's work so they must still be saved and they still have a relationship with God.

 

[Penumbra]

i'm baffled by this comment...
i have yet to see an ability believers have obtained that would set them apart from non believers.

In addition there's the problem of submitting to something before it's revealed. A given thing is already assumed true before revelation. You can't even really know what you're submitting yourself to.

This doesn't hold any logic when a larger view is considered, with a world full of proposed gods, goddesses, forces, frameworks, and so forth.

 

[Jordan St. Francis]

I do believe a false personalism afflicts a great deal of contemporary Christianity. Say your rote prayers, do your devotions, cover yours sins with charity and hope for the best!

 

[waitasec]

In addition there's the problem of submitting to something before it's revealed. A given thing is already assumed true before revelation. You can't even really know what you're submitting yourself to.

This doesn't hold any logic when a larger view is considered, with a world full of proposed gods, goddesses, forces, frameworks, and so forth.

you got that right...

 

[waitasec]

I get the impression these people are doing it as a form of vindication. They don't feel 'God' in their lives so they seek to impose their beliefs on others as a way of vindicating themselves. It they bring others into the fold, then they must be doing something right. If they "witness" and someone converts, then they feel that they're doing God's will and doing God's work so they must still be saved and they still have a relationship with God.

i wonder how much organized religion depends on this form of behavior

 

[Anonymouse]

I don’t think I ever met anyone who had a personal relationship with God. I’ve met many people who have been inspired by books or another’s relationship to God but not many who would venture or encourage a unique relationship of their own.

 

[ninerbuff]

I liken a "personal relationship" with god, to a fan who is enamored with their favorite actor or singer. They believe in them, don't believe they are bad, and honestly feel they have a "relationship" with them as a fan. Oh and they pay money to do it too...........

 

[The Wizard]

Having a relationship with the creator and the creation are experiences that just simply cannot be transferred or copied for others... It is deepest of inner relationship with the source which makes the all fun and shiny,.. wonderful reflections, imo

 

[McBell]

People can have whatever "personal" relationships they want with what ever they want.
I really could care less.
Until they start pushing their personal relationship off on others.

Then it becomes a not so personal relationship and is open to scrutiny.
Regardless of what other CLAIMS they make of their god.