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How do you know there is God?

In order for anyone reading this piece, to answer this question, there are some basic parameters that must be observed: firstly, you can not answer, based on the Bible, or use the Bible as your reference source. Secondly, you can not cite experiences based on dreams or visions. Thirdly, you can not cite actions of the God that are not reproduceable at your will or instigation. And lastly, you can not cite incidents or events that cannot be corroborated by one or more independent witnesses.

Using the above parameters, it is safe to say that 99% per cent of humans alive today in the month of October 2020, do not know that there is God, or if God exists. Bearing in mind these follow up questions. Have you met God? When you met Him [If your answer is yes], who was there to bear corroborating witness? What is the identity of God or who is God? Where is His residence?

The Bible is similar to a newsreel, a time-stamped document on or about God. The reason for not using it in this exercise is that users tend to take bits and pieces of it and disregard certain parts. An example of this practice is observable in many religious denominations where their leaders are referred to, as father in the Lord, a conscious disobedience and disregard of the commandment in Mathew 23:9.

Dreams and visions are solitary sensory experiences. When a person is dreaming or having a vision, there is no independent witness or witnesses to that experience, and the experience is particular or specific to the individual. This could be ascribed to psychotic or hallucinatory experiences, therefore unreliable.

Experiences by an individual of God or acts of God, that are not reproduceable at the instigation of the individual, are also not scientifically admissible. If an individual claims to be able to call on God to perform an act of God, such as wake up the dead, then the individual should be able to go to any mortuary of any hospital, and make his ‘God’ wake up all the dead there, at the individual’s will.

When an individual recount an instance of meeting God in real life, whether hearing God’s voice or seeing God standing or sitting before you, there must be at least two or more independent or corroborating witnesses. If this criteria is not met, such evidence or experience is not admissible.

On the basis of all the above, most of us do not KNOW whether there is a God, and therefore can not bear witness or are not reliable witness in any court or before men of ‘sound mind’ or before a jury of our peers. However, this does not stop some of us from believing that there is a God, just as I believe that there is a man called Donald Trump who is as of today October 2020, the president of USA, even though I have never met him in person, I have read, watched and listened to him through newsreel. The crucial question is: Do I have faith in Donald Trump? And Do I have faith in God? In order to answer this question, we see that the object [Donal Trump, God] in the statement or question, is the instigator or author of my faith. The One who gives me, shapes and perfect my faith in him or it. While I am the subject in the statement or question. Is the instigator or author, truthful?, does he or it have integrity? Is he or it dependable or reliable? Who or what is he or it? Where does he or it resides?

In marketing management principles, in order for you to effectively sell a product or service, you must know and believe in the product or service. In order for you to bear witness for the Son of Man, you must know and believe in Him, most important of all, have faith [which originates from Him] in Him. The writer of this piece, submit a closing statement consisting of two Scripture texts that highlights and differentiates between believe and faith; with regards to believe, James 2:18-19; But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. Pertaining to faith is the text from Hebrews 12:2; looking unto Jesus, the [instigator]author and [perfecter]finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Do you know God? Are you a reliable and effective witness of or for the Son of Man?

There is no sin with or in God [Proverbs 8:9; Psalm 19:10; Psalm 18:25-26; 1 John 1:5]

Man is separated from God by sin [Isaiah 59:2; Galatians 5:4; Ephesians 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:9;]

God desires union with man [Ezekiel 14:5]. Man needs union with God. [John 14:19-20; John 14:23; Ezekiel 14:7-10;]

Man has a fundamental need or an emptiness that he yearns for it to be filled.

God created man from dust and breathe life or the breathe of God into him [Genesis 2:7].

Man has sinned and his offspring are borne in iniquity. [Psalm 51:5;]

The spirit a man is borne with, has no life or is not activated because of sin. [John 3:3; John 3:5-6; Romans 2:29;]

There is life  [The Spirit]missing from man from birth.

Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. [John 14:6]

The Spirit of God is the spirit of light [1 John 1:5; Daniel 5:14 (NKJV); John 1:9;].

There is no union between light and darkness [2 Corinthians 6:14-18].

For union between God and man to truly happen, man must be without sin or darkness. [1 Corinthians 4:5]

God is the Spirit [John 4:24;]; true union is a spiritual union [John 4:23-25;].

The flesh or the body has needs that must be fulfilled in order to exist in the physical realm. The flesh is an inadequate temporary container for the spirit [Galatians 5:17;].

True union of the spirit of man with the Spirit of God requires liberation of the spirit of man from the inadequate vessel that temporarily houses it. The emptiness every man is borne with, is the lack or absence of the union with the Spirit of God. True restoration is, therefore, restoration of what is missing or lacking, which is union of the spirit of man with the Spirit of God. [John 17:20-23;]

God says, “Give everyone and everything to Me”

 I got home from work on a Friday afternoon a few weeks ago and went outside to just sit, be quiet, try to find God. Nothing big. No crisis. Not a seven-day fast. Just sitting quietly, attempting to dial back into his presence. It was astounding how many things presented themselves in a matter of about five minutes. Things I forgot to do at work. Emails I still needed to send. Emails I needed to now send to correct emails I shouldn’t have sent. The One Minute Pause is where I began. It created the space for me to then practice benevolent detachment — my only rescue. You can’t sort all this stuff out.

