Can I See God

I was formally introduced to God and religion at five in a Catholic school. Soon after I began wondering who is God and when could I see him.

As I got older I realized I was not going to see God, after learning from my teachers that God is a spirit, and I could not see him in the same way as I did my parents and friends. I was disappointed and for a while gave up longing to see God, but in my mind remained the desire to see him, and this desire resurfaced again and again during difficult times in my life.

These difficult times strengthened my desire to see God and have a personal relationship with him. My desire was reinforced when I read Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God". In saying these words Jesus was letting me know my heart is the source of my emotions, thoughts, motivation, courage and actions, and if I could express these in love without harming my neighbors I would see God.

Jesus' promise that I would see God was exhilarating. But how could this be done? How could physical persons like you and I see God who is a spirit? Was Jesus trying to trick us into believing God exists? Or was Jesus telling the truth?

In response to these questions, some biblical scholars argue that Jesus did not mean we would see God, because it is impossible for a physical person to see a spirit. On the contrary, they argue, Jesus meant we would see God through his works in our lives; pressing we needed nothing more than common sense to see the truth in that argument.

In fact, we can see God spiritually. These scholars see the issue solely from a physical perspective, ignoring the spiritual perspective which is paramount on issues relating to God. For starters, how could you have a meaningful discussion about God who is a spirit without talking about the activities of spirits and their effects on our lives?

Not talking about the activities of spirits in the church has diluted the power of our relationship with God. Many believers would be surprised to learn they have nothing more than a physical relationship with God through their priests. If you desire a spiritual relationship with God, it is worth knowing your priest can only show you the way to God, he cannot connect you with God in spirit. Nobody can connect you with God in spirit, only you can, aided by faith.

To have a spiritual relationship with God you should worship him in truth. You can worship God in truth by hearing or reading the gospel daily to find the truth and apply it in your life. This way you will find true love to enable you love your neighbors as you love yourself; meaning doing onto your neighbors as you would want done onto you.

Loving your neithbors as you love yourself is the second most important spiritual principle in having a spiritual relationship with God. The first is to become one with God in love. The reason love is important is that it allows the Holy Spirit to live in your soul. Only then can you have a spiritual relationship with God, and be elevated spiritually to see God.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a mystical experience normally not comprehended by human intelligence or senses. When you are indwelled by the Holy Spirit you may see and hear things that people around you cannot see and hear, in which case you would be called a schizophrenia. You may also experience an elated state of mind expressed by feelings of euphoria, lack of fear and an acute mind, in which case you would be called a mania. Is there any wonder why priests don't promote the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as ultimate goal of worshiping God?

You see, there are social disincentives to expressing your experiences with the Holy Spirit. But the good news is  the vast majority of people indwelled by the Holy Spirit don't see and hear things. The indwelling Holy Spirit often gives us God's power and wisdom to improve our condition and find happiness.

In my next article I will talk about the difference between revelations from God, and the actual medical illness of schizophrenia and mania. Meanwhile, send me your questions, and read my articles on faith at: www.squidoo.com/meaning-and-application-of-faith

Connecting With God In Spirit

If you believe in God, you've rid yourself of the problems faced by nonbelievers who don't want to be bothered with questions like: Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where are we going, and why are there so much pain and suffering in this life? These are hard questions, and nonbelievers are aware science and phylosophy have no satisfactory answers to them. Yet they reject there is knowledge beyond human knowledge, and life beyond physical life.

Nevertheless, the nonbeliever has a point when he asks: how do we prove there is knowledge beyond human knowledge? How do we prove there is life beyond physical life? Because there is no physical means to find answers to these questions, is the reason religion came into existence to provde the spiritual means to do so.

Before commenting on how religion can help you find answers to the questions on life and death, let me say a word or two about religion. It is the pathway to God. Religion introduces us to God. How we connect with God spiritually depends on what we do individually aided by faith. The reason we need faith to connect with God spiritually is that faith bridges the physical and spiritual world.

In Hebrews 11:1 we read, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and evidence of things not seen." The things we hope for, before they are realized, exist in our imagination. What is "imagination"? It is the image of things and people formed in the mind not perceived by our five senses including, sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch; yet when you think about it, all the things we are aware of which form our reality come to us through our five senses.

