How to Increase Happiness and Reduce Suffering

So my mom moves into a nursing home and I'm living in our house and then I get evicted. That was my first time being homeless. I saw this coming so I went to a shelter to determine what the procedure was. This is where I was going to live, in a shelter, after my eviction.

God would send many people to help me. Someone came by the house, who dealt In collectibles and purchase two thousand dollars of items the day before I had to leave my mothers house. After 2 months, in a shelter, I decided to live in my car, which lasted a month. While living in my car I happened on a "help needed" sign in a local business. So I applied for the job and remarkably, they hired me. A month later, I had just saved up enough money to start living in a hotel, but God had other plans. I thought I would check out the area on which I was going to live and that meant going to a bar and getting drunk. Well, earlier that day I had visited my mother in the nursing home and she didn't remember who I was, so I took that very hard. Leaving the bar and on my way back to the rest area, where I would sleep that night, I was arrested for DUI. I'm waking up in the holding cell completely devastated. I thought my life was over. I couldn't remember any phone numbers to call and the police officer let me use my phone, which was being held at the police station. That was against their policy. I was able to call my old friend who I helped out in a past and I also called my sister to help bond me out. 4 days later I was bounded out. And I had thought that my sister did it and I was outside waiting for her, expecting her to pick me up and I called her and she said no, she didn't bond me out. So it was my friend that had come through for me. This was the mindset my sister had and I don't blame her at all because she was 8 years old when my father passed away and then my other sister passed away two years later, so my younger sister really had it tough growing up.

My mother, let us have my deceased sister's trust. My mother could have kept that trust money. But my mother gave the trust money to the 3 remaining children. My mother paid for the best school for my younger sister, in her early education. My mother also paid college education at prestigious College for my sister. This was serious money given to my sister for education and also the trust from my deceased sister.

Fast forward about 30 years later. I'm living with my mother. I cant work. Drinking and smoking weed. Selling collectibles at different auctions. The money was running out. We have no money to pay the electric bill. They are going to shut off the power for $200 owed. And my sister wouldn't even pay $200 to keep the electric going. Take mom to a shelter, that's what my sister said. After everything that my mother had done for my sister which equated to $200,000.

This was my sister's mindset with money and also having a somewhat bitter relationship with my mother. I was even worse in my sister's evaluation.

So imagine my surprise when my sister picked me up while I was waiting outside the jail? My sister bought car insurance on my car. Remarkably, the officer didn't charge me with having no insurance.

Then my sister drove me to the car impound and paid the money to release my car.

This sort of thing just would not happen. Not even remotely. This was all God!

I was able to pick up my car with just 3 minutes before they closed. Now I'm sitting in my car at a rest area. Should I go to the bar? No, that's not a good idea getting another DUI. Should I drink here in the rest area? No, that's public intoxication, another bad idea. And that was the last time I had the urge to drink. After battling drinking and trying to quit alcohol, for 30 years. That was not my first DUI. God just removed that urge to drink and it continues for me, to this day. To have no thought of drinking.

I met with a Ministry while I was in jail and that reconnected me with God. After I got out of jail, I went to the Church associated with the prison Ministry. They did open microphone prayer requests and I laid it all out in front the Pastor and the Church. The Pastor put me in a motel for 5 days and when I was just getting ready to leave the motel, I called a shelter of which, I had been on their waiting list. Originally, it was about a month long wait to get into the shelter, but I called and amazingly, they had an immediate opening. 5 days before when I got on their waiting list, they said it would be a one month wait. It's not unusual to practically exhaust possible remedies to a situation and then God shows up. God will get us through whatever we have to get through - Faith.

The Church eventually got me into a homeless program where I would get an apartment. Back while living in my car, I had started a Go Fund Me, on Facebook. I couldn't even raise enough money for a cup of coffee. I had no money coming in, but now many people were helping me. One person bought car insurance for a year, which was highly unlikely. Another old friend reconnected with me on Facebook. I hadn't talked to him in 40 years and he helped me with expensives. My brother helped me. God would bring people into my life and then take some people out of my life. Our family came together and relationships restored. Through this all I was able to visit my mom in the nursing home almost daily and comfort my mom in her last days. God was very kind and gracious!

