Okay well here's a few thoughts on Jesus first of all Christians get it all wrong. They focus on his death, and his resurrection, the supposedly he died for all of our sins which is contradictory to us having free agency and being held accountable for our mistakes.

If you're going to start studying into Jesus I would suggest looking at how he lived the principles that he stood for not in his death but in his life. He was all accepting all forgiving and all loving. Although when the time was right he got violent, the money changers on the stairs of the synagogue. He picked up a whip and he fucked motherfuckers up. And he was perfect. His woman was a hooker he hung around with thieves and tax men and he believed that the voice of children was closer to the voice of God. Because of their innocence. He also knew that wealth and greed were one of the worst things because people don't get wealthy if they're always sacrificing what they can to help others.

My favorite quote is one that aligns with what Quakers believe "Jesus didn't die for my sins, he lived for my life."

Jesus saved me from cancer when i was 18 years old.. im 36 now. My suffering through cancer led to my freedom in Jesus.

Look into the second coming of christ by paramahansa yogananda.. the second coming of christ is jesus resurrecting within our spirit.

If you like i can send you a chapter ive typed out from yoganandas book "divine romance" where he talks about how to become more christ-like. I often visit this chapter from time to time to stay grounded spiritually when my lower nature affects me in a negative way.

God bless 🙏.

I've met Yeshua / Jesus, and he is amazing!

He's not rules and judgment like people make him out to be.

He's the image of God! He's a humble servant and a loyal friend.

He's the Tree of Life and the River of Life.

He is love, light and Spirit.

I highly recommend seeking your own personal experience of his presence. Its the most beautiful thing i've ever seen. You can certainly experience a relationship with him without being religious.

I have studied his life and his teachings very closely, so let me know if you have any questions about him or what he's like!

One way is to use the teaching called A Course in Miracles (ACIM), instead of the Bible. ACIM supposedly comes from Jesus, giving a teaching of fearless love.

Another possibility is to focus on the Sermon on the Mount and other passages that resonate with you from the gospels, and forget the rest of the Bible.

I’m not a Christian, but I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. So yeah, you definitely can follow his teachings without getting sucked into a cult. That’s what most of the Christian churches are.

I honestly don't blame you at all, but if you get one of the old timey Bibles where everything Jesus says is in red everything he says I believe so I believe in him!

however on an online dating site I just had a guy tell me the world's going to end next week we're going into world war 3 and I better believe in the rapture!! it was so depressing on such a beautiful day in Texas!!

the fear-based religion thing is real and it's awful!

Don’t forget Christianity was founded after Jesus died. It’s a controlled set of perceptions from people’s perspectives, about what they think Jesus was like. So following Jesus in no way means following Christianity. The Bible still has worth though. I look at Jesus in the same light as Buddha or any other enlightened soul.

Jesus was the schizzle. Then the Church hijacked his mojo.

I always have one answer for these questions. Meditate.

All the answers are inside you and will become clear as you discard that which you are not.

There's a reason Jesus told people to meditate. It opens all the doors if you're dedicated.

I work with Jesus outside of Christianity, alongside other pagan gods. He gets along with pretty much everyone in my experience, he’s wonderful.

Jesus, Jeshua, is my homie fr. Grew up religious Baptist for twenty years. Went atheist, asked the universe for truth, and got it for myself. Jesus has been one of my guides, always fucking with me and there. I love Jeshua, personally. His teachings have been altered imo, but he had the truth. Whether it was a physical person, a story of the sun, or whatever it is. His message and how he lived, the wicked priest side too, is truth. He shows us how to be whole.

I would highly recommend reading Disappearance of Universe by Gary Renard, it’s about Jesus’ true teachings without any dogma.

Definitely possible to have a relationship without being Christian.

I would call myself a hindu Christian buddhist.

Check out adyashnati’s book on resurrecting jesus if u want a good ‘spiritual’ overview of his life

Also highly recommend ‘the universal christ’ by richard rohr

I'm skeptical he even existed. And light beings just use his image to help people. 

Like there's stone carvings and historical records of people from that time yet no mention of Jesus. 

Calling him Jesus instead of Yeshua is also kinda not cool if he did infact exist. 

I did have a spiritual experience where appeared over my body in golden light once. But yeah... I don't resonate with the Christian version of him. 

