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The
Baha'i Faith
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- Preparing To Search For God
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 The Search For God
- The Commandment to seek God is recorded in every Holy Book
as noted in these few verses below. God has also provided us
with a process to follow and instructed us in what standards
to use. All that we need to do is to understand with our heart
and mind what God means, to use our inner ears and eyes to hear
and see with God's ears and eyes, and to ask for His help. He
never refuses.
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- 1. Preparing to Search/Understand--Capacity: Those
who have the capacity to recognize God's Messengers search for
Them.
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- But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou
shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with
all thy soul. Deuteronomy 4:29
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- Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew
5:8
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- …they that tread the path of faith, they that thirst
for the wine of certitude, must cleanse themselves of all that
is earthly - their ears from idle talk, their minds from vain
imaginings, their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes
from that which perisheth. They should put their trust in God,
and, holding fast unto Him, follow in His way. Then will they
be made worthy of the effulgent glories of the sun of divine
knowledge and understanding…
- Baha'u'llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Page:3
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- 2. Preparing to Search/Understand--Wisdom
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- The LORD's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom
shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
Micah 6:9
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- That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of him: Ephesians 1:17
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- 3. Preparing to Search/Understand--Detachment/Humility
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- He shall save the humble person. Job 22;29
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- Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew
5:8
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- May God save thee, shouldst thou seek any evidence according
to thy selfish desire; rather it behooveth thee to uphold the
unfailing proof which God hath appointed. The object of thy belief
in God is but to secure His good-pleasure. How then dost thou
seek as a proof of thy faith a thing which hath been and is contrary
to His good-pleasure? The Bab: Selections from the Bab, Page:
122
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- The true seeker hunteth naught but the object of his quest,
and the lover hath no desire save union with his beloved. Nor
shall the seeker reach his goal unless he sacrifice all things.
That is, whatever he hath seen, and heard, and understood, all
must he set at naught, that he may enter the realm of the spirit,
which is the City of God. Labor is needed, if we are to seek
Him; ardor is needed, if we are to drink of the honey of reunion
with Him; and if we taste of this cup, we shall cast away the
world. Baha'u'llah: Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, Page:
7
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- 4. Preparing to Search/Understand--Fear of Searching
- I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their
fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when
I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes,
and chose that in which I delighted not. Isaiah 66:4
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- But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and
all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with
fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (separation from
God) Revelations 21:7-8
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- "But those who reject Faith and belie Our Signs, they
shall be companions of the Fire; they shall abide therein."
O Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favor which
I bestowed upon you, and fulfil your covenant with Me as I fulfil
My Covenant with you, and fear none but Me. And believe in what
I reveal, confirming the revelation which is with you, and be
not the first to reject Faith therein, nor sell My Signs for
a small price; and fear Me, and Me alone.
- Qur'an
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- 5. Preparing to Search/Understand--Asking for God's Assistance
- When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come
upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD
thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the LORD
thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither
destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he
swear unto them. Deuteronomy 4:30-31
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- Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable
things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3
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- Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh
it shall be opened… Matthew 7:7-8, 11
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- Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds!…Thee only do we
worship, and to Thee do we cry for help. Guide Thou us on the
straight path, The path of those to whom Thou hast been gracious-with
whom thou art not angry, and who go not astray. Qur'an: Surih
1:1-6
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- At every moment he findeth a weighty matter, in every hour
he becometh aware of a mystery; for he hath taken his heart away
from both worlds, and set out for the Ka'bih(7) of the Beloved.
At every step, aid from the Invisible Realm will attend him and
the heat of his search will grow. Baha'u'llah: Seven Valleys
and Four Valleys, Page: 6
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- 6. Preparing to Search/Understand--Need to Search Independently
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- Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words
of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they
speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of
the LORD. Jeremiah 23:16
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- Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man
that he was Jesus the Christ. Matthew 16:20
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- It is incumbent on these servants that they cleanse the heart
- which is the wellspring of divine treasures - from every marking,
and that they turn away from imitation, which is following the
traces of their forefathers and sires, and shut the door of friendliness
and enmity upon all the people of the earth.
- Baha'u'llah: Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, Page: 5
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- 7. Preparing to Search/Understand--Imaginings
- Fear God, and follow not your idle fancies. Nay, rather,
follow the bidding of your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Wise.
- Baha'u'llah: The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p: 32
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- 8. Preparing to Search/Understand--Obedience
- But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak
unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments,
which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land
which I give them to possess it. Ye shall observe to do therefore
as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside
to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways
which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live,
and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your
days in the land which ye shall possess. Deuteronomy 5:31-33
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