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Old Nov 19, 2006, 10:55 AM
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AlteredState01 AlteredState01 is offline
Poohbah
 
Member Since: Oct 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,062
And I believe we may have come full circle in what I was trying to get across in my original post.

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How did I get to this stage? Knowledge. Knowledge about who exactly is this God that the Bible (in my case) says He is and what His agenda is? Not how it is interpreted by powerful and staunchly traditional organizations, not how it is interpreted by those who only focus on a few scriptures or only on a few books within the Bible, but by seeking to prove each and every thing that is taught to me (which is how God wants it to be) and making sure that there is no hypocrisy or contradictions that would cause me confusion about Him, and therefore, cause a weakening of my faith. It doesn’t even matter which version of the Bible I read (although some are much easier to read than others), because no matter how much any particular individual or religious organization may have “altered” some of the texts, the basic truths which He wants us to learn never, ever change. (That’s another amazing thing to me when I have compared the writings of several different Bibles in my quest for the truth).

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Because Christendom is so divided on the meanings and the definitions and all that "other" stuff, many believers (of God and Christ) and non-believers and even wannabe-believers, will always be pre-occupied with "debating" and end up missing the very simple message that the Bible brings in order to help us live our lives in as much peace, and with as much courage and endurement as we possibly can get, while still in this system of things.

God did not say this would be an easy task, for there are so many things that disrupt our perception and take our attention away (which will only get worse) from the basic message being taught.

But, as SeptemberMorn's "Jerry" stated, God does indeed already know who are His children and who aren't. It is us (we?) who do not know, so we must be careful in who and what we believe in and also how we conduct ourselves - are we really abiding by what God's will is to the best of our ability (because it is pretty straight forward) or our own (which is anything but straightforward).

Knowledge about just who God is - what His personality traits are (because we are made in His image) - ought to give one a good idea of what kind of standards He is asking us to live by, for our sake. Sure, there are much larger and deeper issues that God reveals in the Bible (which explains the "why we suffer" part mankind is always asking, and condemning, Him for), but these are beyond our control and have already been dealt with (just hasn't come to pass yet). The only ones we should be concerning ourselves with is ourselves and how close we are to the path of righteousness (how we conduct ourselves according to God's instructions).

Knowledge of God and how to approach Him, is key. He will give you the rest of what you need, as long as you continue to earnestly seek Him.
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"Lord, we know what we are, yet know not what we may be."

Hamlet, Act 4, sc v
Wm. Shakespeare