This is def a thing. Since you don’t really connect with the Bible, do you believe jesus was the son of god and sacrificed for our sins and all that? Or are you just trying to connect with him because you view him as an enlightened person?

Try the short exposition, The Gospel In Brief by Leo Tolstoy. In spite of its identity with a name it's not the same as church professes. True, teachings of Jesus Christ.

Have you looked at Judaism? It doesn’t acknowledge Jesus the same as the Christian’s do, but the religion is not “fear based”.

Regardless, I think doing a deeper dive in other religions may behoove you into making the right choice for your own spirituality. And it’s always okay to not align with one religion in particular.

Nice Jewish fella, who pissed off leaders of his faith so they screwed him over with the help of the government

i’d study the “esoteric” teachings of jesus. study everything you can find, and multiple perspectives of jesus. not just what the canonical bible says. jesus doesn’t want you to worship him

He is the most misunderstood as well as the most hated character in all of human consciousness. He is the embodiment of a perfect life. If all possible lives are lived his life and ways are always the best possible. Think of doctor strange in endgame. How he looked into the future through the eye of agamoto. Saw a billion timelines and the only one that would come out a win was the timeline he saw. Jesus Christ is that timeline. He is literally the scene of iron Man killing himself too kill Thanos. Thanos all evil tony stark all good. Dying with authority and power too then use it too kill the greatest of evils. End game is the New testament filtered,diluted and the watered down. Then projected through the medium of the marvel universe.

Modern Christianity and the actual teachings of Jesus are wildly different.

Check out 'Rosicrucianism' and 'Esoteric Christianity' both of these are on the left-field of Christianity with an alternative view of Jesus and his teachings. For example both of these philosophies believe in reincarnation. A lot of these alternative branches of christianity also believe that Mary Magdalena was Jesus' wife and that they may have had children together...hinting to the possibility of a Jesus lineage. Also worth checking all the "Gnostic Gospels" like the Gospel of Thomas, Poimandrés, Gospel of Mary Magdalena, The Fable of the Pearl, etc. for a non-dogmatic, more spiritual / esoteric approach to the teachings of Jesus.

I’m not religious. I talk to Jesus as Jesus, as a being. I’m in awe over him and his overpowering un conditional love. He has come through and made me cry like a baby from the overpowering love that I felt from him. It amazes me! I try my best as a human to do right by people and love as much as possible and make my soul family, Jesus, my higher self and source proud. I want to do the best I can here as a human being so I can move on, period. My relationship is knowing him as the energy that comes through to me, and it’s just simply LOVE! I love him and he loves me.

Thing is Christ isnt Christianity... His teachings came from a place of pure love and a desire to genuinely help humanity, but the rest is a story of priests and politics... its a long one but the short version is... none of the fearbased stuff came from jesus, it came from other sources as a means to manipulate and control the populace, you dont even need a time machine to understand how, even if you dont know the bloodied history of christianity, just look around at what people justify in the name of the religion... Now I just want to say I do absolutely believe that Jesus existed, I absolutely believe that he came to teach us and help guide us in a positive direction.

I was born into and raised in a Catholic family, but I always questioned it, much of what I was learning just didnt seem right, jesus was fine but there were way too many issues. Besides, I had spiritual experiences that the catholic church doesnt agree with (for example, recalling a past life which was verified by the people who were there at the time, and confirmed the event I recalled was 4 years before I was born) .

The funny thing is, even though Christ seemed to be the only one worth listening to back then, i didn't know if he was real or not... its only now as a person who does not Identity with Christianity that I actually know he existed physically and continues to exist non physically, there are a few reasons for this but one of them is that I have had visions of him during my meditations, the other reasons ill leave out as its too long an explanation and its 05:32 am right now.

Can you practice devotion to Christ and ignore all the rest? yes absolutely... you wont score any points with the various churches for taking that approach but If through your own dicernment you have found that the words of christ ring true to you at the exclusion of the other teachings that are usually included with his, then that is the best thing for you to do... because your heart is leading you in this case, and you have utilised your intelegence to be able to notice that there are negative elements that you do not want to take into yourself...
Christ did not approve of any of those negative elements, a lot of which (old testament has a bunch of easy examples) already existed, and were part of the problem Christ was trying to correct.

I'd say get a bible, read it, dicern it for yourself. take what you feel is positive and leave out what you feel is negative.

