What does it mean to have a personal relationship with God?

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People on the internet are not the best equipped to address a person’s particular spiritual ailment. We can point you to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

and to your priest, for explanations of what you may not understand, or answers you can’t find.

You spoke of pain, again I say:
“Pain is a good place to start. Take that to your priest for healing.”
 
From all beginning on - first day on manhood at Creation - up to the first day of our life, we do have contact to God - if it’s not us who cut that contact. God never does or did.
God doesn’t forcedly seek contact to all, including people who reject God or doubt God. But as we know of both histories - biblical as secular; God chooses those people first, who do believe. These people are not only Saints such as Abraham, Noah or Moses and all the Prophets and Disciples, but it’s people like you and me just the same.

Since God loves all alike in His absolute justice, you or I are no less than all the above named Saints. For he who is nearer to God is nearer through God’s justice and through God’s grace - not through his own deeds and insights. All we have to do is to believe in God, to trust in God - and leave the rest to the often recalled justice of God.
(Ain’t that easy?!)
😉
OK - yes- easily said, but anything but easy to be done. Hell’s doubts are cheep, free and even seem logic. Proved by evolution. Not just washable. Oh, they spot easily on our souls’n minds and even let depressions grow as side-effect. These stains grow concrete walls between God and us, which then - once we lost contact, keep growing to solid, seemingly invincible matter. Matter as materialism sees it, but also as a continuously darkening cloud within us. A cloud we can’d describe when asked „what’s the matter?“ Disbelieve and doubts then are „the matter“. A „matter“ that weighs heavily and suffocates everything on any doubter’s mind. Any good idea that brings us nearer to the joy of God.

When God says through Jeremiah in Jer 2,13: Speak to Me, and I will hear you, then God points out, that because He gave us this FREE WILL pro or versus belief; it’s us who must take the initiative first step to seek and address God. Speak to Me, God demanded. Our probation for heaven is BELIEF. Only then we can speak to God. Without belief it’s spoken in the wind.
Belief is a probation one never get’s presented, but has to develop and create to earn freedom; the absolute freedom of the mere joy to live after this probation, to live in God’s glorious eternity. God created heaven for this eternal joy he wants to share with us. He never created us for prohibitions and requirements.

I continue at next page:
 
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It sounds like you have been taught Jansenism. Jansenism | Catholic Answers. If you love God and know you are loved by a beloved Abba (daddy)…It is natural to want to please the beloved … a relationship goes much deeper than this is allowed and this isn’t allowed. Jesus taught us about the Father. If you love God you will love to get to know him in prayer, reading the sacred , inspired Word of God. And in the sacraments too. It sounds like you don’t have much of a relationship with God as your beloved Father. You sound more like the prodigal son who wants his father’s inheritance and to run away from the father as far as he can go. 😃 Here is hoping you will one day know and experience God as your loving Father who delights in you and whom you will want to please.
 
Now, many atheists, doubters and skeptics imagine Christian faith a religion full of the forenamed prohibitions and requirements. „God prohibits and rejects".
On the contrary though, Christianity is completely permeated with freedom. HE who never believed in God, of course can’t imagine this, as he doesn’t know God. We do! We do know God to the greatest possible extent - the extent God revealed Himself to us through His „speakers“ but also through Himself.
But not to do what God prohibited, sets us free. To do as God asked us to, makes happy. Not to, wipes out life - condemns it eternally - let’s life die a second time. Second Death occurs four times in the New Testament’s Revelation 2:11, 20:6, 20:14 and 21:8.

To prove it, just imagine this one out of many other points and proofs:
We all know, that if we meet open-hearted and lovingly anybody we see, then this indeed makes us and others happy. Very few will turn off us then. Let them and continue meeting all with love and affection.
If instead we meet others with skepticism and wait how this person or group seems to me first before we are friendly and affectionate with these people, we’ll never get happy. We will stay alone in a desert of misunderstanding.
Let’s just remember, that Jesus mixed up with anybody- not just with those He thought were good and fit into religious life. Take tax collectors and sinners (Mark 2,17), who thereby experience a liberating life change. Jesus taught and practiced freedom from the misunderstood ethical and religious standards of the historic time. Jesus teaches freedom from our misunderstanding seeing of life too.