If the things and people in our imagination got there not through our five senses, how did they get there? You may be surprised by what I'm about to say: we have a 6th sense that makes us aware of things and people not perceived by our five senses, and that 6th sense is the human soul. The soul being a spirit perceives spiritual things and people and makes us aware of them in our imagination.

The imagination is our window to the spiritual world, through which we see the images of people and things reflected in our minds, as in a dream, vision or nightmare. These images let us know what exists and what is achievable, but without the soul, these images would be blurred and meaninless.

Fortunately, everybody has a soul, so you don't need faith to have hope and imagination, but you need faith to connect with God in spirit. Now, why do you need to connect with God spiritually when you don't need him to have hope and imagination? Let me answer the question by saying if you believe in a God who you do not see, and yet believe he exists it can only mean you believe in a spirit. Consequently, your relationship with God would be different from your relationship with your parent and friends. How different?

Your relationship with your parent and friends occurs on a physical level, and made easier because you can see and talk with them. To have a relationship with God you need to elevate yourself spiritually because God is a spirit. Since we can not do this on our own, God came down to earth in human form through Jesus Christ to teach us how to elevate ourselves to have a spiritual relationship with him.

God has already reached out to us, it's our turn to reach out to him through faith. By faith we are encouraged to do onto our neighbors as we would want done onto us to purify our hearts allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in our souls, and make us one with God in spirit.

Becoming one with God in spirit unlocks the power of Matthew 5:8 to enable you to see God. You will find the evidence that God eixist, as you apply in your daily life what Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God". With a pure heart you will see God.

Read more about faith and how to purify your heart to see God at: www.squidoo.com/meaning-and-application-of-faith

God and Science

Science supplanted God and religion in the 1600s following the new paradigm that required logical explanation for all natural phenomena. For example if you said water is made from 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom , to be accepted as truth by your peers you had to prove your claim by an experiment. Thus any claim of truth that didn't meet the acid test of logic and evidence was written off as superstitious and false.

God and religion couldn't meet the acid test of logic and evidence, so they were left behind while science matched on, creating hitherto unknown knowledge and skills that produced material goods on a scale never before known to humankind. Unfortunately, we are approaching the limit of science where the production of more and more material goods fails not only to provide enough food and material comfort to all people on the face of the earth, but also fails to bring us happiness.

We are discovering that what needs fixing is our perceptions and the attitudes they create which determine how we interact with each other. In other words, how we treat our neighbors. No amount of material goods can teach us how to treat our neighbors as we would want to be treated. Science cannot help us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves because pure love conflicts with the desires of the flesh.

Before I put forth my view that only God can help us love our neighbors as we love ourselves, let me tell you something about how God came into being. Science will tell you in the beginning was "energy" and from that energy came matter. I will say in the beginning was the "spirit of love" and from that spirit of love came all that was created.

Science can prove that all matter came from energy, what it cannot prove is from where came the energy. On the other hand, we can begin to find proof that all matter was created by the "spirit of love" from the fact that we did not pay a penny for the earth, it's vegetation, fresh water, air and minerals. The oceans and the fishes and plants in them. All these things necessary for human survival and happiness were given us free of charge.

Other than the "spirit of love", what other entity could have given us these incomparable gifts while asking nothing in return? Love is the essence of God. It is that which makes God who he is. In fact, without love God couldn't exist. Recognizing God's love in our creation and in the creation of everything around us, it's hard to deny the existence of God, even when we refuse to say it aloud.

God is love, which is why he encourages us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, to enable us connect with him in spirit. Just as there are physical laws of nature, there are also spiritual laws. Just as when you throw a ball up it will come down, so too when you love your neighbors as you love yourself, you will connect with God in spirit.

I know it's not easy to love your neighbors as you love yourself, if it were there would be no war, hatred and poverty on the face of the earth. But loving your neighbors as you love yourself is a goal worth pursuing not only to make the lives of your neighbors better, but also make yours better, free from fear, despair, stress, depression, hatred and other vices that deprive us the opportunity to connect with God in spirit.

Connecting with God through love doesn't mean we would not have problems. What it means is we would not be overwhelmed by those problems. We will receive from God the spirit of power, the spirit of love, and the spirit of a sound mind to empower us fight off the spirits of fear, despair, loneliness, stress, depression and hatred, in order to maintain peace in our minds, bodies, souls toward happiness.