I could continually tell you so much more, but you could reason that, well people can have good luck with things, that's just how it can go. I had a lot of bad luck. I made a lot of bad decisions. I was due for good things to happen. This isn't a confirmation of a God.

The Bible has different instructions. We are to believe. We are to have faith. We are to have hope. We are to endeavor to live right. We are to pray and pray some more. That's how God can help us. If we do things wrong, then we can get a correction from God. This substantiates the existence of God.

However, you have people that are evil and God will just generally let them have their way even though everybody has things in their life such as good things and bad things... death. But evil people tend to prosper. Christians tend to suffer. Why some people find God and some people don't find God, is a great mystery. Why some children starve to death, is another mystery?

The Bible would say that sin is the consequences of trouble in our lives and troubles in the world.

The conclusion of what I have come to, is that God wants a relationship with people, and also, if we don't know the bad, then how can we really appreciate the good? How can we really appreciate what God is doing for us? The Bible says that all things will be revealed and why God acts in the ways that He does. One of the things we are instructed to do is search and I've done a lot of searching. Draw near to God and God will draw near to you - Believe.

There are a lot of opinions out there in the Christian community. There is a lot of different teaching. Different opinions on what a Christian is expected to do in their life to be saved. I take my Salvation very seriously.

Possibly, this could be for our benefit and God just says well, I'll give them a pass on some of these things. And God is patient. However, there is enough known in the Bible to live a better life and to know what we should be doing. We have to put the work into finding God. There are no excuses. God knows our heart.

I understand you want evidence and sometimes you just have to live through some of these things and experience what God can do for you. Let me relate a story in the Bible to finding God...

The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:14-31)

14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight. 16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. 18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ 27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ “

Someone explains the above scripture in the following and more specifically, what it means to believe and a difficulty in doing so..

The rich man’s second request still involves the service of Lazarus, but this time he does not request that Lazarus ease his suffering, but that Lazarus go to his five brothers to warn them not to come to this place. The rich man now understands that men’s choices must be made before death, and that their decisions remain after their deaths.

Abraham responded negatively to the second request, as well as to the first. There was no need for someone to be sent from the grave to warn the lost. Moses and the Prophets served this purpose well. Let the lost listen to the Old Testament revelation. That, Abraham maintained, should serve as a sufficient warning.

The rich man protested, however. He insisted that while men may not heed the Old Testament Scriptures, they could not ignore the message of a man who had returned from death. They thought that “signs and wonders” could do more than the Word of God. This is but a continuation of the request that Jesus prove Himself by performing some miracle as a proof of His person and His power.

Abraham’s answer was short and pointed. He said that if his brothers refused to listen to Moses and the Prophets, they would not be convinced by a spectacular appearance from the grave. There is a very significant principle underlying this answer. Man’s failure to believe is not due to any lack of evidence, but due to a closed heart, determined to disbelieve any amount of evidence. The problem, to put it differently, was not a lack of external evidence (appearances), but a willful rebellion of the heart against God. The hearts of this man and his five brothers were unbelieving. Such unbelief was not solved by a preponderance of the evidence, but only by a change in the heart. Once again, the outward appearances are not the issue, but the heart is.

Jesus would soon be crucified, and He would soon rise from the dead. That empty tomb in Jerusalem did not result in a host of conversions, for it was not appearances which were the problem, but the closedness of men’s hearts. If men were to believe in Christ for Salvation, they would have to believe in the Christ of which the Old Testament Scriptures foretold. Thus, when Peter preached his Pentecost sermon, he grounded his preaching on the Old Testament Scriptures, on the “Law and the Prophets” (cf. Acts 2:16-36).

FellaGaga, I've tried to witness to you my experiences. Some of the testimony of people in Africa, Iran and elsewhere are startling in their incredible faith, in what they go through, such as imprisonment of 45 years. And they still believe ❤️

I would suggest reading more about them, for inspiration.

I had asked you to pray. Pray for guidance and wait patiently and you should be sincere about it. Search for God. And that's the best advice that I can give to you.