Let me on this point recall St. Paul in Romans 8,21: …the glorious freedom of God’s children.
So yes really; belief makes free!
Paul repeats in Gal 5,1: For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Last of which (slavery of sin) is doubts. And the greatest sin is to doubt God, as Jesus said in John 3,18: The one who believes in Christ is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

to be continued next page:
 
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Now - why is all this considered as restriction, prohibitions and requirements. They are much more so hints and tips to get hold of God - „to get nearer to you my God!“


or

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Näher+mein+Gott+zu+dir+Bach&view=detail&mid=43DA4D8B743402A7579D43DA4D8B743402A7579D&FORM=VIRE

and very many others - which shows, that all people on earth do in the bottom of their heart, indeed long for this "nearer to You my God“.

God knows us ever so individually. Not as a mass or person in masses, but as you and me, the very individual. A fact that goes all the same with good as with bad people. Last of whom will remain in the chains of sin and join Satan’s legions - first-named are set free. This goes for both; before and after passing the door of death.
By all means not a thread, but simple fact and even much more so yet, a huge help.

OK - we might ask then; why does God let bad people be born then, when even Jesus said about Judas it would have been better if he had not be born? (in Mt 26,24).
No-one ever has been determined to be bad. Never! They indeed by their given free will, decided for Satan’s way - so it’s every individuals self-made fate he formed himself.

No, never God has turned His back to us for good as long as we live on earth. All are called to repent and turn to God and eternal life in freedom, joy and happiness with God. It’s us - every individual to decide.

We are created to be with God forever - if we agree. Agreement means free will we only own - same as language. Both is divine. Animals don’t own free will. Hence never act, but react. The moment we where created - the moment the first humans where there, they had language, understanding and the ability (free will) to act either way. Science will NEVER overcome this line, as science seeks for THE MISSING LINK which will never be found, as there is no link existing between ape and human. They had of course been created separately.

So, let’s not simply react, but self determined act in our big step towards the open arms of God, for NEARER MY GOD TO YOU is not a miraculous wish, but God’s invitation and wish. But since God is absolute love and absolute justness, the goals are equal to all alike, if your name is St. Peter or Jack and Jill. ST. Peter simply had more grace of God in his „presettings“ than you and I
;-D
What Peter or you and I did or do with it, was his and is our beer.

Yours
Bruno
 
GiftofMercy said:
That is an incredible insult to me. ‘people like you’ . I asked you a simple question, based on your comments about ’ my wife and I’ and your ’ my girlfriend’
This confuses those of us who are poor simple forum readers. Clarity in communication can be a very rare thing.
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I think you are going overboard.
 
paspec said:
So, I go to confession tomorrow and confess “Bless me Father for I have sinned, I have not been following the Catholic doctrine for years, in fact, I haven’t been to confession for years, and have done this and that, but I am only sorry for this 45% of it, because I don’t believe the rest is a sin”?
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Exactly. Make sure you add the “don’t believe the other 45% is sin.” Comment. That will open the dialogue. Between you & your confessor, & between you & God.
 
Walls of text from the Bible don’t help. You have no interest in understanding another person’s story. I know you will now say I am the same, have not listened enough to what Catholicism really is. Only that I have tried this site out because I have been on dozens others, and have in fact come here to see if there are differently minded people here. Same story always. Once I get a bit confrontational or challenge some pieces from the CCC I become a troll.

Have a good one y’all
 
Justin_Mary said:
Exactly. Make sure you add the “don’t believe the other 45% is sin.” Comment. That will open the dialogue. Between you & your confessor, & between you & God.
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Just to add a practical suggestion, make an appointment for this confession, as it may require a bit longer session.
 
I don’t love god and in fact have no reason to do so. Was just interest in hearing why some people claim to have a relationship with god.
 
If you are displeased with how some have responded to you, they are human ( it would be great if they were holy saints but the church has not made them so as of yet.) Hoping you will not judge the entire universal Church from a few opinions and for that matter on a forum. The Church or God are not a forum.
 
Will pray for you and may you have the stamina, courage to seek, find and be happy. Peace Paspec.
 
I will indeed not judge them, nor will I ever judge the “Mystical Body of Christ”. I know that the metaphysical concept is thought different from its actualities.
 
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