God is....

GaoLu

1. To you, is God a force, a person, or something else? How would you best describe what you believe Him to be?

2. If He is not a person, would you still describe God as "He?"

3. Do you have a "personal" relationship with God?

Dave_L

@GaoLu said:
1. To you, is God a force, a person, or something else? How would you best describe what you believe Him to be?

2. If He is not a person, would you still describe God as "He?"

3. Do you have a "personal" relationship with God?

I experienced God through the fruit of the Holy Spirit (God). I believed because of this and have had a personal relationship with him ever since. This led to a study of the scriptures to learn as much as I can about him.

GaoLu

@Dave_L said:

@GaoLu said:
1. To you, is God a force, a person, or something else? How would you best describe what you believe Him to be?

2. If He is not a person, would you still describe God as "He?"

3. Do you have a "personal" relationship with God?

I experienced God through the fruit of the Holy Spirit (God). I believed because of this and have had a personal relationship with him ever since. This led to a study of the scriptures to learn as much as I can about him.

Thanks Dave.

What do you mean "I experienced God through the fruit of the Holy Spirit (God)?"

Do you mean through the lives of others? Through changes in your own heart and life? Something else?

Dave_L

@GaoLu said:

@Dave_L said:

@GaoLu said:
1. To you, is God a force, a person, or something else? How would you best describe what you believe Him to be?

2. If He is not a person, would you still describe God as "He?"

3. Do you have a "personal" relationship with God?

I experienced God through the fruit of the Holy Spirit (God). I believed because of this and have had a personal relationship with him ever since. This led to a study of the scriptures to learn as much as I can about him.

Thanks Dave.

What do you mean "I experienced God through the fruit of the Holy Spirit (God)?"

Do you mean through the lives of others? Through changes in your own heart and life? Something else?

Thanks for your interest in this GaoLu. I shared this either on the old forum or this one as quoted.

BKMitchell said:

How, when, where and why did you come to faith in the Christ/Messiah?What's was your religious or secular background?What is your current religious/faith community and/or paradigm?

Thanks for the opportunity to share my experience.

When I was 20, the Lord converted me over a period of 3 days. I began telling people that I didn't know what was going on but I think Christ is real and he is dealing with me.

The joy of the Holy Spirit and God's love had become real and excited me. And I didn’t want it to stop but feared that it might. On the evening of the 3rd day my happiness turned into remorse. God convicted me of sins I didn't even know existed. I began praying, sobbing and asking his forgiveness.

I also asked Jesus into my heart. I heard you are supposed to do this, probably as a child in Sunday school. I fell asleep exhausted in tears only to awake the next day absolutely convinced Christ had saved me.

I had never been so excited about anything. I began telling friends and others. I saw a whole string of conversions in and around people I knew. They believed me and wanted in on it too. None of us were churched, so we began experimenting with going to different churches. We and our girls rattled a few churches with our enthusiasm.

Not wanting to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, I gave up my career as a musician and began living the sermon on the mount (Matthew 6:24-34). Seeking first the kingdom of God as a career. To make a long story short, I began washing dishes part time as unto the Lord and retired early out of my own pocket, never missing a day's work through recessions and job closings. The Lord is faithful.

I've studied theology on my own over the years. But have no church or denominational affiliation.

Jan

@GaoLu said:
1. To you, is God a force, a person, or something else? How would you best describe what you believe Him to be?

He is three persons (not wanting to discuss the topic here though). He is spirit. He is love.

2. If He is not a person, would you still describe God as "He?"

Yes, mainly out of convenience, because Jesus is (and remains) male in his human form, and because the Father, well, is not a mother.

However, God (as spirit, the essence of all three persons) is masculine by grammatical gender only.

He clearly doesn't have or needs a biological or a social gender.

The individual persons, the Father, and Jesus, are both masculine by social gender. However, the Holy Spirit is not. That doesn't make him feminine or neuter of course. I don't think that he has a social gender.

3. Do you have a "personal" relationship with God?

Yes, with all three persons. And I feel that it's a bit different with each of them. The relationship with the Father is like between a child and a father. The relationship with Jesus is more like with a friend. The relationship with the Spirit is very difficult to put into words at all. Yet he is the closest one of the three.