How do you view God?

[Brakelite]

KJV Exodus 34:5-7
5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

KJV Luke 24:25-27
25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

 

[chongjasmine83]

I see God as my best friend. He is someone I can depend on in times of troubles, and if there is anything bad in this world, it is not His doing.
He is perfectly good and perfectly loving. I believe He wants all men to be saved and does not want anyone to perish, not even a child murderer, not even someone like Hitler or Saddam Hussein.

That is why we need to pray for all unbelievers to come to a relationship with Him, even terrorists and rapists and murderers.

 

[Bob Estey]

Here lately there has been an ongoing conflict about things mostly related to calvinism it seems, like OSAS, the doctrine of election. The one thing i think that determines our theology is how we each see God. Some see only His good side, others only see their own good side.

im curious as to how do you view God?

I think God is motivated purely by love. (That means he has to discipline us when we sin. It's for our own good.) I think he is all-powerful and all-knowing.

 

[Scott Downey]

I think God is motivated purely by love. (That means he has to discipline us when we sin. It's for our own good.) I think he is all-powerful and all-knowing.

The reason we are born again is due to His great love for us, but not for the others.
The others he disregarded them as they are children of wrath.
We who believe now were once like the others as children of wrath, but God loved us with a great love which He did not have for the others. So the difference is as always HIS GREAT LOVE towards us. God has compassion and mercy on whom He will as His choice is made according to His purpose and will, not out will. The creation was subjected to futility, as in it can not determine it's own destiny.

Ephesians 2
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

 

[Bob Estey]

The reason we are born again is due to His great love for us, but not for the others.
The others he disregarded them as they are children of wrath.
We who believe now were once like the others as children of wrath, but God loved us with a great love which He did not have for the others. So the difference is as always HIS GREAT LOVE towards us. God has compassion and mercy on whom He will as His choice is made according to His purpose and will, not out will. The creation was subjected to futility, as in it can not determine it's own destiny.

Ephesians 2
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

God's discipline can be very harsh - sometimes it's the only way.

 

[farouk]

My relationship with God is very special to me. Mostly its just conversation, getting things off my chest and expressing how I feel about certain things to him. In my darkest times, when I am mentally unstable (im schizoaffective), I feel as if im attacked spiritually and I feel as if he is with me, comforting me. I feel very grateful for the vision he placed into me and for an ongoing relationship I have with him. And when I say relationship, its not reading scriptures. To me thats just getting to know a story. That isn't praise to me. Praise is sincere gratitude towards him. Gratitude that I have because he has seen me through the worst in my life. I feel very blessed to have something that is stronger than Faith. A floating face gave me an Oath saying that I was his. I have these spiritual experiences that were hidden from me and were later revealed to me that makes it so personal to me. Like a higher power has shown interest in me. I don't understand everything or know what it all means, But Its actually knowing God is real, and not having to base that beliefs on scriptures or any religion in particular. I'm not tied down to a specific belief or "master". I truly have wings, and have been freed from the shackles of theology, doctrine, and religion. My God is personal. I feel as if the specifics of what I believe doesn't truly matter, he wants me and I have this deep gratitude that he cares.

If people only find their comfort in scriptures, i urge you to search for God anywhere and everywhere and do not rest until you have find him, then find him again, and again. Keep searching for him after you find him, and you will keep finding him and this relationship will emerge.

@AceWestfall08 God does speak through His Word. If we are going to assert other ways through which God in some sense speaks, we had better have a very good knowledge of what He definitely says in His Word. The central theme of God's Word is the Person and Work of His beloved Son.

 

[AceWestfall08]

And im saying there is more to a relationship with God than reading a book. You can learn the story and read the Bible all you want. But if thats all you do, God can become Impersonable. I can read all I want about a famous person, but that doesnt mean I have a relationship with them. What I have is something REAL and tangible. Yes, i read the bible sometimes, but that is not the foundation of my faith. The bible doesn't give me hope and comfort in my dark times. It doesn't show me an open door when I feel like all others are closed. It doesn't listen to me when I have things on my mind to say. I get turned off when the central message of God is to worship his son because of what he did, instead of just trying to have a relationship with him. People are not going to like somebody just because you tell them to, especially when you threaten them with pain if they refuse to like them. Tell me about God in your life without parroting a book please. The book just strengthens what I have experienced, on its own it is useless and dead to me.

Is he our Father? Or is he an Author of a Story? A father is in a person's life and has communication with them constantly. Dont see God as just sending letters.

 

[Pearl]

And im saying there is more to a relationship with God than reading a book. You can learn the story and read the Bible all you want. But if thats all you do, God can become Impersonable. I can read all I want about a famous person, but that doesnt mean I have a relationship with them. What I have is something REAL and tangible. Yes, i read the bible sometimes, but that is not the foundation of my faith. The bible doesn't give me hope and comfort in my dark times. It doesn't show me an open door when I feel like all others are closed. It doesn't listen to me when I have things on my mind to say. I get turned off when the central message of God is to worship his son because of what he did, instead of just trying to have a relationship with him. People are not going to like somebody just because you tell them to, especially when you threaten them with pain if they refuse to like them. Tell me about God in your life without parroting a book please. The book just strengthens what I have experienced, on its own it is useless and dead to me.

Is he our Father? Or is he an Author of a Story? A father is in a person's life and has communication with them constantly. Dont see God as just sending letters.

That's always been my point of view. I can know about our queen Elizabeth, or I can know about Tom Cruise but it soesn't kean I actually know them personally and knowing Jesus personally is the only way to be a Christian.