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The true feeling of happiness and peace
I am very weak spiritually, and am trying through God's grace and my FoC to get closer to God. But when (or if) I ever suceed in just partially establishing a relationship with him, what is there to look forward to? I mean, we have the Bible and Tradition and personal experiences about our emotions when we are close to God, e.g. during tasbeha I feel really peaceful and close to God, but what is being with God really like? I mean truly dwelling in Christ, like St. Anthony.
And another point... are we not lusting towards the happiness and bliss God will give us in eternity? Are we not as humans constantly after happiness, either temporary (which could be by committing sins) or permanent? Are we just trying to get to Heaven for our love of happiness?
pray for me
joe
And another point... are we not lusting towards the happiness and bliss God will give us in eternity? Are we not as humans constantly after happiness, either temporary (which could be by committing sins) or permanent? Are we just trying to get to Heaven for our love of happiness?
pray for me
joe
Comments
I hope this helps.
Plz Pray for me
Joe, we have everything to look forward to when we get closer to God, life has such a better "taste" when we are close to him and nothing brings us down regardless if we are going through a tough time or not. You asked what is like to really be with God? Well nobody hear on earth can tell you. Even if they are extremely close to God, nobody will truley be able to comprehend how wonderful it will be when we are in complete communion with God.
I wouldn't go as far to say as lusting because generally when that is said it refers to something negative. We stride for eternity and attain to reach it as a goal not as something temporary. Does that make sense?? We aren't trying to get their for our love of happiness but for our love towards God and always wanting to be with him.
God Bless and Pray for me and my weakness
pray for me
joe
I wish I could have that feeling of real peace, of constant knowledge that God is with me.. I was thinking recently, how is it that us christians, especially us orthodox christians, don't live extatic lives full of peace and joy? I mean how blind are we that we still care about the world when God almighty is with us?
Personally, I don't really think about eternity, I don't know, it's just so abstract and the idea I have of it is so surreal and strange... I've always focused on NOW and HERE, I want to taste God now, in my everyday life, like those people you hear about and see who have this amazing peace and calm that you just know God is with them, in fact sometimes you see God in them. I think (personal opinion only) that it would be such a shame if you were satisfied with just living a good life and doing all the commandments, just finishing off life waiting to go to heaven. Christ has said He would be with us always, how can we live day by day without wanting more from life (in a spiritual way). Go to liturgy, pray, give money to the poor, etc. They are all wonderful things, but I believe there are so many uncharted territories that should be discovered by the believers, yet sadly so many people live and die without ever touching this fiery mystery, this state of being with God...
I pray that we can all rise up in our spiritual life, beyond what the eyes can see, beyond what the ears can hear and beyond our human understanding, I pray we can rise up to truly being with God.. even while we're still on earth.
God Bless
Please pray for my weakness
I am very weak spiritually, and am trying through God's grace and my FoC to get closer to God. But when (or if) I ever suceed in just partially establishing a relationship with him, what is there to look forward to? I mean, we have the Bible and Tradition and personal experiences about our emotions when we are close to God, e.g. during tasbeha I feel really peaceful and close to God, but what is being with God really like? I mean truly dwelling in Christ, like St. Anthony.
And another point... are we not lusting towards the happiness and bliss God will give us in eternity? Are we not as humans constantly after happiness, either temporary (which could be by committing sins) or permanent? Are we just trying to get to Heaven for our love of happiness?
pray for me
joe
Hi Joe,
Did you read my thread on quiet time? My FoC said that its during Quiet Time that one actually gets closer to God.
Joe, I don't want to shock u, and u seem like a very holy person, but sin really brings you far from God. In fact, so far, its hard to be close to God afterwards (if ever u were close before).
The Holy Spirit dwelling in you, is an indescribable peace and joy. This happens through constant communion and prayer. I mean CONSTANT. Its not an overnight experience. The worst thing is that, through one sin, u can lose this. Not that God doesn't forgive u after u sin.. i'm sure He does. But, its EXTREMELY hard to regain the closeness to God if u deliberately decide to sin.
Many times I felt so close to God. THe Joy of His presence in my heart was just amazing. I mean, there's a Joy that comes from constant prayer and communion that is indescribable. Its sustained. Its deep, its very real. Its not "Oh.. i feel great, i've just had communion" - no no no - its beyond. I mean, once u have this, believe me, u will not be interested in anything other than serving God and others. Its as if you've won the lottery. No kidding...
As for your love of happiness, I feel - well.. if you grow spiritually, and you aim for perfection (which is what we are required to do spiritually), then we will find ourselves no longer searching for happiness, nor worldly things, they will come automatically.
There's a saying "1st seek the Kingdom of God, and then the rest will follow".
No?
What do u think??
But DEFINATELY.. MOST DEFINATELY stay away from people, friends, things that have proven to lead u into sin (tasbeha.org lol). THat's my advice. If you've got the tasbeha, communion, confession going on a regular basis... then why stop??
Also, there's something really important to mention here:
Its our sins that stop us becoming closer to God. The thing is, I cannot stress how important repentance and confession is. We don't realise our sins actually. A lot of them. We tend to just see our good points. You should take every argument, every criticism seriously. (No matter how small or insignificant it may be). God shows us our sins bit-by-bit - not all of a sudden (EVERYTHING).. but when he does show u, do not hesitate to confess it. I mean, really do this.
