2 Timothy 4:3

[sky]

Originally Posted by inavalan

Why does God have a hard time reaching us down here? There must be another explanation ...

Is God only 'Up there', I personally think God is Omnipresent.....

Jeremiah 23:23-24
23. "Am I only a God nearby," declares the Lord, "and not a God far away? 24. "Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?" declares the Lord. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the Lord.

[Redchic12]

I agree with Sky and Inavalan comments.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by sky

Jeremiah 23:23-24
23. "Am I only a God nearby," declares the Lord, "and not a God far away?
24. "Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?" declares the Lord. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the Lord.

I LOVE Jeremiah!
Ref to Psalm 139, too!

Even before a word is on my tongue,
lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

[quote=Redchic12

Molearner…………. “Every time that you witness or receive love and especially give love God is present in your life”

How do you know it’s God? Could it be something else? (Just wondering)

.[/QUOTE]

Redchic12,

Elsewhere I saw that you agreed that God is omnipresent. To be omnipresent seems to mean that there would be constant and regular manifestations of God. I work from the premise that God is love. Anyone that believes that God is omnipresent should be immediately able to answer: “In what way is He omnipresent ?” Hopefully it should go beyond speaking about the glories of nature……it should go right down into the corners of our biggest cities….slums and all. 1 John 4:19….”We love because he first loved us”. If you suggest that I question love(God) then I become guilty of crucifying…..it demonstrates that there is no love in me. To doubt is a manifestation of fear…and “There is no fear in love”…..1 John 4:18.

I remain interested in what others see as being manifestations of the omnipresence of God…….

[sky]

Originally Posted by Molearner

I remain interested in what others see as being manifestations of the omnipresence of God…….

What isn't

[sky]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Ref to Psalm 139, too!
Even before a word is on my tongue,
lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

Love it

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Molearner

I remain interested in what others see as being manifestations of the omnipresence of God…….

I have exp'd on many many many, I'm adding another many, occasions a Presence, a Consciousness
that is clearly and profoundly His Spirit everywhere....and I mean everywhere, living and breathing...allowing me to understand
every word of David's exp in Psalm 139 and to suddenly understand every word of the Tao Te Ching.

I just deleted 2 paragraphs, cuz, once this door is opened talking about the Divine Presence I go on and on, too much to read.
And these times happened for decades before I was even Baptized in the Holy Spirit!
It was a different ball game after that.

[Redchic12]

Molearner you state…..”’elsewhere I saw that you agreed that God is omnipresent”.

From what I remember, I stated that I don’t know what God is or even if there is a God and if there is one then I certainly haven’t experienced it and until I do, I will say I don’t know.

I feel we have all been conditioned from childhood and told continually about God this and God that and that most of us just blindly believe because of that indoctrination (not saying that you do).

Let me ask: what if we grew up, say in the outback and fairly isolated from others with no religious knowledge whatsoever and that we knew absolutely nothing about a God or any religion at all but had lots of love and kindness given to us. What would we think love was then?

Would be really interested in peoples views about that.

You also state…..”we love because he first loved”

You state HE. Why do you think it’s a HE. Secondly, how do you KNOW that HE first loved? Or is it because you read it in a book that was transcribed by the scribes of the church hundreds of years ago. Or have you had direct experience of this knowledge.

I’m not trying to argue against there being a God. Im genuinely trying to find some answers that make sense to me. Also I’m not judging you because from your other comments that have been on this forum i have an immense amount of respect for you.

Im trying to make sense of this God thing and I would like nothing better than someone who could tell me something personal/original as to why they KNOW that there is a God Without using quotes from a book to justify their comments.

Gotta feeling Miss H is gonna step in here LOL. and that’s ok too.

Look forward to hearing everyone’s views.

[sky]

@ Red...
I've sent you a Link which you may find beneficial....

Originally Posted by sky

I wonder how many so called Christian Denominations would survive without using unhealthy 'FEAR' in their teachings.

Sky,

Unhealthy fear is a good distinction….as opposed to healthy fear. ‘Fear’ is so often misappropriated. Fear, often in the Bible, can be meant to stand in awe of his omnipotence and omniscience. One thing that it does signify is the recognition that God exists. No one has any reason to fear anything that he believes does not exist. Logically this should be a characteristic of atheists.

Unfortunately unhealthy fear became a logical conclusion in the OT. With the exception of the chosen few the Spirit had not been given…John 7:39. There was no direct and accessible way for the masses to have a personal experience of God. The coming of Jesus changed this….he sent the Spirit. Thus we have Hebrews 11:6….”And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”. It is sad that many do not make the step to discovering the rewards. They are halfway there by believing that he exists….but remain stuck in their unhealthy fear. The rewards, of course. are seeing God in his true nature which is love.

Preaching fire and brimstone has been very counterproductive…..people should come to God because of the promise of love instead of the fear of wrath and destruction. There is much audacity in the attempted understandings of Revelations……why should people obsess over the undefinable end times ? Do they really expect that they will live to see that ? Better to think of the here and now…..enrich your life in the present….