and the Bible thumpers bring out FEAR PORN
COMPLY or else
FEAR God or ELSE
ON your knees; OR ELSE.
God deserves better treatment
A Loving God, deserves to be LOVED.
My understanding of God is that he must have strict justice, it is only through Jesus that we may obtain mercy.
I do not know ancient Hebrew or ancient Greek (nor the modern languages either). Though it seems many of the scriptures have been mistranslated either with good or evil intention. Either way when we obtain & use original meanings they are pretty clear.
God is simply an eternal father trying to raise all of us to be like him & loves us all. He hs no need for us to fear him, just as no father on this earth need their children to fear them. Though my toddler may not comprehend why I would hurt them by grabbing them quickly with a firm/hard grasp before they run into a busy street chasing a ball. I have no need for my child to fear myself, the street, the cars, or the ball. I need them to understand the natural consequences of being hit by an automobile & also that they are likely to be hit in the road & must prepare or practice caution with timing so they remain safe.
Jesus followed the law perfectly & has even taught us the two greatest commanments/laws were to love God with all our heart mind and strength, and to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.
I wonder how often respect & fear were interchangeable terms.
You should respect your boss/company owner so that you may continue being employed is a good analogy for most. There is no reason you should fear your employer, and if you do you should find a new employer.
IIRC Satan was known first as the Great Deciever to mankind & all his fruits/power hangs on that deception (I could be wrong in my understanding this). He uses fear to keep his followers & others in line, using force to compel others to follow his plan & give him all the glory of salvation.
God & Jesus simply want us to experience this life, recognize & correct our mistakes when we make them so we can develop & grow naturally in diverse individuals who experience this life with all they joy we can obtain. A part of increasing success is to offer gratitude & love for the experiences that give growth so that we can become like our Heavenly Father, just as any father in this life would want their children to learn as much & become as great as they are.
As I read the exodus story, it seems pretty clear that Moses worked to free the Hebrews of the time not only physically, but mentally, emotionally & spiritually so they could be truly free to decide for themselves how to prosper as individuals. How often do we hear of individuals running back to abusive relationships, or destructive habits, because it is normal to them & is what they expect for themselves. If they take on more responsibility to move in a different direction to help them grow & they fail, they might be worse off than if they would have just remained in a bad situation that they still survived in, which they consider safe enough; that scares them far more than than to attempt a better life as many times as it takes until they accomplish their goals. They are so afraid of losing what little consistency they have for the chance of something that is better & they simply cannot grasp the concept of themselves being enough to obtain any growth that they will need to claim more responsibility in life to maintain.
My friend, the devil has decieved many into believing God wants us to fear them. He asks for respect. Respect yourself, respect your fellow man, & respect him along with the principles he lays out for your individual freedom & personal growth.
If you have not, I personally invite you to learn. Then pray, & then hear him as bits of insight or prompting come to you (might even call it a gut instinct or intuition). Follow it, an watch how your life expands. If you do not, you still can live just as content with life as you are & frankly there is nothing wrong with your choices to plant yourself there. That my friend is up to you & an invitation from a single follower on this space rock to learn more & discern the lies we have been taught since birth due to the deception that abounds everywhere in this planet.
For anyone else who took the time Tim read this response, I encourage you to learn, pray & hear him so that your intuition may grow & you can help further the plan of salvation for all who are seeking a light in this darkness.
TLDR: We have been decieved to fear God. Respect him & his plan for you. God is an overwhelming love & only Satan uses force and fear. Learn, Pray & Hear Him to bring more light & truth to this world.
edit: Looks like I could have misunderstood the above response. It seems my comment may back up their original suggestion.
Beautifully put and thank you. I have gotten into discussions/arguements with my spouse because i said I do not fear God because I love him so much. He said I'm suppose to fear Him too but I can't. I know He will judge me in the end and He may find me not worthy but I respect His decision. I just want His will to be done and pray that it happens soon. I believe God knows my heart and Jesus has saved me. And I trust God's decision. I feared my parents in a strong way with good reason and I found it hard to love them because of it.
