Religion

Religion is not God.

Religion is the expression of belief in God.

What can I say that God is?
Love, Truth, Creator, Sustainer, Hope, Refuge, Joy and Happiness, Forever, Savior, Judge, Just, Forgiving, Merciful, All Knowing, Compassionate and Caring. There can be more titles. Does anybody who believes in the God of Abraham disagree?

Can the expression of belief in God become more important to some than God?

If God's command is to Love, and if at the expense of Love, we prefer a particular custom (for example, to hate someone who has a different religion, or to despise someone for not fasting as we do, or for not saying the prayers we do), then haven't we made our expression of our belief in God more important than God?

But don't the religions of the Jews, Christians and Muslims all say that God is more important than our religious customs?

The Prophet says in the Quran
"Righteousness does not consist of turning your faces towards the East and the West. But righteous is he who believes in God, and the Last Day, and the angels, and the Scripture, and the prophets. Who gives money, though dear, to near relatives, and orphans, and the needy, and the homeless, and the beggars, and for the freeing of slaves; those who perform the prayers, and pay the obligatory charity, and fulfil their promise when they promise, and patiently persevere in the face of persecution, hardship, and in the time of conflict. These are the sincere; these are the pious."

and
"So woe to those who pray. Those who are heedless of their prayers. Those who put on the appearance. And withhold the assistance."

So, religion is not God. God is God.

So which religion is right?

Maybe that's the wrong question.

Perhaps it's better to turn to God.

But how?

It is God who unlocks the meaning of scripture. It is the Love of God that unlocks the meaning of scripture.

You must start the journey of Love, start the journey of sacrifice, if you want to enter the Life of Love. This is not difficult to understand. Be kind when you don't feel like it. Help when you can, when you have the resource to do so. Do not make pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, or sloth your motivation to act or not to act. This is not difficult to understand. But it is difficult to start doing because it involves giving things up that you like. It involves sacrifice. But sacrifice for Love's sake. To love. Start, enter and want this journey, it does get easier, and if you do, scripture will show God's Word. You must sincerely want God to begin to see God. You must sincerely want Love and Truth to see Love and Truth. It is always your choice, always your choice. What do you want to do? What is your treasure? Where is your treasure? Do you want God, or do you want things to go your way? What you cling to, what you hold on to, these things you at present want more than God, but never give up the journey; and on this journey you will eventually give up all else for God. Read the different scriptures of the major religions - the Bhagavad Gita, The Teaching of Buddha, the Jewish Bible (Tanakh), the Quran, the Gospels/New Testament of the Christians. If you're that bothered, you could do this in one year. You will see the beauty of God in all, if you are with God.

and yet there is this....

1 John 2:22-28 (205) "Beloved: Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well. Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life. I write you these things about those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him. And now, children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming."

..but to confess the Son you have to know the Son and so you have to read the Gospels. You do not have to subscribe to any 'christian religious denomination', but if you come to know the Son you deny Him at your peril. For to deny the Son is to deny the Love of God. Read the Gospels, pray to God, remain in God "so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But His anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as It taught you, remain in Him."

...and know this too...

"From now onwards, never let anyone else decide what you should eat or drink, or whether you are to observe annual festivals, New Moons or sabbaths. These were only pale reflections of what was coming: the reality is Christ. Do not be taken in by people who like grovelling to angels and worshipping them; people like that are always going on about some vision they have had, inflating themselves to a false importance with their worldly outlook. A man of this sort is not united to the head, and it is the head that adds strength and holds the whole body together, with all its joints and sinews - and this is the only way in which it can reach its full growth in God. If you have really died with Christ to the principles of this world, why do you still let rules dictate to you, as though you were still living in the world? 'It is forbidden to pick up this, it is forbidden to taste that, it is forbidden to touch something else'; all these prohibitions are only concerned with things that perish by their very use - an example of human doctrines and regulations! It may be argued that true wisdom is to be found in these, with their self-imposed devotions, their self-abasement, and their severe treatment of the body; but once the flesh starts to protest, they are no use at all. Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God's right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed - and he is your life - you too will be revealed in all your glory with him."

So I confess to seeing the fullness of revelation in the Gospels. And I don't mean in the books or the texts, but in the Living Word, the Truth and the Way, Jesus Christ. And I see that His body did die on the cross and that He suffered for us, although I see that Jesus Christ cannot die and is now at the right hand of the Father, God our Creator. But I could say this and hate. I do not know God if I hate. Links to scriptures are found on this web site.

But does God want us fighting amongst ourselves about which religion is best? Surely if God is Love, Compassionate and Merciful then the religion that wants to hate and fight and dominate and control and take; would not this be the worst religion? And any religion can be the worst religion if it is interpreted in a way that promotes hate rather than Love, lies and fear rather than Truth and Joy.

So read and pray and work to do good. And keep doing so.

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And for those who believe in something else or nothing.

May Truth and Love be with you.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and other religions, though proclaiming they have the true insight into Love and Truth have sometimes practised greed, lust, hate, envy, slothfulness, gluttony and wrath throughout the ages.

The pain the various religious institutions have given, like all pain, can be responded to by a choice to forgive and so heal, or by a desire to hate, grow in resentment and revenge, and so get worse. If you have been treated badly, don't let your response put you in a worse situation.

Forgiveness is as much for your sake as for those you forgive. If you choose not to forgive, you hold hate and inwardly you slowly die. Love can heal this pain and where are you going to get it? Will even those who love us most on earth have enough love for us to heal us? And we will even lose them through death. And how do those who do not have people to love them on earth cope and heal? Do you really think the Healthcare services offer this love? That might be the weak claim of healthcare management who are led by economics and fear. So where is this needed love going to come from. Or do you say it's not here and that this is as good as it gets?

In a world with so much anxiety, pain, uncertainty, loss of identity, fear, lack of self-respect or worth, and mental illness, we need this Love. Unconditional Love.

Putting the whole notion of God aside, could you put your faith in Truth and Love and gain the strength from this to live this Truth and Love, and heal? Could you have faith that Truth and Love loves you and knows you as an individual? Or is this to you just as 'silly' as having faith in God? But without faith in Love, how are we to have the strength to love?

And you might say that religion has been around for centuries, and the religious peoples don't love like this, an unwavering strong Love. No, they don't because for centuries religious people have put their faith in their religion rather than God, and a lot are so blind they can't distinguish the difference. But always there have been some who have put their faith in Love and Truth and their lives have born witness to it.

If faith in God does not make sense to you, think of it as faith in Love and Truth. If religious people's actions are not born from Love and Truth, you can tell them that they have turned away from their God. And if they show hate towards you even if you mock and insult them, tell them this is not how their God has said they should behave, and that they have no grounds to say God supports them. We, who are believers, are to ignore your mocking and insults and see them as so irrelevant to us that they should not upset us. And yet there is a difference between hate and defending oneself. What should upset us, us who have faith in God, is that you the unbeliever, an unbeliever of Love and Truth, will not have the joy of Love in your heart, but will rather have fear and you will act accordingly.

As you won't find any scientific proof of God's existence, neither, I believe, will you find the fullness of Love needed to heal individuals and the world unless you put your faith in God, often the very thing that you ridicule.