Spiritual Certainty?

Dang, I was surprised to see this topic go unanswered...so I'll jump.

Joy. The kind that moves my body when I see a baby trying to talk, a vast horizon at the beginning/ending of a day, lovers holding hands, when an old pain is healed (I'm not talking about my back, but sure would appreciate it).

Basically, all the good life has to offer. I sometimes think we forget to see them, thus forgetting how to respond. Leading only to reacting to the negative.

The second part: Faith.

RR

 

God, Faith.

 

All philosophies are mental fabrications. There has never been a single doctrine by which one could enter the true essence of things.

It is starting to become obvious.

 

The certainty that nothing exists is no different than the certainty that something exists. They both require the belief that you have an absolute answer.

Interesting.

 

I'm just saying that reality transcends philosophy and/or religion and can only be experienced.

 

Beautiful, man. Very well said.

 

Nothing is certain, spiritual or otherwise.

 

I feel certain that this life is not the end, that we have a spirit, and that our existence continues in a different world - one not bound of the same laws as this one.


I feel fairly certain it will be a good experience, and while I want to hang around here, I'm not afraid of the next life.

 

I don't know if there's anything that I personally attest to as being certain. (I imagine that doesn't surprise anyone, given my moniker.)

Although I'm partial to that Beatles song - you know, the one that goes "All you need is..."

I find I have a pretty strong humanist impulse, but have yet to put it into practice in a significantly personally meaningful way. I'm starting to volunteer more, though.

 

Obviously this will be about my personal beliefs.
I believe God reaffirms His closeness to me whenever I am particularly looking for Him. This can be summed up in a single term: answered prayer.
I believe that if a situation turns out in such a way that can only be attributed to His revealing of His characteristics toward me, I am able to know Him more.
From different perspectives, some may claim only coincidence, but, to me, the timing is just too perfect and the frequency of answered prayers in this way is just way too frequent to be attributed to chance.
Now look at prayer. When I pray, I am affirming His existence, His willingness to hear my prayer, and that He has the power to answer it. When the answer does finally arrive, I then take what it reveals about Him and check the bible to see if it is consistent and that He is the same in the past as in the present.
So what can I testify to? I can testify that, through my answered prayers, God has been consistent with everything the bible and Jesus has said about Him.

 

I think this topic should be in the other BBS hangout forum, the one where you debate things.
To me, even though I want to believe in God and a spiritual existence, it is totally absurd to me to believe that a person is a God, Jesus or otherwise. I think that it is very anachronistic and simplistic, that people need a physical manifestation of something that exists in the spiritual realm.
The bible to me is merely a symbolic text that an ancient people used to describe their faith, and while you can get the overall feel of Christianity by reading it, the specific rules and descriptions of how you should live your life are simplistic and do not conform to the everyday decisions that an individual must make in his life. It does nothing for me, it's not even entertaining to read IMHO.

 

One night - while stone, cold sober - "God paid a visit" (for lack of a better term). To summarize - 2 things I learned -

1) God is real - which I would have debated at the time. Trust me - it's very frightening to "meet" God and not be saved.
2) Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God - my Savior.

When I asked him about why He doesn't visit all - since all would believe - sadly He said that would not change the hearts of many (as illustrated by Jesus' crucifixion - which turned out to be my saving grace).

 

Death is certain. Some people consider that to be spiritual.

Maybe certainty is based on faith.

 

Karma. Without a doubt.

 

now this is something i'd like to hear more about.

 

The same thing happened to my grandfather. And folks, it's not mind games or hallucinations. That's so awesome, ArtV. It's exactly what I try to tell nonbelievers - that someday, when you're broken and and alone and have nowhere to go, you'll turn to God. To me, standing on the edge of an eternity of love and beauty and having God say "I knew you not" is too much for me. I'd rather die right now at 20 than spend forever down below.

That's just really cool, man. I hope someday I have an experience like that.

 

Out of curiosity, how do you reconcile those who have had similar experiences within the framework of other religions?

It isn't exclusive to Christianity. Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Wicca, Muslims, Jews, etc. all have written accounts of practitioners having direct and personal experiences with "god".

 

I couldn’t see even though my eyes were open – absolute darkness. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I could only hear out of my left ear (not sure about the significance of that). But He said, “Are you ready to go?” but he also communicated so much more in the brief moment before this. One major thing was I thought I was a good person – that my good works in this world far out-weighted my bad if there was some kind of scale. But I was standing before Him with only sin against Him. No good works and only sin before Him – against Him – God – the creator of the universe and then some. My scale system left me standing there bankrupt – in so much debt against God there was no way to pay because all my works counted for zip. My silent reply was no.

Suddenly, He was gone. I could move, see, hear out of both ears and talk again. I was so scared He was coming back any minute and I wasn’t ready and I had no clue as to what it took to get ready. I took an old dusty Bible I had and prayed for God to show me the answer. I’d open the Bible and read but I’d end up in the OT more times because it was thicker and I couldn’t understand what they were talking about. Finally (hours later), I broke down and told God I don’t know what it means to be saved – instantly in the same voice He said, “Whatever you do, think of me first”. Total peace flooded me in my Yes Lord.

Since then I have learned that I had an impossible debt with no way to pay but He (Jesus) paid it all. How many sinner’s lives could a man with no sin pay? One. He could trade his sinless life for another. But how many sinners would be worth the Son of God? Infinite plus. No works – just believe. Truly believe. If the fall could have been repaired with works He wouldn’t have sent His only Son.

I knew in my head about Christianity, but I didn’t know God. I knew about religions but I would silently debate if there was a God. I can now understand the Bible – it makes since now where before I couldn’t understand what was the point.

That was almost 18 year ago – I was transformed (He changed me) and my silent debates about is there a God or what "religion" is right are over. My faith is not in religion - it's in a very real God and His only Son.

I truely understand why all believers will cast their crowns before Him. Without Him we'd have no crowns.

 

It doesn't sound like you need one. I'm not sure if I was just so hard-hearted or someone blew the assignment. I can only assume that He cares enough for all His children that He will make His "trip" from heaven to earth to get the message out of how much He loves us. His plans will never fail.