the way to god.little step by little step.....

pugpeppers: what is the best way to get to know god?,i feel even using 'god' as a term can be misleading,so much has been said about 'god' especially in the religions of the world.i find myself not believing in what alot of people say in relation to their 'god' and the means of getting closer to 'god'.alot of what i see in the forums and outside wire in life is very difficult to reach the truth to god without two people butting heads saying your wrong and im right and so on and so on......bla bla bla,all the way to the grave

i guess im asking you all to show me the way to god,a truth that can be held,studied and become known to me in this life so i may reach a place of happiness,spirituality and love without my head going this way then that,then this then that yet again....

all comments welcome

Zanjan: There is no "best" way to get to know God because every path is a door to His Knowledge - all of them will will teach you something. Collect all of them until you have the full set

Mostly, it depends on where you're starting your journey and if you've had any strong cultural background - traditions tend to hold people back. Observe things with an unbiased attitude because you want to see the actual reality, not something you desire or have been "told".

Since people used to be so close to nature, it was easy for them to see the intelligence in it, the symbiotic relationships, the spirit of the animals, and the purpose of each in the chain of life. They respected this, seeing perfection in a world of imperfection. Thus, ancient religion was very nature oriented. Personally, I can't imagine how one could become informed of the natural world and NOT see God operating and exactly how He does it - this will teach you the way He moves. That would be one important path.

Another would be through acquiring virtues - think of honesty, kindness, generosity, patience, selflessness etc. Each of those will produce a chalice of spiritual light and understanding. Most find it difficult to sustain those traits because they're not aware of the key to open those doors. The best advice is go for the king of all virtues - be a truth teller, always. Never lie. If you grab that one first, all the other virtues will come to you and easily lay in the palm of your hand. Your perspective will hugely expand.

Another path is history, particularly religious history - learn to recognize the behaviour patterns of humans; then you'll see the dynamics that make those patterns repeat. Mark the dates. In my religion, we understand that humanity has always been moving towards an ever-advancing civilization - mark the leaps.

Another path is through service. Every day, ask God how you can better serve Him - speak to Him, let him know you're available. Tell Him each of these things you do is for Him, even every virtue you collect - it's all for His sake. Ask Him to use you as He wishes. Believe me, God will give you a job......make your work pleasing to Him and He'll shower you with lovely blessings.

Another path is through the Holy scriptures - God speaks to mankind through all of them at different times in history, according to the capacity of the people in those times. Studying the Word of God independently, reciting it and praying helps to unlock the hearts and open the doors of heaven - God is within you; you just have to rise above your natural self to pull out that noble being which is you.

Do that, and God, Himself, will teach you the truths and guide your way. Follow that guidance. Then, confusion will disappear and you'll find certitude.

pugpeppers: i was raised a roman catholic so when i think of god i tend to think of jesus in some way shape or form.i think about the cross and what that means....i have read the gospels and most of if not all of the new testament.that leads me down the road of jesus being the anointed chirist of god but then if i listen to my islamic friend he says jesus didnt die on the cross but it was someone like jesus.....so how do i figure out the truth then?these things are written in the holy books.the jews dont believe in jesus as i do so it seems to me that everyone has a different story to tell me.do i pick what i think is the truth and go with that....as you can see it leaves me confused as to what to trust in....

i try to be honest and it is important to me that honesty is held high but if i were to be honest at all times i would have trouble holding on to my friends,lol,little white lies are needed from time to time....maybe im clouded in myself and need to search more into what i would say to people and the way i say it....i love honesty truly so i can see how you are right in what you say about it....

i have in my head what i think god wants me to do but me in reality is not me when im chatting away to myself in my head,i just cant seem to marry the two in a way that would not have me do a 360 spin on who i am to the people around me in my life as a reality,a reality that others see me to be.i dunno maybe im just having fantasies that have no basis in reality....

i hear what you say about the holy scriptures and i want to accept what you say but what if there is one part of the book that i cant agree with?to me it puts a doubt as to the validity all of the holy book,it should all be pure....know what i mean?