Thank you for understanding God as well as you do. True, God perfectly Loves us & from his Love he wants nothing more than our personal relationship with God, the kind of mutual relationship where we love being in each others presence... I talk with God daily, & have for so long it's now on automatic-drive, I don't even need to stop what I'm doing in the garden or the house, or wherever & too I love walking beside God and live a service-orinted life to the best of my abilities. God Bless you & every one reading this thread.
The more I comprehend him, the more I realize that I have only started my eternal conversation. Similar to my children in their earliest years. Excited for my attention & then running off to experiment/play with the toy/idea they just shared with me. I hope that my father in heaven can laugh as much as I do with my children's misunderstanding of how to really communicate & that in time they will learn to do it as well.
By the respect of the Lord/By Respecting the Lord men depart from evil.
I fear & respect God as I do any executive. Their power can build or destroy, and if you are evil in your core I can see that there would be a fear of that power. If you are good & desire truth in your core, then a solid respect can (&in my opinion should be) formed.
Granted I also am that guy who believes that the Bible has some mistranslations that open even more simple truth when we understand the original languages.
Ravi Zachariahs has a video that showed me a new understanding of the Greek "Love" in the new testament that has 4 specific meanings, and all 4 are needed for a solid marriage. In English is it translated to "Love" vs Brotherly/Romantic/Charitable (Pure love of Christ/Agape)/Protective loves.
As well Dennis Prager helped close a gap in my understanding of the only sin/commandment God will not forgive. "Taking ON his name in vain", or accepting the call to preach & represent our lord as an official on this earth & then turn away from him/commit atrocities which cause others to believe that is what the God wants from his children.
I may be misunderstanding these things, though it seems to me a father who loves us more than we can love our own children has no need for us to fear him.
and the Bible thumpers bring out FEAR PORN COMPLY or else
FEAR God or ELSE
ON your knees; OR ELSE.
God deserves better treatment A Loving God, deserves to be LOVED.
My understanding of God is that he must have strict justice, it is only through Jesus that we may obtain mercy.
I do not know ancient Hebrew or ancient Greek (nor the modern languages either). Though it seems many of the scriptures have been mistranslated either with good or evil intention. Either way when we obtain & use original meanings they are pretty clear.
God is simply an eternal father trying to raise all of us to be like him & loves us all. He hs no need for us to fear him, just as no father on this earth need their children to fear them. Though my toddler may not comprehend why I would hurt them by grabbing them quickly with a firm/hard grasp before they run into a busy street chasing a ball. I have no need for my child to fear myself, the street, the cars, or the ball. I need them to understand the natural consequences of being hit by an automobile & also that they are likely to be hit in the road & must prepare or practice caution with timing so they remain safe.
Jesus followed the law perfectly & has even taught us the two greatest commanments/laws were to love God with all our heart mind and strength, and to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.
I wonder how often respect & fear were interchangeable terms.
You should respect your boss/company owner so that you may continue being employed is a good analogy for most. There is no reason you should fear your employer, and if you do you should find a new employer.
IIRC Satan was known first as the Great Deciever to mankind & all his fruits/power hangs on that deception (I could be wrong in my understanding this). He uses fear to keep his followers & others in line, using force to compel others to follow his plan & give him all the glory of salvation.
God & Jesus simply want us to experience this life, recognize & correct our mistakes when we make them so we can develop & grow naturally in diverse individuals who experience this life with all they joy we can obtain. A part of increasing success is to offer gratitude & love for the experiences that give growth so that we can become like our Heavenly Father, just as any father in this life would want their children to learn as much & become as great as they are.