Continually search for God. I've put some scripture in a post, above. It's a road map. Praying was my breakthrough, it starts with praying, which is just talking to God. Repent, which is to change our thinking and change our actions. Confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. Search for God. If you are sincere about trying to find God, then you will do these things. And a good confirmation of finding God is that you will change as a person. We will have ups and downs in this process. Devastating times are most likely assured. However, if we don't give up, then that is how we can find God in a deeper way, get through whatever it is that we have to get through and find God's great love with an ever increasing love ❤️

You've talked about in what God do I believe? I'm not sure if you understand the concept of the Trinity. There is God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

The Trinity is a central doctrine in Christianity that describes the nature of God as one God in three coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. This concept is rooted in the Bible and has been debated and refined by Christian theologians and scholars over the centuries.

Key Components of the Trinity

One God: The Trinity is not three separate gods, but one God in three distinct persons.
Three persons: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons, each with their own unique characteristics and roles.
Coequal and coeternal: Each person of the Trinity is equal in power, wisdom, and authority, and has existed eternally.

Consubstantial: The three persons of the Trinity share the same essence or nature, which is God.
Challenges and Debates

The paradox of the Trinity: How can one God be three persons, and how can these persons be distinct yet equal?

The problem of identity: How can each person of the Trinity be fully God while also being distinct from the other two?

The relationship between the persons: How do the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit relate to each other, and what is the nature of their relationships?

Key Biblical Passages

Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”
John 14:26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

Conclusion

The Trinity is a complex and intriguing concept that has been debated and refined by Christian theologians and scholars over the centuries. While it may be difficult to fully understand, the Trinity is a central doctrine in Christianity that describes the nature of God as one God in three coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial divine persons.

I've given you a lot to think about and some clarifications could be helpful for you, but it really amounts to praying & searching and God plays a part as well 🙂

^ A good example of deferring to God as the lead author of your life while taking responsibility for your life at the same time.

You’ve settled the score and declared victory over me? That time has not come yet.

I read it. Wondering how old you are (sounds like 50-something?) and if you play poker.

I questioned you that religious stuff is just a narrative in one's head (no god ever actually shows up, nor are any miracles ever caught on cell phone strangely), and you countered with an enormous narrative in your head about what god is doing in your life. All of that, good and bad, can happen with or without a god. And how did you determine which hidden god is doing it? Oh, the one prominent in your culture. Your narrative would be adopted to whatever culture and god you were in.

That's not a path to truth. That's the narrative in your head adopted from the culture. Imaginary friends help children cope, and imaginary gods help believers cope. Believing in such can have utility, power. Prayer, as I mentioned, can have power based solely on its internal "tanking" aspect.

What you've written doesn't move the bar a centimeter as to the reality of the god or the metaphysics of the religion. It is a testimony of how religion can be used -- ANY RELIGION -- to aid a human being.

I washed my hands of you, prophet that you are.

TRUE

FALSE

Christianity is not interested in the worldly truth and reality you subscribe to. Worldly truth can only offer to manage the symptoms of your perishing. Christianity serves life, not death.

64 years old. I play poker, but not near any kind of a professional level.

Did you pray for guidance? Are you trying to make a connection to God?

We live in The Great Mystery. They didn't resolve that mystery in the superstitious, ignorant, feverishly apocalyptic 1st Century, imo. Gnosis is a cool thing regarding this quandary, canned religion can certainly have some upsides, but is proven as wholly unreliable as literally true.

There are untold gods posited. You have presumed one. That's for you. To each their own as gods are OBVIOUSLY manufactured by humans by the thousands. You get that right? Mankind has created thousands of gods. Say that a dozen times to yourself, because it actually takes hundreds or thousands of reassessments to penetrate hypnotic, presupposed belief.

Science has posited a different type of god. Sometimes religions are posed as of 3 types: fear-based, morality-based, and cosmos-based. I'm in the cosmos-based camp. And a personal god that is nice enough to help me through my difficulties while letting 10,000 children a day starve to death, is not part of my belief system. That is incredibly myopic and egocentric.

So if we say we have a belief system that helps me with trials and tribulations of life, that's one thing. If we say that belief system is therefore the metaphysics of the universe, we are just full of shyt. BECAUSE ALL THE BELIEF SYSTEMS EXIST FOR THIS REASON. Religion can and does aid people, really, for the same reason that imaginary friends help children. It's an internal narrative support system ... NOT an entity out in the world.

The cosmos, and nature, is the god I revere. An anthropomorphized magical being that kills and judges if you don't behave is not part of that worldview.