Also, I don't know about u, but, after I repent and confess, I really grow spiritually. A lot of people just don't take confession seriously. I have an emmense joy after confession. Indescribable. This is good. These are sins wiped from you that bring u closer to God also.
I mean, sometimes, I confess because I KNOW i've done soemthing wrong, and I don't feel so bad about it.. its just routine. This is the worst way to confess (IN MY OPINION). Its not good. (others my freely disagree with me). Its important really to have quiet time.
Also... read Mathew Chap 5 before confessing.
pray for me
joe
The problem that i experienced was that the more I get closer, the more I get into temptations. Sometimes the temptation was too hard and my happiness turned to sadness. Then little by little I may get weaker. Then woke up spiritually to start all over again.
The temptation that we may all get is not necessarily a sin but just being faced with very difficult problems that would make us loose focus on the kingdom of God. I personally needed to learn how to stay focused on the kingdom of God without being distracted by other things
The key is to keep praying and not to loose hope. I believe that God will guide us and lead us to a higher level of sipiritually. We just need to ask Him.
Mary
My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials.
It's oh so true. I know exactly what you are all saying...but sometimes when we are tempted and we fall into a spiritual slum (I'm actually in the process of digging myself out of one..), it can actually be better than if we didn't fall because maybe it humbled us or taught us something...
I was listening to a lecture on chastity to comfort myself, actually, you can listen to it here
(http://www.megaupload.com/?d=62QET4SB) said someone asked a monk or a holy person, I don't remember, the difference between them and a regular person and the monk said, we fall and then we get up and then we fall and then we get up whereas the average person would just fall...
But it's nice to know we have a loving Father who wants us to come back the second we realize and hate our sin... as we are... and I hate how the devil tries to say shame on you, how dare you pray and read the bible like a good person when you have bad thoughts... but I say no satan, I am just coming back to my Father... He's my Father and I am going back where I belong...
As for the topic of Heaven, what a marvelous one it is..I was just contemplating it for the feast of the Ascension ... here is a little of what I was thinking, but I didn't write it all down:
He went to prepare a place for us. He went to prepare a place for me. For me. How exciting! All the descriptions in the Bible of Heaven are too awesome to imagine. So many jewels line the gates and make up the foundation. So even if I wanted Him to be physically here, as He said, it is to my advantage that He ascended because He went to prepare a place for me, but also to send me the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a seal. Jesus said I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. Jesus engaged us to Himself by His cross when He paid the price for His bride in His blood. The Holy Spirit is His seal. It is a sign to every creature that I am His. Jesus did say, By this all will know you are My disciples, if you have love for another. Love is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. I suppose it could be paralleled to a prince who went to a foreign country to prepare a place for His bride before He goes back to bring Her with Him. What a truly amazing place it must be…
Like if you read in Revelation, or Ezekiel, or Song of Songs, it describes our Lord, not just Heaven... our Lord so beautifully... his feet as refined gold, his legs like ivory laid with sapphires, his voice like the sound of many waters, stuff like that....
And after tasting the bitterness of sin, the bitterness of running after foreign gods, I am enamored by Christ. He still wants me. I don't know why. It's illogical. But He does. And I love Him for that. I love Him because He loved me first. So basically struggling for holiness is the story of our life... but even though we are dismayed at times for our failures, we should still be of good cheer be He has overcome the world...and He's on OUR side...
I guess prayer is our strongest sword.......How about it? Let's cry to our Father....
Remember me in your crying please...
I think that just by trying to get closer to God, you're succeeding in a small way. Satan tries to make us stumble by showing us thoughts like "why bother trying? You've been trying all this time and you're still not any closer - just give up"
My thoughts on this verse are signs of hope- by TRYING to get closer to God, I'm doing myself a huge favour even if I'm not actually getting any closer to God.
I am very weak spiritually, and am trying through God's grace and my FoC to get closer to God. But when (or if) I ever suceed in just partially establishing a relationship with him, what is there to look forward to? I mean, we have the Bible and Tradition and personal experiences about our emotions when we are close to God, e.g. during tasbeha I feel really peaceful and close to God, but what is being with God really like? I mean truly dwelling in Christ, like St. Anthony.
And another point... are we not lusting towards the happiness and bliss God will give us in eternity? Are we not as humans constantly after happiness, either temporary (which could be by committing sins) or permanent? Are we just trying to get to Heaven for our love of happiness?
pray for me
joe
I used to wonder about these things also. There was a sermon at St. Mark's Coptic Church in Jersey City that helped alot. The Abouna instructed the congregation to ask themselves - "Why should I be Holy?" and took answer's. The first reason Abouna gave was:
1. Because it is a command of God. Peter 1:14-16
2. Because it is the purpose of Christ's coming. Eph. 5:28
3.(A few people gave this anwer) Because Holiness is the way to prepare for Heaven (The New Jerusalem). Rev.21:27
Abouna listed 8 reasons because of lack of time. I have only listed 3.
Establishing a relationship with God prepares us for the holy life to come. Thanks and Praises to God's merciful grace that we have an eternity to learn everything we need to know. There are sooo many glorious wonders to learn about.
Yes, we are looking for a reward; the great Prize - Christ our Lord and Savior.
'Keep your eyes on the Prize' beloved.
Pray we can endure till the end.