Poll What Are Your Beliefs About God / Higher Power?

[Knak]

The God of the Bible is my reason for being alive. It set me apart from age 4 or 5 and I thought everyone believed like I did. Then as it didn't develop due to wrong information and lack of true Christian influences I lost my faith and lived in hell on earth for 12 years. When I finally learned what I wasn't taught about my faith and met true believers I came back and began growing, praying I would never lose my faith again.

It is still the only positive factor in my life. The learning never ends. If people only knew what they were missing. It takes trials and sustaining faith to grow. I have learned exactly what the Bible (God's Word=Christ) means by experience so count on it alone to carry me.

God has created all creatures out of His love. Unfortunately Satan rules the earth and searches for anyone he can use or distract from true faith in Christ.

Christ triumphed over death so that we can all have eternal life in His presence if we have faith.

Prophesy shows us that the earth will deteriorate and people will be fooled by Satanic influence to the point the earth will be destroyed and a new earth will be created, when Christ the King will rule on the earth and Satan will be thrown in the pit of fire.

 

[Unknown Victim]

I'm an atheist. When I was young those nightmare about religious superstitions destroyed me and sometime made me believe. And then you find out you have less than nothing and a curse like PTSD, and where's GOD. There was never no answer to my prayers.

 

[Knak]

I'm an atheist. When I was young those nightmare about religious superstitions destroyed me and s...

When I came back to Christ (and have no answer why it all happened the way it did) I confronted the terror in my dreams saying, Satan you have no power over me because I already have victory through Christ, who defeated you and death. Amazingly I never had night terrors again.

I was given misinformation about God in church and home while growing up. It's a miracle 12 years after a mental breakdown that I found people who knew the Bible better that I was taught and showed real love that only came from Christ living in them because they had true faith only given to them by God. They were willing to maintain faith and not defy God from bad experiences, due to pride or anger. My purpose is to keep learning to understand the Bible, use discretion and wisdom in life decisions, and encourage others to have faith because the alternative is eternity without God. I fail at all but it is my goal. I am in a bad place.

I cannot explain why some find what they need to believe. I do not have a happy life. I only have the hope of eternity with Christ when there will be no more tears as the Bible teaches. I have been ready to die since age 10 and still feel that way. I don't believe I will ever overcome the emotional torment that lives in my brain before I die if I lived to be 200 y.o.

The mistake is to reject God when you don't really know. It is not easy but persistence is all you can do.

 

[Knak]

I believe in a higher power. I'm not religous, yet I do believe in the universal truth that is found in most...

that is a mistaken belief.Christianity is the only religion that does not require us to do anything because then we would think we earned it. He gave us forgiveness out of his compassion by paying for our sins by sacrificing his only perfect son Jesus, who was God in the flesh on earth. We only need to have faith and believe what He says is true.
Any obedience we show is rewarded with a crown that we are able to lay at his feet when we are with him in heaven. He does not see our sin now. He only sees us through his son Jesus Christ, who is perfect and continues to defend us against Satan's accusations.
All God wants is for us to have faith that His Word, the Bible is true, which if you read, study, and learn from those who understand it you will understand Him and his plan over the ages.
We don't have to do anything - no good works, just believe. Man is incapable of doing good. It is only when we allow Christ to work through us that we actually do good. He loves all his creation the same but want us to recognize He is in our life and loves us more than we can ever know.
We are saved from the wrath to come only by believing what He has told us in the Bible. God came to earth as a man to teach us that love is the only thing that will last when everything else is burned up.
Certain people hated Jesus for saying he was God because they thought they were the leaders of the faith, so they crucified him but by being the only perfect man he qualified to be the blood sacrifice needed to pay for ALL MEN'S sins, past present and future, and after he (Jesus) was crucified He came to life again proving Satan's inability to keep us captive. He proved we will also live again after our body dies. Those who don't reject Him, but have faith in His promises will get new perfect bodies and rule with Him in heaven.
When we first come to faith he sends his Holy Spirit to live in us to remind us of His Word and comfort us by knowing His Holy Spirit never leaves us.
Obedience to His will (which are principles of how to succeed in life), teach us how to show love to others and gives us peace of mind about our eternal future with Him when there will be no more tears, and assurance of His love.
Fellow believers can share our burdens and comfort us and the Word teaches us to understand Him and what he wants from us - which is to love him.
He hears all our prayers and grieves over our pain. It is a mistake to think he will work a miracle because you ask for something but He lives in us when we have faith, which is the greatest miracle.
It shows you that this life on earth we now experience is insignificant compared to what we will gain in eternity. It does not mean this life will be any better and can be worse. People who don't believe get nasty out of pride or resentment and even Christians fight over their beliefs. This world is Satan's domain and will never get better, but worse until He returns and throws Satan in the pit of fire.
We only have assurance of our future hope in eternity. There is so much to learn that provides hope, and so few "Christians" understand it because they don't need to, but it is true and you can prove it to yourself over time through using the wisdom he gives those who love Him.

