ZenMonkey

When I fear something I do one of three things (Fight, Flee, or Freeze). When I trust and revere something I tend to be drawn to it. God is the same way. I trust, revere, and have faith in God thus I am drawn to God's goodness. I cling to God's love and mercy like a young child clings to his binky. Enough fear and a man will cower, yet we are told to be bold, confident, and to exhibit faith. I once feared the God I learned of in the writ, then I realized that God is exponentially better than what I had previously learned of him, perfect in love and mercy. This inevitably drew me closer to him, which then encouraged me to lead a better life and follow principles I know are good, right, and beneficial to others. I revere God but I no longer have a frightful fear of God. Fear is an emotion that compromises one's security in a thing. I view fear as an indication of lacking faith in something. When my focus is on fear I react differently than I would if I had a honest to goodness faith. Seriously, if you have faith in something what's to fear? The storm that raged while Jesus and his disciples were on that boat got his disciples pretty worked up. Jesus on the other hand was cool as a cucumber. He had no fear, but faith that all would be well despite the raging sea tossing the boat about like a rabid dog with a rag doll smeared in peanut butter. Fear is a human motivator. It's carnal and has little use aside from warning of danger, but if we are to place our child like faith in God then surely fear doesn't please him like a trusting faith pleases him. Once we get to getting faithful then shouldn't our fear melt away in favor of trust and security? It's impossible to please God without faith, so if this is true am I (we) truly being faithful if I (we) fear our creator? Most people more often than not fear the unknown, but once a person establishes knowledge of what was once unknown fear begins to fade. It is written that we know God by knowing love. It is written that perfect love casts out fear. In the beginning of our journey of faith many of us learned to fear God because we didn't truly know God, but once we come to know and understand his true character, have faith in his goodness, and trust in him we ultimately become secure developing a child like faith. As we mature and grow in knowledge God gives a great peace and comfort to us, ensuring us that all will be well. That's my faith. I don't tremble in fear, but rather I get chills up my spine in awe and reverence of God's uncompromising goodness. I'm not suggesting that any who literally fear God lacks faith. I'm suggesting that your faith is not producing the fruits it ought to yet (true blue security). If I were a betting man, I'd say many lack faith in themselves ... that they feel unworthy of God's favor. I think that's a bogus mindset, being that God created us knowing the end from the beginning, knowing how we stumble fail and fall. I'm not as secure as I'd like to be. I do allow fear to creep in from time to time. I'm working it out by trusting a little more in God day by day. There's a reason we are told to be bold (confident) on the day of judgement, though. God's got this. Fear only serves as a personal tormentor of those who haven't yet matured in a mustard seed type of faith (me included).

By knowing God is all loving and all merciful to his children, despite what we believe about God. Truth is truth, so no matter how God is viewed in mind ... God is still known by all. These types certainly know God, only these types do not acknowledge God as God. For example: Every inconsistency in the scriptures can be reconciled by (what I call) three fundamental truth's: 1) By identifying absolute reality (all that is) as "God" ... "I am that I am." - "existent existence" 2) That humans interact with "all that is" (existence) through a dynamic connection to "all that is" (see, feel, smell, taste, hear, think, act). 3) By understanding that what we perceive to be real through this dynamic interaction is subject to error, hence the spiteful, jealous god of war being birthed in the minds of our forefathers.. We were born (created) to be loved by our Creator through our existence in existence. Ask yourself five very simple questions in relation to God. Your answer to the first question should be the foundation through which the others are answered. "_____" Who is God? How do you know God? How does God teach his children? How does God discipline his children? How does God make himself known to his children? Without a rock solid foundation, - everything else falls short. Place "life" as your foundation and the rest will fall perfectly in place. Zen -

As a Christian panentheist I view God to be the absolute reality (all that is), both physical reality and spiritual. There are physical and spiritual laws inherent to God, which are the distinguishing characteristics and properties (qualities) of God. God's inherent nature and quality is that of law. These laws are set in stone, meaning God cannot change that which is intrinsic to God's nature. God did not create these laws. They eternally exist as God's intrinsic nature, quality, and character. The inherent nature and quality of God is unchangeable. Universal law does not change, nor can it change. God can hardly change that which is inherent in nature and quality. God is law, life, and love. Law enabled life to be, life was made through love. All creation was made to be loved by God. We are responsible for our actions, however. It's all built into the the mechanisms of God (its law). What we do matters. In order to choose wisely we must first be informed through the attainment of knowledge. Otherwise we are just leading haphazard lives and without proper direction. Most do not enjoy the affects of evil. I certainly don't. Adam and Eve needed to be informed however (as do we). We need knowledge and understanding, so that we can make better, more informed choices through our experiential knowledge of good and evil (calamity). I apologize for the length, but please bear with me. The only way to rise up is by first falling down. Falling is the first step in our spiritual growth and development. The only way to grow and develop as living beings is to experience some resistance (good and calamity). No pain no gain (so to speak). It is what it is. We live, we grow, develop, and mature through pleasure, suffering, and pain. However, our suffering is not without worth. Nothing in life is without some kind of worth. When the end comes and our bodies die, another life in the heavenly realms awaits for all of us, hence God being the all merciful and all loving creator of all things. All living things evolved from the first cause of life (God). We are a product of our parents choice to bear children (to be fruitful and multiply). With that being said, we're very much like a very tender soon to develop fruit after our conception. We grow, evolve, and ripen through our paternal and maternal branches (our earthly parents). Our earthly fathers provide the seeds that germinate the eggs of our earthly mothers, which then spurs our evolution and growth in our mothers womb. The earth is God's womb however (a place where life is formed). Life as we know it all started on this earth. We all come to be and exist on this earth as living creatures. God is the the one who shapes and forms us; he is the vine dresser, and we as humans belong to the vine. Please allow me to explain: Jesus, the only begotten son of God is the first and last Adam. It is through the first and last Adam (the way, the truth, and life) that all humanity comes to know the eternal creator of life (God). The first and last Adam is the vine through which every human branch and family came to be. It is through the first Adam that we inherited death, and it is through the last Adam that we inherit eternal life. This vine, our lineage, our family tree of life is how we come to know the father of all creation. It is because of God's great love and mercy towards us that God allowed Adam to fall, and then Jesus to raise us up into the heavenly (spiritual) realms of existence. Like a fruit that ripens on a branch and then falls to the ground, so are we. We fall from our maternal branch (our mothers womb) when born into this world. Once we are born, we as humans begin the process of spiritual growth (we mature) and are taught by God though life and death, through pleasure and pain, and through good and calamity. We must also undergo physical decay and a fair amount of suffering during this process as finite beings. The spark of life given to us through our maternal and paternal parents slowly wanes as we continue to age. At some point our bodies die, whether by age or prematurely. Like a seed, our inner self (spiritual self - soul) begins another process of evolution, spurring new growth, whereby we start to begin a new life. It is through this process that we become a new creation as newly born spiritual beings in God's heavenly kingdom. With that being said, all humans are a part of the vine, the lineage, and the family tree of life so declared by Christ (the first and last Adam). Christ is reconciling all things to himself and uniting all things in himself. We are all children of our Creator (everyone) destined to be reborn into God's heavenly kingdom through Christ (the anointed one of God). A few references: John 14:6 John 15:4-11 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 John 3:3-8 John 14:15-24 Colossians 1:19-20 Ephesians 1:7-10