Where's God?

[POI]

Does he pop up in my dreams? Is he the one whom produces my goose-bumps? Is He the one giving me my "moral compass"? Is he only experienced during deep meditation? If I have enough faith, will he appear to me? But seriously. Where is he? I was a Christian for decades. I earnestly prayed for him to reach me, to no avail.

For debate: Why have I not felt his presence?

A) I never tried hard enough; lack faith
B) He does not want to reveal Himself to me (yet)
C) Evil is blocking the request(s)
D) I'm too dumb to realize he's reaching me
E) He's not really there at all <- Current conclusion

Do not answer yet. This topic has spawned from another unrelated topic. I decided to devote this large topic to itself. Below are some premises:

P1) does god exist? (dunno)
P2) does god want a relationship with all, especially the ones who seek him (apparently so)
P3) is god capable of communicating (apparently so)
P4) can god communicate his message in a way in which the recipient could no longer deny (apparently so)
P5) have I asked for this communication earnestly and repetitively (YES)
P6) does the Bible state god answers the call to all who seek him (YES)

At best, god has opted not to contact me YET. And this would be after decades of actively seeking him. Without any emotion, I'm logically left with 2 options.

A) God is not really there <- Current conclusion.
B) God is not adhering to his promise (yet).

[POI]

That's what I'm telling you right now - God, across all generations, is talking to, or speaking with, or contacting all, even the newly born children. But no one notices how God does His talking to all in general, except for the newly born children whose eyes, when opened by the Lord, directly see good and bad spiritual beings around them, and for a personal encounter with God, like the Mt Sinai, and the road to Damascus encounters [with God], where God personally talked to Moses and Paul in a two-way communication method of revealing Himself to those personages mentioned.

Hmm, so your answer is D), as it related to the original post question?

Knowing HOW and WHERE God exists is the sole function of God, through revelation, to those whom He has sent, sends, and will send to the world to let the people, across all generations, know that there is truly God who exists in His own ways. Knowing that there is God [literally] is the main purpose of the bible. The task of whether or not people will follow the Lord God lies ONLY in the hands of God, as the Good Shepherd and Teacher of those who have come, come, and will come to Him for their salvation and eternal life with Him (God) in Paradise, in due time.

Though God has spoken with you many times, the possibility of a direct, personal encounter with God remains.

Hmm? So, the real answer is actually both B) and D)?

[BruceLeiter]

[Replying to POI in post #320]

A relationship with God, which he has given me, @POI, does not make me all-knowing, the way he is. I remain human, while he knows everything. Why would you think that I would know the answers to those questions?

I had a similar skepticism to yours in my teenage years. The church that I had joined at 12 never presented the Bible to us, but my mother dragged us boys to a different church that preached the Bible, which I then searched to find out if God is real. I found out that Jesus had fulfilled many prophecies that were given hundreds of years before him and that he had performed many miracles. Those were interesting, but the questions of God's existence and Jesus' Godhood boiled down to whether or not Jesus had indeed risen from the dead permanently.

I discovered that the Jews of that time were expecting a Messiah to come and be their earthly ruler after kicking the Roman conquerors out of Palestine. That's why they had Jesus crucified, since he didn't fit their expectations of a political Messiah.

However, when Jesus was killed, his disciples were crushed because they expected to rule the country with him as king.

Three days later, they proclaimed that they had seen him alive from the dead, and over 500 other followers said that they had seen him alive. All of those people were threatened with suffering and/or death by the Jews, the Romans, and the Greeks, but they never recanted their historical testimonies that they saw and interacted with Jesus risen from the dead. You can't get better historical witnesses than those people.

As a result, God used the historical eyewitnesses to convince me that the God who was powerful enough to permanently resurrect someone could also do all of the other miracles recorded in the Bible, and I put my faith in him. That's the true story of what God did to rescue me from skeptical unbelief to trust in the 3-in-1 God. I have never had a direct encounter with him, but the last 67 years have been his work in my life and a real adventure with him.

[POI]

[Replying to BruceLeiter in post #322]

I was right. Please re-read the end of my last response to you. Your answer should only consist of answering the (3) questions. If you cannot answer them, (which would immediately win a new convert), which is ultimately what both you and god would want, then I say you are talking to yourself in prayer, and nothing more. Fin.

[OneJack]

[Replying to OneJack in post #317]

You're wrong, @OneJack, about the Bible; it is God's revelation for us to see the world, the church, and him in God's light. That's all I have to say.

Read your bible thoroughly, Bruce. See what the Lord Jesus says about the bible, to wit:

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.


Where do you wanna go and come to for your salvation and eternal life, Bruce??????