sixty 9 yrs of wanda: it's so true that the way is different for each individual ….

but I think the most important thing to know is that a real and true connection to god is one devised and designed by yourself, using this and that from christianity and other belief systems.

the second most important thing is to eliminate all the balderdash about punishment and judgment which is nothing more than a scary wall that separates people from their god.

the 3rd important thing is, whenever you find yourself wrestling with anything in real life or elsewhere, remember that one of god's jobs is to take care of that for you so just release it from your mind entirely … and wait for the little internal impulses that provide the steps to take towards solving the problem … the instructions will come bit by bit through no effort of your own. Don't rush it by trying to figure anything out ….This takes practice.

when you hear stuff elsewhere that sounds overwhelming and even intimidating bout god … jus say to urself "okay that may be true of 'their' god but it's not true of mine".

design your god to be a comfortable fit - somebody you can talk to easily like a family member …

and keep reminding yourself he's there whenever trouble presents itself because it's him gonna bail ya out and not your own anxiety and struggle.

when i had cancer and was scared i would imagine the scary thought riding in a sleigh driven by santa right out the window of my hospital room …. i know this sounds whack but it worked for me after a bit of practice and I sailed thru the whole cancer experience like I was on some kind of happy vacation.

the more ya can empty your mind of every single concern big and tiny ….. and realize that the god you "made up" is gonna take care of it ….. the more successful and happy you become.

catholics have a lot of programming to eliminate from their minds because that kind of thinking is automatic inside of you and needs to be heavily edited to remove the intimidating and scary stuff.

just remember there's no punishment and no hell and no "judging" going on unless you design your god to be that way.

so decide how you want your god to be and start talking to him out loud at first if ya want …. leave all your difficulties in his hands and get those thoughts out of your head …..

and practice practice practice giving up the reigns to him …. it takes work to overcome a lifetime of negative conditioning about god.

i think of faith as a gymnasium where a person gets to work out and strengthen day by day … the more ya exercise faith the stronger and more automatic it is inside of you.

always be on your own side don't give in to guilt or remorse … the only reason we are the way we are with all the horrible traits we have is because we're supposed to be that way in order to learn some really important facts about existence …. you are supposed to be exactly the way you are and do and have done everything that you've done. it's how it works.

at first the practices described here feel awkward and clumsy and ineffective but keep at it and soon they will be smooth like a well oiled machine and remembering god's there and letting everything go into his hands will provide little 'bliss jolts' that are really fun and kind of thrilling.

thanx for the opportunity to talk bout this stuff.

sixty 9 yrs of wanda: the fact of the matter is that no matter that there is a god already designed by you in ur subconscious .... the trick is to edit it and make it work for you instead of against you.

Zanjan: About the connection to God: I haven't found anyone who knows exactly when their spiritual journey began, only roughly when their chase heated up, or the day an epiphany made them turn over a new leaf. They'll say, in retrospect, the beginning had different outcomes, which changed as their connection grew stronger.

How strong can it get? Well, it's kinda like eating peanuts - you simply have to know more until you're positively stuffed. Once digested, it's back to the peanut bowl. How close can you be to God? Well, how close do you want to be to the love of your life? How often do you want to sit near enough to inhale your beloved's perfume?

In the journey towards God, you learn that truth and love don't care if you understand. Your understanding will change anyway. Thus, God doesn't rate you on your level of comprehension - He favours you by your effort. True, there's no place in the Kingdom of God for guilt or perfectionism.

The civilian world is based on a system of disciplinary action; whereas, the religion of God is based on a system of reward. The former compels order, the latter desires your happiness.

A healthy perspective brings this situation into proper relief - that is, the background is the civilian world we move around in daily. The foreground is the picture we paint with our spirits. The deeper we live in the world of God, the more thrilling, beautiful and wider the picture will be - it paints right off the canvas, into the future.

A word about hell: we've all been there - it's a must. The truth is, were it not for a little hell, we'd never be able to appreciate a little heaven. How much more so for the extremes. You'll hear hundreds of different stories about what hell is like and various degrees of its pain but most will agree it's not a constant - it's a passing situation.

