It cant hurt you to believe can it ?
But if you are right , that's ok.
But if I am right, look what happens to you ?
I know what will happen to me for sure !

I believe God sent His Son to die on the cross for
the sins of the world !

And I know the life I have here on earth can not compare to
what eternity will be like. Beautiful , no pain , and being
happy all the time !

Belief in God should not be based upon fear. I have no idea why a God of love, would send people to endless torture or annihilation because he has a temper tantrum, over their lack of belief in him. Such a petty being, cannot be the ultimate creator.

Grams, it sounded in your last reply as if you were begging someone to believe. Are you just trying to get the words out of their mouth? That doesn't constitute belief.

Are we witnesses or beggers?

Tell what you know to be true. Leave the results to God. Only He can give belief.

Nowhere in my post did I say that I disbelieve in a higher power, Grams. I merely stated my opinions (beliefs) regarding reward or punishment in an afterlife. I stated that I believe these occur in the here and now. Unlike conventional christianity, I believe we judge ourselves (the harshest) -- or not -- everyday that we breathe.

I'm very glad that you find comfort and satisfaction in your beliefs. Just don't assume that my lack of belief in an afterlife equates to being atheistic.

Hi Tobias:

You wrote:Absolutely. And I believe they are there if we sincerely look for them. We are promised by the scriptures to find them if we seek them diligently.

Before we concern ourselves with anything else in our lives, including the basic necessities of life, we are to first seek the kingdom of YHWH and His RIGHTEOUSNESS. Contrary to YHWH, we don't believe Him when He tells us that in His righteousness there isn't a shred or hint of evil included. If there was then it wouldn't be YHWH's righteousness. It becomes our righteousness, or, self-righteousness.

We don't believe YHWH on this in two ways. First is the way just mentioned above where there cannot be a single incidence of evil, or sin, in His kingdom. Otherwise the kingdom and YHWH Himself do not exist. The righteousness of YHWH includes only good, no evil whatsoever. We all want to believe for one reason or another that YHWH must be evil in some way, I suppose because we are all evil in some way and we project the image of ourselves onto Him. We are all willing to put up will a certain amount of evil. YHWH isn't wiiling to put up with even a single solitary evil in His kingdom, not one.

The other thing we don't believe about the righteousness of YHWH is that only He can give His righteousness to us. We all tend to think that we are righteous just as we stand. But when we do finally realize the sin we have kills us, then we try to go about 'saving' ourselves. The story on this, though, is different. The story is YHWH-saves, or, YaHshua. (We think instead that YaHshua saves, the premise put forth by the 'I Am Christ' crowd.) But we don't believe that at all because we don't believe what YHWH tells us about His righteousness and we think we can become righteous on our own if we don't think we are already righteous.

OR, we just accept sin and evil and think, 'What's the use? That's just the way it is and it will always remain that way'. We are willing then to live with sin. The problem is we can't because it takes only one sin to kill us.

You wrote:I believe the marker YHWH has set for us is His righteousness. It is set out for us, for all, to see if we seek it out because Mankind has tried to hide it in unbelief. It is in the name of YHWH and in His Law. The name of YHWH and His Law are the marks of His righteousness which is the scepter of His kingdom. We really shouldn't be able to get away from it but we have shoved in away as far as we can.

Righteousness is the marker because
everything and everyone that exists does so, including YHWH, for the sake of righteousness. For instance, the foundational reason why YaHshua was killed and resurrected was for, because of and through righteousness.

It was not principally for salvation although that is what religious organizations put the emphasis on, especially the 'I Am Christ' crowd. Righteousness is the reason and result for salvation.

You wrote:Perhaps but only in a small way. I tend to think our belief in YHWH flourishes when we realize that the life He offers us can only exist in the righteousness that is His alone for Him to give and that it includes no evil/sin in the least.

Sin is far more than the mere annoyance of temptation. Sin is the evil that brings death. It is our arch enemy. Any little sin at all destroys ALL righteousness and causes death. The existence we have in this world of sin has been put into place so we can learn that part of the lesson that YHWH has set before us. It is a lesson of life and death for all to participate in, in their own time.

You wrote:I agree.

You wrote:I would say it differently. I don't believe it is up to us to determine what is right or wrong. We don't have the vast experience required to make that determination. Only YHWH has the experience to make that determination. It is up to us then to seek out the righteousness of YHWH, test it to prove it to ourselves and in doing so, develop our belief in YHWH which is what saves us from all evil and the death it brings.

You wrote:That has not been my personal experience. If we are sincerely seeking the righteousness of YHWH, and put it to work then we will actually purge the evil that is within us.

You wrote:I understand that is half of what we must learn. We must learn the heights of good too. That experience will become a reality in the next age that many who live/d in this age will not witness until the third age at which time both the heights of good and the depths of evil will be fully apparent to all who have ever lived.

Then we will be able to make a full knowing decision to choose good and reject evil so we can live righteously forever with YHWH.

You wrote:Not only that but that YHWH is the only source of good only that we must positively acknowledge and that where we cannot succeed fully in that learning process, He will provide us with the full range of good so that we will never sin again in the same way that YaHshua never sinned.

Hello Lees,


Well if it would help, I would beg !
I am just trying to put things into my own thoughts, which I guess
may not always make sense ?

Hello WindDancer,

Well what can I say ?

I am just trying to help ?

In understanding my bible , and trying to figure out why there
is so much difference in religion , I can see why there are so
many non - believers !

Religion some times does more harm then good !
People are trying to save them self, thinking God needs help.

People from the beginning of time have told God they can do it there self !
And if they want to do it then they have to pay the consequences ! God of the bible has told man right from the start what HE wants man to do.
But man keeps telling God that he can do it him self.
The rules are very easy !
But man does not want rules.

God just said it first and man does not like that !