How to Believe in God

How to Believe in God

The definition of God is different for every single person in the known world. As similar as some beliefs are, no person can envision exactly the same thing. So, to find what or who God is would be a quest the individual must take for oneself. This personal quest does not necessarily mean Christianity, any of the Abrahamic faiths, or any particular religion. You can find your belief/faith on your own, but to believe in God is to believe in some higher power, and that you are not the only thing that influences your decisions (activities).

1

Define intelligence: the ability to put facts together and create relationships, and realize that this conceptual activity is shown in science and reality in general.

Consider what is complex, intelligent human-thought -- no one can really explain that with certainty... It is not binary logic (not 0's and 1's) as in a computer which is strictly programmed.

Even a super-computer is very much like a kind of lower animal that builds a certain kind of home, eats a particular way, all by (pre)programmed instructions called instincts. Ants, gnats and bees with tiny mental facility can do amazingly coordinated actions, but humans exceed even the capabilities of super computers in independent learning and multiplexing of varied complex relationships (though not pure speed in repetitious actions or lengthy calculations as that is not the humans' great strength).

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2

Consider the proposition that God is by definition an "intelligence", an authoritythat/who decides "reality" including how, when and why that works freely or to what extent it is controlled and that is higher in all ways than humans.

Don't be surprised that some people seem to expect/require God to make the earth acontrolled, pain-free zone without consequences for the individual and other human activity:

Such limits do not allow that god could organize reality around complex layers of good versus evil with myriad consequences/rewards, and that it's not necessarily at all as simple as such simplistic thoughts would require (consider that god has no such preconceived limitations).

One is evidently largely responsible for oneself, but one is sometimes at the wrong place such that ones path may cross that of a psychopath like Adolph Hitler. And, ones people/or nation may (unwisely) follow such a megalomaniac -- then this does not cater to easily scripted concepts of an explainable "god in a box" (you may need to open your closed mind/box) -- but of course some may wish to tell you about a mousy, limited god...

3

Don't worry that people may want to tempt/persuade you to agree with them to deny the actuality of the all powerful God -- because their "logic" is not based on any real definite authority: just upon their own denial-logic. Be glad when that denial-logic makes you sad: be glad that you have sympathy and love for them.

4

Figure the odds of mere chance bringing about your own, one-of-a-kind, nearly inexplicable "pre-programming" of:

Attributes of "individualized human uniqueness" (differently from a rather monodimensional snowflake which is evidently not pre-programmed as such) meaning that out of 10 billion people that have lived, many trillions of possibilities existed, though they actually were/are pre-planned/pre-programmed to make that happen, for all who have ever lived:

No two persons are alike: not even identical twins though split of the same identity (one original cell), as they still have differing fingerprints and such,

Yet family can share very closely pre-programmed familial traits/attributes-- talents/abilities, acuity of senses, health predisposition such as disease-weakness or resistance, longevity, and such things as:

Your own/shared family identity -- looks, muscularity, mouth, ears, color (eyes/hair/skin), sizes and shapes of skeletal bones, body type (slimness) and sound of voice, moods, personality, odor all shared as well as allergies/or "hardiness" to foods, contact or inhaled particles, etc. -- i.e.: personal/individual pre-planned uniqueness. 

5

Look at the finely tuned world around you to support life considering that it was designed and made by an intelligent being, according to logic: For instance, life displays thousands of balanced and finely regulated bio-chemical and electrical systems, including consciousness, sight, hearing. This like a "living, growing, super-computing brainplus logic, knowledge and emotions."

These amazing systems also include gender, species, racial and familial characteristics -- and instincts, immune system, healing of injuries, digestion, evenself-awareness, self-development and personality -- all point to highly organized and clearly purposeful traits: not random, chaotic causation.

Think of it like this: Saying that the whole universe was created by chance (no intelligence) is like saying that Mt. Rushmore is just the product of chance erosion.

All cells come from other cells. A cell reproduces by dividing into two new cells.(Mitosis). So where did the first cell come from? God.

Even non-living seemingly simple and also the complexly ordered things don't come into existence if they were never planned and made. Intelligence and logic is in all things seen and unseen (microscopic) in life.

6

Feel the pains or the joys of your life, not necessarily in your body, but in the heart (in your core-being). The pain can come from various sources, death of a beloved one, loss of a job, financial ruin, or divorce. The joy can come from finding love, reaching a goal or developing a new talent and nurturing your gifts.

7

Find it difficult to look forward to each day without thinking of what you had, lost and left you seeking real answers. Lost not to your choosing, but slipping away from you. Hold your hopes firmly.

8

Find it impossible not to look forward to each day because of the incredibleopportunities you have been given, the beauty all around you, the magic you see in all aspects of nature and life.

9

Look around you, your home, your car, your health, your talents are fine: But, they do not give meaning to life. Your tears may become less, or your joys become greater, but still you need someone to listen -- not just to hear your pain or share your accomplishments. You walk alone in your spirit, but not by choice. You are healing, but you need someone beyond a friend or family member to help you heal the loneliness you feel and share the magic that you see all around you.

10

Walk into a place of worship. You are just looking for an inward life-giving, satisfying hope. This can be compared to sitting in a hospital Prayer Room. You sit alone with your thoughts, and pray. Your prayers are not really religious, but are releasing your feelings as if you are with your best friend. You are praying to God, a God you may even believe is of your making, but who has always been and always will be -- not exactly as described by any particular religion or scripture. Seek a fuller appreciation of faith and the meaning that gives existence.

11

Listen to what is said. If it makes you feel that you have found what you have been looking for, you will feel a stirring within you. Something warming and filling is happening. You suddenly feel less alone, and less helpless.

12

Think as you walk away and look at the sky, or the earth. You see that the Creator God did make it all, even you! Say, "I am finding faith, and life can have new meaning to me." Saying it thus repeatedly to oneself can help the idea bypass the rationalizing, doubting process and elevate it to a self-evident truth. Now turn to the Creator and live life as it was meant to be. Feel the gratitude - for all the Creator has done, and say, "Thank you that I no longer feel alone." Now you feel that when you need help and when you getdown, you have someone to talk to, and guide you.

13

Decide to be joyful and experience the incredible gift of life; you will now be aware of the Power that has given you that most amazing gift.

14

Read a religious text such as the Bible, the Quran (Koran) or the Gita. Many people find guidance and truths for life in it. Try studying -- seeking, then you find. Develop a pattern of communicating with the Creator, praying and studying everyday

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