Read more about connecting with God in spirit at: www.squidoo.com/meaning-and-application-of-faith

You Know God Exists, What Next

Knowing God exists based on personal experiences in your life is important, but more important  is knowing how to use that knowledge to improve your life, and the lives of people touched by your words and action.

Too often though, people are scared away from God by the fear of religious rules of conduct, arguing these rules limit their freedom. Fortunately, Jesus took away this fear 3000 years ago when he summarized the Ten Commandments into two overarching spiritual principles in Matthew 22:37-39.

By telling us to love God with all our hearts, minds and souls, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, Jesus replaced those feared religious codes of conduct with loving God and our neighbors.

But, since God is spirit, we can love him only by loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. We would understand this when we give some thoughts to what Jesus said, "How can you love God who you do not see, but hate your neighbors who you see everyday.

Yet many people have difficulties loving their neighbors as they love themselves, because in every person are two entities each seeking control over the words and action of the host person. These entities are: the natural person who seeks the things of the flesh, and the spiritual person who seeks the things of the spirit. These two are in constant conflict.

The conflict between the natural person and the spiritual person is the reason Paul said in Romans 7:19-20. "He desires to do what is good, but he cannot carry it out. Instead he does the evil he doesn't want to do."

The natural person seeks all the good things for himself, leaving scraps for his neighbors. As individuals, we tend to resist sharing power and material things equitably with our neighbors. And this is the reason you will find conflict wherever people live. 

This human shortfall is the reason no person can do the right thing all the time. Our only hope is to ensure our words and action flow from love, as love alone can give us the spiritual strength to want for our neighbors what we want for ourselves.

Doing onto our neighbors as we would want done onto us is not without its reward. In doing so, we make our souls hospitable dwelling for the Holy Spirit. And once our souls are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we connect spiritually with God bringing his blessings into our lives. Blessings that lead to freedom, fulfillment and happiness.

Send your questions to me at: www.aidoo2b@gmail.com

Why You Need To Know God Exists

For starters, forget about what you have heard for, or against the existence of God. Blaze your own path with a personal mission to find the truth about God. You need to do this to base your attitude toward God on actual experiences in your life, rather than only what you hear. 

The difference between humans and lower animals is we are aware we shall eventually die. To allay the fear of death, some argue death is the end of life. Consequently, they tell us to eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we are dead. They reject the existence of the human soul, retorting how could they believe the soul exists when they cannot see it.

But there is a reason they don't see the soul. And it is that the soul is a spirit. By elevating their spiritual consciousness they would experience the soul acting in their lives, and understand the purpose of death. 

Death is a transition from physical life to spiritual life. It ends one form of life in order to begin another form of life. Which is why its important to know what would happen to us after death. The type of life we shall have after death is fully explained in the gospel.

Certainly, agreeing with the gospel doesn't mean blindly accepting that God exists. It means searching for proof that God exists. This is where many believers fall short. They give up too easily searching for proof that God exists.

Meanwhile, the means to prove that God exists have been with us as long as the gospel has. In Matthew 5:8 Jesus said, "the pure in heart shall see God," to press home the point that in order to see God we should purify our hearts.

Paul teaches us how to purify our hearts when he spoke about the Gentiles in Acts 15:6-9, "He [God] made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith." By faith our hearts are purified to enable us to see God. Read more about the power of faith at www.squidoo.com/meaning-and-application-of-faith. If you have a question contact me at aidoo2b@gmail.com.

God and Reasoning

The time has come when the mystery of God and reasoning are united to help us understand  the meaning of life, whose purpose is to refine us toward righteousness in preparation for a higher form of life; leaving behind the infirmities and limitations of the physical body, and elevating us into a blissful existence beyond the comprehension and imagination of the human mind. 

The vehicle that takes us to this higher form of life is faith. Now faith is not wishful thinking, or blindly accepting what we are told. Faith is the search for spiritual knowledge, as we read in Hebrews 11:1. 

By faith we are encouraged to search for the substance of things we hope for, and the evidence of things we do not see. Far from coercing us to believe blindly, faith puts us on a mission to find evidence in our lives to prove God exists.