 

[mary1979]

I don't fit any category, and i find questions of this nature usually end in fierce battle because many have strong beliefs either way.

I had a very lovely friend who mentored me in her religion for many years before her passing in 2012.
(st Francis of Assisi? I get lost in the different versions of Catholicism)
She was devout, and her faith gave her strength through the trials life gave her


Oh how I envied that faith. She handed everything over to Jesus to deal with and floated through life with that knowledge.

I wish I could do that often.

Truth is though, I dont think I really believe.
We are just a random accumulation of cells and electrons that return to the earth when we die.
We complicate shit too much.
Likely we are just here to eat, f*ck, procreate and die.

 

[Knak]

I don't fit any category, and i find questions of this nature usually end in fierce battle because many...

I agree and you will get a million opinions about faith and religion. Personally I don't like St. F of A, and don't put anyone on a pedestal outside the Bible. Some people have faith based on things I never could. Floating is dissociating to me. I like awareness and understanding.

Satan tries to convince all believers they don't have faith so recognize it when it happens. Satan lies to divert you from Christ and destroy you.

I learned how much God loved me when I was 4 or 5. I had that joy inside until I faced circumstances that confused and destroyed me.

I had no example of God's love through a person so I believed people who said they loved me but didn't. I did not grow in faith and at 21 I had a complete mental breakdown. Trusting the world around me destroyed my faith and I couldn't find God so I gave up and lived in hell for 12 years.

At 32 I met a mother figure whose love was real and giving only because God lived in her through her faith. I left my destructive lifestyle and found resources that taught truth that renewed and stabilized my faith. It grew with the help of supportive believers and Bible study over many years.

At 34 I met my husband who taught me dispensational theology. It made the Bible make complete sense to me. It clarified God's presence and plan from the beginning to now, and explains my relationship with Him and the purpose of the lifestyle.

It has been 30+ years of that plus EMDR and medications to undo a lot of learned self victimization. I found out at 40 I had ADD and the meds let me concentrate and reason.

It has been extremely painful and confusing to face and act on what was happening to me and in the world.

Last night I found a Christian song writer who expressed feelings that were foreign to me but I saw the process I am in. It released a lot of confusion and pain to define it and know that it happens to others. Her ability to see and express it is a gift God gave her. It could see how extremely close God works with me in this problem.

Faith is an individual learning experience, but you need others to help and support you. You need to keep faith during chaos to learn there is always an answer no matter how long it takes, even decades.

People who have gone through the same problems you have and have come out the other end are the ones who know the way. There are too many talking heads that just make it harder so you have to use discernment God gives you for who and what to trust.

Having faith makes life harder but the reward is hope knowing you will be with God through eternity and Satan no longer controls you.

 

[PaintedTurtle]

I was raised with a Pagan family on one side and Native on the other. I consider myself a Theosophist, for lack of a better fit. I think each belief holds thousands of years of a focused on concept by a group of people who through the years become experts on that topic and in the end we collectively still know very little, but if we look through the lenses of each window of ideas available to us, we might see a much bigger picture and be closer to a truth of some kind. Perception is a singular experience and I find no differences between science, spirituality, and religion. They are pursuits of truth. They all exam events, historical and current and attempt to make sense of our world. The events themselves don't change. Just the languages, words, descriptions, and perceptions around the events change. So you could say that for me, God is creation, Jesus, Buddha, our spiritual healers and helpers are living examples... totems for how to live here well, spirit is energy. The higher being is confusing. Creation is a higher being, you could say... that energy which allowed life to create and perpetuate more life. When I look at myself, I see not one being, but billions of little microorganism with individual lives, molecules and microscopic beings that make up myself and that "I" is available to me because conscious awareness is an event that has happened as a result. When I die that energy will change form, as energy does and new particles will make up my being and I imagine with it, will come a different form of a conscious awareness and I will continue my journey in some way. If I take that idea one step further, the Earth itself becomes a body, with tiny organisms and microorganism creating a balance of life. Does she have a conscious awareness? Who knows. Not in the way we do for sure... made up of different parts so it only makes sense that it would change, just like it only makes sense to be different from person to person, person to animal. animal to plant and so one. To me... that entire picture, is God. That is what I pray to and yes, I do pray. All the time. I meditate as well and as much as I am sharing here now... I keep most of it to myself.

 

[asadafagahajakal]

I'm a christian, but since my wife and I have gone through so much abuse from authority figures and religious people, we have a hard time to find a good church due to trust issues, which is kind of a blessing because both my wife and I have sharp discernment as a result.

 

[Symphony]

I believe in God and it has become very apparent that he dgaf.