As I read the exodus story, it seems pretty clear that Moses worked to free the Hebrews of the time not only physically, but mentally, emotionally & spiritually so they could be truly free to decide for themselves how to prosper as individuals. How often do we hear of individuals running back to abusive relationships, or destructive habits, because it is normal to them & is what they expect for themselves. If they take on more responsibility to move in a different direction to help them grow & they fail, they might be worse off than if they would have just remained in a bad situation that they still survived in, which they consider safe enough; that scares them far more than than to attempt a better life as many times as it takes until they accomplish their goals. They are so afraid of losing what little consistency they have for the chance of something that is better & they simply cannot grasp the concept of themselves being enough to obtain any growth that they will need to claim more responsibility in life to maintain.
My friend, the devil has decieved many into believing God wants us to fear them. He asks for respect. Respect yourself, respect your fellow man, & respect him along with the principles he lays out for your individual freedom & personal growth.
If you have not, I personally invite you to learn. Then pray, & then hear him as bits of insight or prompting come to you (might even call it a gut instinct or intuition). Follow it, an watch how your life expands. If you do not, you still can live just as content with life as you are & frankly there is nothing wrong with your choices to plant yourself there. That my friend is up to you & an invitation from a single follower on this space rock to learn more & discern the lies we have been taught since birth due to the deception that abounds everywhere in this planet.
For anyone else who took the time Tim read this response, I encourage you to learn, pray & hear him so that your intuition may grow & you can help further the plan of salvation for all who are seeking a light in this darkness.
TLDR: We have been decieved to fear God. Respect him & his plan for you. God is an overwhelming love & only Satan uses force and fear. Learn, Pray & Hear Him to bring more light & truth to this world.
edit: Looks like I could have misunderstood the above response. It seems my comment may back up their original suggestion.
The respect/"fear" of God is the beginning of wisdom.
Beautifully put and thank you. I have gotten into discussions/arguements with my spouse because i said I do not fear God because I love him so much. He said I'm suppose to fear Him too but I can't. I know He will judge me in the end and He may find me not worthy but I respect His decision. I just want His will to be done and pray that it happens soon. I believe God knows my heart and Jesus has saved me. And I trust God's decision. I feared my parents in a strong way with good reason and I found it hard to love them because of it.
Thank you for understanding God as well as you do. True, God perfectly Loves us & from his Love he wants nothing more than our personal relationship with God, the kind of mutual relationship where we love being in each others presence... I talk with God daily, & have for so long it's now on automatic-drive, I don't even need to stop what I'm doing in the garden or the house, or wherever & too I love walking beside God and live a service-orinted life to the best of my abilities. God Bless you & every one reading this thread.
The more I comprehend him, the more I realize that I have only started my eternal conversation. Similar to my children in their earliest years. Excited for my attention & then running off to experiment/play with the toy/idea they just shared with me. I hope that my father in heaven can laugh as much as I do with my children's misunderstanding of how to really communicate & that in time they will learn to do it as well.
Children learn.... everything by watching... you their Role model. :)
By the respect of the Lord/By Respecting the Lord men depart from evil.
I fear & respect God as I do any executive. Their power can build or destroy, and if you are evil in your core I can see that there would be a fear of that power. If you are good & desire truth in your core, then a solid respect can (&in my opinion should be) formed.
Granted I also am that guy who believes that the Bible has some mistranslations that open even more simple truth when we understand the original languages.
Ravi Zachariahs has a video that showed me a new understanding of the Greek "Love" in the new testament that has 4 specific meanings, and all 4 are needed for a solid marriage. In English is it translated to "Love" vs Brotherly/Romantic/Charitable (Pure love of Christ/Agape)/Protective loves.
As well Dennis Prager helped close a gap in my understanding of the only sin/commandment God will not forgive. "Taking ON his name in vain", or accepting the call to preach & represent our lord as an official on this earth & then turn away from him/commit atrocities which cause others to believe that is what the God wants from his children.
I may be misunderstanding these things, though it seems to me a father who loves us more than we can love our own children has no need for us to fear him.
Brother, I don't fear Jesus my All. - do you?