where i'm at

[mackk]

Ok, so for those who may not know I am in the processes of converting to Catholicism from a pagan lifestyle. So a good deal of this may seem dumb or or totally common knowledge but most of this is epically new to me so please be patient when you are explaining things.

God and i ::

• God set out to make me on purpose. I was planed for a reason. one that God may or may not choose to share with me (I’m actually ok with this finally)
• God Loves me and wants good things for me.
• God doesn’t NEED my praise the way we NEED air **God needs my praise the way I need hugs from my grand baby.
• God made heaven for me (us) and wants me to live there with him but first he needs to know that I can act right in heaven so I am here on earth “proving” that i can handle heaven.
• Hell will actually be an existence with out the presence of God after we have stood in his glory at judgment. Hell is the complete absence of God.
• I should work to be the best me that I can be not because i am afraid of hell or want heaven but because God deserves a chance to be proud of me and the work done to make me. God wants to be proud and smile at me.

How I can make God happy ::

• God is happy when I trust him to take care of me
• God is happy when I work hard to be the best me I can be
• God is happy when I listen for him and do what is asked of me

I’m sorry i am certain there are a number of you who could communicate this much more gracefully than I ever could but this is the way I understand things right now.
do yall think I’m too far off base?

 

[promethius]

I’m going to keep this a little simple by using colors and commenting inside your posts

God and i ::

• God set out to make me on purpose. I was planed for a reason. one that God may or may not choose to share with me (I’m actually ok with this finally) **Bingo. **
• God Loves me and wants good things for me. Bingo
• God doesn’t NEED my praise the way we NEED air God needs my praise the way I need hugs from my grand baby. Eh… God doesn’t need your praise at all for any reason. The perfect God we worship is entirely self-suficient with no needs whatsoever. God enjoys your praise like you enjoy hugs from your grand baby. God commands us to praise Him because praise and worship is good for us. Kind of like you command your grandbaby to drink milk (assuming not lactose intolerant), not because you NEED to get rid of milk, but because drinking milk is healthy for growing children. We are growing souls, and worship, especially in Communion, is our spiritual food.**
• God made heaven for me (us) and wants me to live there with him but first he needs to know that I can act right in heaven so I am here on earth “proving” that i can handle heaven. **Eh… heaven isn’t a physical place in the sense that you’re using the language. Heaven is perfect “beatific vision”, or perfect union and love with God while being possessed of a perfected will (in other words, what is flawed in us will be perfected and we will be in the full presence of God… in a way that is still somewhat mysterious to us. **God does NOT need you to prove that you can handle heaven. Right now, you could never measure up to that because you have imperfect will and being. You are here to grow in love and faith, to accept and love God, and to attempt to reject sin in order to live in grace and demonstrate that though you fail you do not cling to sin so tightly that you cannot let it go completely to join God in heaven.
• Hell will actually be an existence with out the presence of God after we have stood in his glory at judgment. Hell is the complete absence of God.** Bingo! We choose hell for ourselves by choosing sin over God, and when we are judged, God gives us our wish and let’s us go without His presence which is all goodness and love. **
• I should work to be the best me that I can be not because i am afraid of hell or want heaven but because God deserves a chance to be proud of me and the work done to make me. God wants to be proud and smile at me.Close enough Just one addition: you also should be good because you love God and want to bring Him glory. A priest once asked a single question in a very simple homily: “If there was no heaven, would you still love God?” Do we do what is right because simply because it is right and we want to please God, or do we do what is right because we want to be rewarded? God recognizes both, but which is truly more pleasing? I think you’re definitely on the right track here…

How I can make God happy ::

• God is happy when I trust him to take care of me True
• God is happy when I work hard to be the best me I can be True
• God is happy when I listen for him and do what is asked of me True
• Add to this list… what about when you spread love by doing acts of Christian charity? God is love, and His presence is love, so when we do acts of charity, we are helping to represent and bring the kingdom of God that much closer to earth. you can think of SO many ways to make God happy

 

[MtnDwellar]

It seems to me that you have gained a wonderful understanding.

 

[mackk]

Thank you to both of you .

 

[joandarc2008]

Seems to me like you are doing pretty well - keep up the study and prayer. God bless you and keep you.

 

[Monica4316]

I think you’ve got it right, except that I would elaborate on this part

God made heaven for me (us) and wants me to live there with him but first he needs to know that I can act right in heaven so I am here on earth “proving” that i can handle heaven.

God wants you to be in Heaven - yes.

We need to act on earth how we want to be in Heaven - yes.

But we wouldn’t ever be able to handle it without Him first transforming us by His grace… if a person dies without repenting of sin, they wouldn’t be able to accept God when they see Him, so they would run away from Him - into hell. That’s why we repent of sin, go to Confession, and accept God’s mercy… but there’s also Purgatory. If we die in a state of grace, with our sins repented of, forgiven (and with Confession if we had the chance to go, which is something we should seriously pray for) - but we are not yet perfected and have many bad habits, attachments, result of our sins in our souls, etc - then we go to Purgatory to get ‘cleansed’ for Heaven… to sort of get cleaned up. So being in Heaven requires that we are perfectly able to live in union with God. We can’t ever do this on our own… this can only be achieved through God’s grace… He needs to transform us. We get there by cooperating with His grace… prayer, good works, love for God, Sacraments, are all part of this. Hope this explanation makes sense… it’s the way I was taught about this Church teaching.

About everything else, I think you put it really well!

God bless