[OneJack]

That's what I'm telling you right now - God, across all generations, is talking to, or speaking with, or contacting all, even the newly born children. But no one notices how God does His talking to all in general, except for the newly born children whose eyes, when opened by the Lord, directly see good and bad spiritual beings around them, and for a personal encounter with God, like the Mt Sinai, and the road to Damascus encounters [with God], where God personally talked to Moses and Paul in a two-way communication method of revealing Himself to those personages mentioned.

Hmm, so your answer is D), as it related to the original post question?

Knowing HOW and WHERE God exists is the sole function of God, through revelation, to those whom He has sent, sends, and will send to the world to let the people, across all generations, know that there is truly God who exists in His own ways. Knowing that there is God [literally] is the main purpose of the bible. The task of whether or not people will follow the Lord God lies ONLY in the hands of God, as the Good Shepherd and Teacher of those who have come, come, and will come to Him for their salvation and eternal life with Him (God) in Paradise, in due time.

Though God has spoken with you many times, the possibility of a direct, personal encounter with God remains.

Hmm? So, the real answer is actually both B) and D)?

If B were written as 'time is not yet due for God to speak with you,' I would agree that B and D fit exactly to your status right now.

[OneJack]

[Replying to POI in post #320]

A relationship with God, which he has given me, @POI, does not make me all-knowing, the way he is. I remain human, while he knows everything. Why would you think that I would know the answers to those questions?

I had a similar skepticism to yours in my teenage years. The church that I had joined at 12 never presented the Bible to us, but my mother dragged us boys to a different church that preached the Bible, which I then searched to find out if God is real. I found out that Jesus had fulfilled many prophecies that were given hundreds of years before him and that he had performed many miracles. Those were interesting, but the questions of God's existence and Jesus' Godhood boiled down to whether or not Jesus had indeed risen from the dead permanently.

I discovered that the Jews of that time were expecting a Messiah to come and be their earthly ruler after kicking the Roman conquerors out of Palestine. That's why they had Jesus crucified, since he didn't fit their expectations of a political Messiah.

However, when Jesus was killed, his disciples were crushed because they expected to rule the country with him as king.

Three days later, they proclaimed that they had seen him alive from the dead, and over 500 other followers said that they had seen him alive. All of those people were threatened with suffering and/or death by the Jews, the Romans, and the Greeks, but they never recanted their historical testimonies that they saw and interacted with Jesus risen from the dead. You can't get better historical witnesses than those people.

As a result, God used the historical eyewitnesses to convince me that the God who was powerful enough to permanently resurrect someone could also do all of the other miracles recorded in the Bible, and I put my faith in him. That's the true story of what God did to rescue me from skeptical unbelief to trust in the 3-in-1 God. I have never had a direct encounter with him, but the last 67 years have been his work in my life and a real adventure with him.

Since you've not heard anything yet from God, as warranted in your last sentence above, what you've narrated hereto is your opinion about God based on what you've read and understood in the bible, as well as what history [compiled and narrated by men] has added to your wisdom.

[POI]

If B were written as 'time is not yet due for God to speak with you,' I would agree that B and D fit exactly to your status right now.

It logically has to be one or the other. And not both. Why? If B) is the answer, then we must remove D), otherwise, I will still miss it when he finally decides to 'contact' me. Assuming you want to go with B), how long does he wish to wait? I mean, I was a believer for over 3 decades and prayed for him to give me something.

[OneJack]

[Replying to POI in post #327]
Let me rephrase my response in this way, to wit:

A) I never tried hard enough; lack faith
B) Time is not yet due for God to personally speak with you (as He did to Moses and Paul)
C) Evil is blocking the request(s)
D) I'm too dumb to realize he's reaching me
E) He's not really there at all <- Current conclusion

D refers to the following:

God, across all generations, is talking to, or speaking with, or contacting all, even the newly born children. But no one notices how God does His talking to all in general, except for the newly born children whose eyes, when opened by the Lord, directly see good and bad spiritual beings around them, and for a personal encounter with God, like the Mt Sinai, and the road to Damascus encounters [with God], where God personally talked to Moses and Paul in a two-way communication method of revealing Himself to those personages mentioned.

God has been speaking to you since you were born, without ceasing.

[BruceLeiter]

[Replying to POI in post #323]

Frankly, @POI, your questions are ridiculous; they seem to be couched in order to stump me so that you can justify your unbelief. Of course, I won't answer them, because no one who doesn't know you can answer them. God doesn't give believers clairvoyant abilities; those come from a different source. The Bible and faith in God do not give anyone that ability.

[POI]

[Replying to POI in post #323]

Frankly, @POI, your questions are ridiculous; they seem to be couched in order to stump me so that you can justify your unbelief. Of course, I won't answer them, because no one who doesn't know you can answer them. God doesn't give believers clairvoyant abilities; those come from a different source. The Bible and faith in God do not give anyone that ability.

Then I guess the Bible, again, proves to be a lie.