When you think about it, that's where we each begin. Babies are born into the world, crying and grasping with tight fists. Innocent but ignorant. Eventually, we'll be informed, leaving the world quietly, with hands wide open.

This is because we were all meant to build character; launched from our crude beginnings, we set goals to reach our ultimate potential. We become different than what we were with each passing year; great leaps are made before age 35; after that, the window of opportunity shrinks and change is ever so subtle and minimal but never non-existent. Nothing remains static - we're either traveling forwards or backwards.

I've seen hell change its furniture numerous times but, eventually, it became only one empty place for me - distance from God. This is only because I've known the difference between that and nearness to God. Distance, for me, is the same as not being able to breathe. There's no replacement for air.

Blackshoes: I've been speaking too God from my youth.Theres only one way too God .That is throught Jesus Christ .I would say read the Gospel according to John ,It's in the Bible. It's the Book within the Word that should be read First .The trick too understand God Word Is too Believe it ! As far as believeing In God .If you don't believe", you'll not Know ..I've studied the Word and religion My entire Life .You can travel the World, learn all things ,have all knowledge .If you haven't believed on the lord Jesus .You never see the light ..

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible" --George Washington

"So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society..." --John Quincy Adams
"That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests" --Andrew Jackson

"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong" --Abraham Lincoln

President Lincoln was also noted as saying: "It is the duty of nations as well as men to recognize the truth announced in Holy Scripture and proven by all of history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord."

"Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet anchor of your liberties. Write its precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book are we indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future. Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a 2 reproach to any people" --Ulysses S. Grant

"If you take out of your statutes, your constitution, your family life all that is taken from the Sacred Book, what would there be left to bind society together?" --Benjamin Harrison

"Almost every man who has by his life-work added to the sum of human achievement of which the race is proud, of which our people are proud, almost every such man has based his life-work largely upon the teachings of the Bible" --Theodore Roosevelt

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization not on the power of government ... not in the Constitution... (but) upon the capacity of each and every one of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments" --James Madison

"The government of a country never gets ahead of the religion of a country. There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of the law for the virtues of men" --Calvin Coolidge

Zanjan: The Word of God is its own testimony....it's own beauty, and it's own truth - that will suffice without the reviews and opinions of others.

sixty 9 yrs of wanda: my belief is we're all here to deprogram ourselves of what we absorbed when we had no choice ........ then reconstruct out of our best instincts and acquired insight a system of faith in something godlike, something of which we're an extension .... then proceed to reconstruct ourselves according to the new awareness ... no matter how much it feels like "Im doing it", it never is it's always him ... our imagination and creativity is a pipeline direct from his creative genius to ours.

Zanjan: I agree, there has to be a period of preparation for the channels to open.

Sometimes we think we're ready for the next step so we attempt it, only to discover we slid back one or two. Disappointing, perhaps, but life has a way of teaching you when you're not ready to surmount certain obstacles or assume certain responsibilities - thank God for hazard reduction!

The good thing about life tests, particularly failing them, is they flag where you went wrong so you can work on that instead of getting sidelined by distractions.

Meanwhile, we all want to get the most out of life so any exploration will always be helpful. There's no one to stop us really - anywhere one turns, there will be a helper, waiting to initiate us.

Pugpeppers, you mention friendships. Well, all you need to do is be a friend to everyone; when you do what's in their best interest, it will never be your fault if they stay or go. A friend doesn't hold anyone back, nor do they throw obstacles in their way. As you change, your circle of friends naturally changes too; you'll never be left without any.

Well, time marches on; as we mature, we'll realize we have no time or patience left to play with diminishing returns. We wont gamble with our lives anymore - we'll insist on wise investments, where the worst thing that could happen is to break even. Good plan, as long as you know that if you fall into a rut, don't stay there - get out and push. A parked car is useless.

I've never hit a brick wall that says I can't know more, acquire a new virtue, or improve in one area in some way. We're here to learn how to love better - individually and collectively. Though my human mind be finite, there is something endless in the knowledge of God that's available for access as I desire it.