You believe in God but does God in believe you?

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   Bede le Venerableposted 5 years ago

   Suppose there’s a man who ignores his wife all week long. He doesn’t speak to her or even think of her, if possible. Then, at the end of the week, he says in passing, “You know honey, I really love you.” What is her likely response? “Right…right!”
   
   So now, suppose you never pray to God or think of Him during the week. Then you go to church on Sunday and say, “O God, I love you!”
      
   Admittedly, I don’t think God rejects any prayer - but what a vast difference exists between sincere and insincere love. Is your love believable? I hope to give God believable love this year.

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      Live to Learnposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      And, then you have the guy who ignores his kids all week, doesn't even bother to make an appearance in the house, the kids at the end of the week say 'I love you Dad' to an empty room.

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         Bede le Venerableposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         It’s certainly sad to hear of such situations. Fortunately, those poor children have a good Father in heaven who pities their lot: “A father of the fatherless and a defender of the widows is God in his holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:5)

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            Live to Learnposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Which would come across as empty words to someone who felt abandoned.

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               Bede le Venerableposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               Many persons feel abandoned by God; even very holy persons and saints have experienced extensive “dark nights” lasting years on end (i.e. St. Paul of the Cross and Mother Teresa). Why doesn’t God bathe everyone in His delicious light all the time, seeing that it would make life so much more pleasant?
               
               I’m not a theologian but it’s clear that God doesn’t promise happiness in this life. He promises happiness in the next life for those who try to stick to Him in this life. Faith assisted by such things as scripture and prayer help us stick close.

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                  wildernessposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  Or perhaps God is a sadist, enjoying the suffering he creates/allows to happen.  How would we ever know?

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                     Bede le Venerableposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                     Wilderness – you perhaps haven’t heard of St. Faustina Kowalska. She was a Polish nun who died in 1938 and some of her experiences helped me to understand why God permits suffering. At different times, God brought her soul on a visit to hell, Purgatory, and heaven. While she was in Purgatory, she saw and spoke to the souls there. They were suffering terribly. Jesus told her, “My mercy does not want this but my justice demands it.” God is perfect in mercy and perfect in justice.
                     
                     I don’t have the answer to human suffering, especially when innocent children suffer. Nonetheless, I believe God’s justice has something to do with allowing it to occur. For instance, several mystics, such as St. Pio of Pietrelcina and St. Faustina understood that World War II was in consequence of sin.
                     
                     Suffering somehow restores a lost balance. Moreover, it’s not as though God is unacquainted with suffering; look at Christ on the cross.

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                     Kathryn L Hillposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                     I absolutely know He is not, (a sadist) and that is because I, unlike others, notice and remember when and how I have been helped by an invisible hand, (sometimes when I ask for it, sometimes when I haven't.)  Furthermore, if I forget about God, I know for a fact that he remembers me no matter what. When I do remember Him, he loves me/"believes in me" the same as he ALWAYS has. And always will. Unconditionally. For ever and ever.
                     
                     TWISI

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                     Cristaleposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                     God is love. We should forgive our trespassers because we are forgiven for trespassing. This is all stated within the Word. All questions have been answered if we are willing to read it, accept it, but also practice it. God is love and we are supposed to forgive just as we have been forgiven.

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                        Bede le Venerableposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                        Kathryn and Cristale – you seem to be genuine, full-hearted believers. My initial post had in mind “believers” who give God only a tiny particle of their hearts. Moreover, while scripture often speaks of God’s unfathomable love – it doesn’t take a long study of the Bible to see that God is also peeved at insincere believers. He constantly sent prophets, etc.
                        
                        Look at Prophet Elijah upbraiding the Israelites, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”
                        
                        Again, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their insincerity. They made their phylacteries broad and their hinges long but neglect the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness.
                        
                        Lastly, in the book of Revelation, the Lord shows His impatience toward half-hearted and insincere believers: “But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”
                        
                        Personally, I lament my own insincerity, but I'm working on it.

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                  Live to Learnposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  2000 years and counting.
                  
                  I have to disagree with your premise that faith in this life is necessary for an afterlife in his presence?
                  
                  So, it is your contention that the early Christians were regaled with daily miracles to bolster their faith, but modern man doesn't even warrant an occasional display? And without an occasional visit, humanity is supposed to believe without any clear verifiable evidence, or lose out?
                  
                  I have no idea what logic could be used to support that.

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                     Bede le Venerableposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                     Miracles are still occurring. Take for instance the canonization of a saint. Ordinarily, two rigorously examined miracles are required. Then there are miracle workers. Perhaps one of the better known is St. Pio Pietrelcina, who not only bore the stigmata for fifty years but performed mind-blowing miracles. I personally knew a miracle worker, Fr. Joseph Bill, an Indian priest. He died about ten years ago.
                     
                     Finally, there are still miraculous events such as what happened at Fatima, Portugal in 1917. The Virgin Mary appeared to shepherd children over the course of several months and at that time, there occurred the “Miracle of the Sun,” which approximately 70,000 persons witnessed. Scientists can devise clever explanations, but in my view, something clearly miraculous was at work.
                     
                     The bottom line is that Jesus performed amazing miracles and some people still refused to believe. Is faith necessary to dwell with God in eternity? I’m quite certain that there are multitudes in heaven that didn’t have faith in God while on earth- perhaps they never even heard of Jesus, etc. Nonetheless, Jesus said straightforwardly, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6).
                     
                     It could be that at the moment of death, persons who never knew God on earth are given some illumination and a choice. That’s just speculation on my part, though.

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      Paul K Francisposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I believe that there is no such thing as insincere love. If it is not sincere it is not love. We believers often tend to endow God with too many human type attributes. Some do not pay very much attention to God until they find themselves in a tight spot or during troubled times, but I can still only expect that they would receive unconditional love because God is unable to be insincere. Have a nice day.

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      1. 97

         Bede le Venerableposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, I agree…God is always sincere. I once heard a sermon by a Franciscan friar about the meaning of the word, “sincere.” He said that in Roman times, dealers in marble would sometimes conceal blemishes by means of wax (Latin = cera). If a certain slab of marble was “sine cera,” or “without wax,” then it was genuine, or “sincere.”
         
         In any case, God takes us as we are, but it seems the best honor that a believer can give to Him is love without wax.
         
         My own perception is that my love for God has been waxy and I hope to rectify it (New Year’s resolution).

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   tintabulaposted 5 years ago

   My world is good. I do not have to please a diety. Since it doesn't exist, I do not expect it to please me.

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   peeplesposted 5 years ago

   Suppose there is a child who cries out for their father day after day. The father does nothing. But on Sunday a bunch of random people say, but he will help you "in his time".
   Yeah, I wouldn't think that father loved his child very much or deserved any respect from his children.
   
   See you stated it from a believer's aspect. ^^^ Is my perspective of your idea of a god.

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      Bede le Venerableposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      peeples – I read your bio and I’m seriously grieved at what you endured. If your experience can cause my poor, creaturely heart to feel such deep sorrow, how much infinitely more does the Heart of Jesus? Yes, it is so.
      
      Did you ever consider that perhaps He’s tried to compensate you by giving you a “great” husband and children? To me, these are clear expressions of His care for you.

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         peeplesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Sorry, that just sounds delusional to me. To each his own.

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