 And you sure can’t wait to find God and life and restoration until you’ve sorted your life out. There’s too much rushing at us; we haven’t the time to carefully and systematically think through every piece of information, misspoken word, confusing interaction, heartbreaking news. Subtly, maybe not so subtly, the burdens on the soul pile up. I have a friend who is one of those beautiful people with the gift of seeing the spiritual world while they walk around in the physical world. One of his particular giftings is that he sees people’s “backpacks.”

“Everyone has a backpack,” he says. He is referring to their burdens; he sees their burdens as backpacks they carry around with them. “Some people’s backpacks are bigger than others,” he says. “They’re filled with past regrets, present concerns, and fears about their future. But some are wonderfully small and light. Everyone has one.” Worry is only one of a hundred things that burden our souls. Genuine concern is just as dangerous, maybe more so because it’s grounded in something noble — your concerns for your aging parents, a sick friend, a people group, a cause crying out for justice.

A friend of mine runs a home rescuing trafficked girls. He wrote last week to say that the government facility is overcrowded, and they asked him if he could take eleven girls. The heartbreak was my friend had room for only five; he had to make the brutal call. Today a therapist colleague who does remarkable work with military men and women suffering PTSD lamented he can’t see enough people. “We’re losing too many to suicide,” he said. “It tears me up I can’t help more.” Those kinds of things can fill a backpack and make it mighty heavy. Jesus began teaching me about benevolent detachment almost two years ago. Every time I would turn to Him with a question, He would say, Give everyone and everything to Me. The invitation rang so true; I knew I needed to learn this. So I began to practice it as best I could. But then Jesus kept repeating the invitation. I’d be asking about something entirely unrelated to the people in my life — car repairs, scheduling a trip, my tax returns — and Jesus would reply, Give everyone and everything to Me. It was irritating. I finally realized that the reason He kept repeating it was because I wasn’t practicing it very well. I was carrying people. Worrying about things.

We are far more entangled with the world than we know. And the thing is, people and causes have a way of entangling themselves with you too. Some of this has to do with the moment we live in and the obliteration of social boundaries. Thanks to social media, everyone’s life is open and accessible through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram — all of it. We’ve created an assumption that you can enter and observe, or engage, with anyone, anywhere, anytime. There are no boundaries. We’ve created an assumption that we’re entitled to enter anyone else’s private space at any time. It’s very harmful. Cell phones have been a major contributor to this loss of personal space. A friend who is a successful businessman explained to me how the rules of corporate loyalty have changed: “They expect you to be available anytime, day or night, because of this,” he said, holding up his phone. “They can text you, call you 24/7. You are now considered to be available anytime, all the time. Those are the new rules.” I told myself as I drove off into the wilderness this morning that I would turn my phone off for a few days to enforce my disengagement. But I’ve checked my messages several times in the last hour.

It’s so odd to be dialed into the technology of the world while I drive through rural countryside. This was the world of my grandmother, raised her entire life in rural America. Back in the day if you wanted to have a conversation with someone, if you wanted to enter their world, you literally had to enter their world. You got in your car and drove to their farm and sat on their porch and had a conversation. You also understood that there are appropriate hours for doing so. People were very aware that there were public moments and private moments, public spaces and private spaces. All that is completely gone now. People have this unspoken assumption they can enter your world anytime. It’s suffocating to the soul; there’s no breathing room. Exactly. Benevolent detachment is your way out.

GIVING IT A TRY

I know, I know — you’ve got all sorts of pushback going on inside even as you read this. “This sounds impossible; you don’t know my world.” “But what about loving? What about caring?” “How is it right to just let things go?” Quite simply, because you’re not God. You can’t save the world. You can’t even carry it. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? — Luke 12:25–26

Jesus is quite serious about turning everything over to Him, actually. So, let’s repeat the invitation: Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

— Matthew 11:28–30 The Message

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

— 1 Peter 5:7

Live carefree before God; He is most careful with you.

(The Message)

These aren’t suggestions. The Bible is not a book of suggestions. You’ve got to release the world; you’ve got to release people, crises, trauma, intrigue, all of it. There has to be sometime in your day where you just let it all go. All the tragedy of the world, the heartbreak, the latest shooting, earthquake — the soul was never meant to endure this. The soul was never meant to inhabit a world like this. It’s way too much. Your soul is finite. You cannot carry the sorrows of the world. Only God can do that. Only He is infinite. Somewhere, sometime in your day, you’ve just got to release it. You’ve got to let it go. We need to make this clear — the invitation of God is an unburdened life. Come, you who are heavy laden. Cast your cares upon Him. Live carefree before God. It’s practically a party invitation. One of the least understood disciplines of the spiritual life. And therefore a wonderful place of discovery for each of us, and a truly liberating opportunity to experience more of God in our everyday experience.

