Mary-andering Creatively

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Finding God in Religions

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N is for Names of God and O is for the One True God

 

What is the Name of the One True God?

 

Can all religions worship the one, True God? What is the name of the one, True God? Is it Allah? Christ?Jehovah? Or should we seek enlightenment and not God?

 

Jewish belief points to a God that just is and does not have a name. He is the Great I Am to the Jew. He loves His called children. He demands blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. He is a jealous God who commands that His followers put no other God’s before Him.
 

Muslims call their God, Allah. The Arabic word Allah means God (the one and only true God who created the whole universe).  He is merciful, just, and swift to forgive sin. He demands obedience and prayer for forgiveness of sins. You walk daily with Him and pray at appointed times toward Mecca.

 

Buddhism is not based on belief in a God. For the Buddhist, the belief in God is not as important as trying to end suffering and find the Noble and True Path. They believe in dharma or universal truth. They seek to end suffering by integrating Buddha’s teachings into daily life which they believe enables people  to solve all their inner problems and attain a truly peaceful mind. They believe that the human being can overcome by purifying their minds and opening themselves to perfect love and peace. Their primary vehicle for purification is meditation.

 

Christians believe that the One, True God is a Trinity, of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. They are separate, but they are one, which is a great mystery.  They believe that Christ, the Son, gave up His place in Heaven with the Father and came to earth to live a sin-free, perfect life.  Born of a virgin, He preached His gospel to disciples and told them to spread His words of salvation to the whole world, preaching in His name. If you believe on Christ, his death, and resurrection, and call upon His name, then you shall be saved from your sins. You must confess with your mouth your sins and repent of them in your heart. Salvation is a gift of God and not based on works.

 
Even as salvation is a gift of God, Christians believe purification and sanctification from selfishness and sin is an ongoing, daily process of seeking Christ through prayer and practicing of righteous behavior. We can only obtain perfection through this daily faith walk.  Our salvation, however, is not based on works or merit. We perform good deeds and seek to live righteously because we love Christ who first loved us.

 How do you know which set of beliefs are true and sound? How do you seek the True God and find true forgiveness and peace? Is it a matter of self-will and self-enlightenment, or is it a matter of prayer for forgiveness and then belief in a one True God who loves mankind and is merciful?

 

What is the True Name of the One True God?

For Muslim it is Allah. For the Jew it is the “Great I am.” For the Buddhist, God is a force and points to a path to enlightenment. For the Christian, God is Holy. He is three: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. None come to the Father but through Christ. Christ is the true path to God and heaven.
 

 As a Christian, I believe in Christ as the path to God and heaven. I believe in His teachings of love and mercy. I pray for Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists everyday that the find the truth of Jesus’s teachings. Like Buddha, Jesus commanded us to pray and meditate. His apostle Paul commanded that Christian think on these things: whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

 

I believe that this ties into what the Buddhist’s believe. We are to think and meditate daily on the beauty and love in us and around us. I pray I follow a disciplined life of prayer just as the Muslim who stops what he is doing five times every day to honor and pray God.
 
I also pray for peace among us all that we do not argue and resort to violence against one another in the name of God.  We all seek the same outcome: eternal love and peace.
 

This post is for the letters N and O  in the 2016 A to Z Blogging Challenge. Learn more about it here.I will also join several of the hops listed on my Link-up Parties page.

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Comments

  1. We all seek the same outcome: eternal love and peace.

    But we all don’t take the same route –

    Jesus said, I am The Way The Truth The Life , no one receives eternal love and peace from my Father unless they go through Me.

    😉
    Susan Shipe recently posted…shepherds with pensMy Profile

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