Benevolent detachment takes practice. “I give everyone and everything to You, God. I give everyone and everything to You.” Often I find I need to follow that up with some specifics: “I give my children to You,” for I worry about them.  “I give that meeting to You.” “I give this book to You.” As you do this, pay attention — your soul will tell you whether or not you’re releasing. If the moment after you pray you find yourself mulling over the very thing you just released, you haven’t released it. Go back and repeat the process until it feels that you have. Bedtime is ideal; [my wife] Stasi and I now do it every night. “Jesus, we give everyone and everything to You.” And then we usually have to name some things. “We give You our kids. We give You our aging mother. We give You what blew up at work today. We give You our ministry and mission in the world, which we care so much about — all those hurting people. We give You the Florida shooting. We can’t carry this, God. We release it all to You.”

As you practice release, what you’re doing is creating soul space; you are literally carving out the intellectual and emotional space for God to come in. If you build it, He will come. He wants to fill you. By the way, benevolent detachment is a gift to the people in your life. Far too often we saddle people with our expectations, hopes, and needs too. Most of the time subconsciously, but we do it nevertheless. With our need to be seen. To be celebrated. To be understood. You actually do people an enormous favor when you practice benevolent detachment, because they’d like to be disentangled from you too. You get to break free, dear ones, “like a horse in open country” (Isaiah 63:13).

Reference: https://www.faithgateway.com/benevolent-detachment/?utm_source=fgtoday&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fgtoday20200926gylbobs&utm_term=fgobs

The Bible says that man is made in the image of God. Furthermore, there is the body of God, that is Jesus Christ, then there is the mind of God, that is the Holy Spirit? And lastly, there is the Spirit of God, God the Father. Some might call this, the Holy Trinity. Which brings us to man, the image of God, a facsimile, a parallel of which can be expressed as the physical body of a person, the mind and or soul of a person and the spirit or subconscious of a person.

Technically, the spirit or subconscious of a person is not in direct contact with the physical body of a person. It is the mind or soul of a person that is in direct contact with the body of a person. It is the mind or soul that directs the body, while an awakened spirit directs or control the soul or mind of a person. And since it is God who breathed into man, which translate into the understanding that the spirit of man is from God, and those that are born of the Spirit [born again] are the ones with an awakened spirit, that controls their mind and or soul. These ones are those capable of true change.

Without an awakened spirit, a person that exhibit apparent changes is only displaying conscious changes that are of temporary nature. Such persons, in stressful situations always revert back to their original nature. The physical cleansing of the body, the adornment or wearing of white symbolic garments, and or accessories such as women tying pieces of garments on their head, the shunning of footwear in combination with certain dress modes, and the consumption or not of certain food, animals or plant material, all of which has to do with conscious changes, is suggestive of the body defiling or not defiling the spirit of a man.

This is contrary to what Jesus Christ taught in Mathew 15:11; What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”. With regards to what comes out of the mouth, Jesus Christ explained further in Luke 6:45; A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Given that the heart is the location of the spirit of a man, specifically, an awakened spirit of a man born of the Spirit, it is only such a man that exhibits true change, the kind that does not revert to the old ways in stressful situations, lasting changes that comes from the subconscious, and not the type of change that comes as a result of conscious mind directives of religious brainwashing.

God said in Ezekiel 36:26; I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And we are advised in Proverbs 4:23; Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. God as the Son elaborated again in the gospel of John chapter 3:5-6; Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. It is only after a new heart has been given, an awakened spirit, then the true changes advocated by the apostle Paul in his epistles can take place. Ephesians 4:22-24; put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Romans 12:2; Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Since more than three thousand years, men had been searching for God’s location. It got to a certain point that God as the Son had to tell the people around Him, the location, though not all of them understood Him. According to the gospel of John, some of them thought, He meant that one of them would not die. While a lot of us thought, He meant somewhere in space, and others through the ages had the notion that it was in Jerusalem or in the “Holy Land”, some thought it was in France, Italy, Iraq (Garden of Eden), and some (Africans) nowadays in certain mountains, hilltops, camps (along Lagos-Ibadan Highway), even some so-called white garment church denominations thought God is some designated corner space of their worship halls (Ile-Anu and or their main worship halls [Aabo/Shelter in English language]).

In any case, the GPS for God’s location was disclosed by God as the Son Himself in His instruction manual or Book titled The Bible. Do not take my word for it, check it out yourself in Luke chapter 17. If you could not decipher the code there, drop a line in the comment section of this blog site. The Big guy Himself said in the gospel of John chapter four, that from that time onward, that is roughly two thousand years ago, men would no longer need to go to Jerusalem [the most Holy site then, with supposedly a direct staircase to God’s residence “Heaven”], which did not stop Crusaders, a thousand years later from going and dying (some or most) there. Well, it could be that the majority then did not have access to the Big guy’s book. Who knows. Anyway, those of us still living in this generation, do not have that excuse, we have His Book, even though the book is coded. He said it Himself to His disciples that everything He was telling them which they wrote down is mostly metaphoric, which did not stop most of us taking it literarily. God bless us all. Amen.