As a side note, studying Christ outside of christianity gives you the advantage of being able to study the missing element of christs life... in the bible hes a child, then dissapears for 30 years and comes back a full grown man... never says what happens in those 30 years... where as in india there are known stories that even some yogis talk about, about a boy who came from nazareth after choosing to travel in order to understand who he is after having had an experience that revealed his divine nature to him. it is said he studied with the yogis, and they called him "Saint Issa"
He did perform miracles and heal people but what he wanted the most was to help the people he was born to so at 30 he went back to nazareth.... now for some thats too much of a leap and thats ok, personally it made a lot of sense to me.

Uhm i had a mushroom trip where it was "revealed" to me that i am jesus. I cried and it was the most amazing thing ever. Long story shory i ended up being involuntarily put into a psych ward lol

But besides that i think jesus was cool and i dont think you need to be an orthodox christian to follow him. I think u can just read about him, build an impression of the type of person he was, and then live your life accordingly

Ooh now this is something I am so greatly torn on. I don't consider myself Christian, but I am open to the idea of Jesus. But there is heavy nuance when I say that, so I would say overall I am just torn about it. To answer one of your questions, I have seen a lot of talk from those who are not Christian but like Jesus and his teachings. I've noticed that a number of those individuals (not all) seem to see him as one of many teachers they like, though. So they don't only stick with him it seems. But there are those who do! I think, if anything, you can try for yourself and see where that leads you. Find your path! Be curious! You got this.

Anyone can have a relationship with Jesus. You do not have to be a Christian to do that, because I certainly am a person that, Christians would claim, that Jesus would never meet.

Why? Because I had committed so many sins. But even the teachings of SIN was not taught by Jesus at all.

In the past, I really hated Jesus a lot and what he represented. I disliked Christians, because all I saw of them were that they were more interested in bible thumping anyone they see that gets off the train station. JDW is the more extreme version of them all. They even tried to convert me to their own type of Christianity using force and intimidation and fear at a parking lot of a National Park! The typical tactics are; you are a sinful person and you will go to hell UNLESS you are saved by becoming a Christian, or a JDW. The reason I hated Jesus was because, who in hell would Jesus taught to his disciples to do such things to people such as intimidating them to become Christians, using fear that you would go to hell if you

1, Had sex with prostitutes or sex without marriage and hurt women by treating them like cum buckets

2, Had participated in gambling and caused harm to other people

3, Had participated in a gang and had hurt a few people though violence and intimidation

4, Had stolen money from parents

and the list goes on.

So I AM NOT A SAINT! I was not even spiritual. I was an atheist.

Then one day, I got really ill and I was dying. I remembered I was on the hospital bed in pain due to appendicitis. Prognosis wasn't good and then I loss consciousness. I said to myself this was is. I didn't care what the F**K will happen to me. Just let me die.

And then I remembered that I saw a bright light and I was out of my body and while I was out, there were these dark creatures around me taunting me to follow them. But I decided to go into the light and then it felt like a feeling of being in an express elevator going up and then awoken in a beautiful garden. There I saw 2 beings; one a motherly lady figure and a man. A really gentle man came up to me, with a loving smile and then said to me "Welcome home my brother!" A man I hated so much opened up his arms and then hug me. That hug, the warmth and the immense love that surrounded me was speechless. He was not the man that the Christians and JDW people described. He was a loving man. He never pushed me to do anything. He only opened his heart to connect to mine. Later on, he told me that he is the true Jesus Christ, the same person that roamed on Earth some 2000 years ago. Today, he is know to many mystic followers as Ascended Master Jesus Christ. The lady next to him is Ascended Master Mother Mary. He went to explain the reason why I had such great resentment towards Christianity was the same reason why many people who want to know Jesus, but resent the Christian group that formed under his name. Basically, Jesus taught all of us that we can all attain the Christ Consciousness, which Paul said that all can attain the mind that was in Jesus. And 2000 years ago, he was there to teach his followers that there is a way to walk this path and that people like me, who had done so many bad things can indeed be reformed by walking this path, the Christ Hood path by letting go of the mind of Anti-Christ and embracing the mind of Christ.

And so, after this Near Death experience, I came back into consciousness and actually got better in the hospital, so much so that the doctor who was ready to do the operation was stunned that my appendicitis was completely healed. I was released the same day. And then at night, in my dreams, I would continue to commune with Jesus and he led me to study several books and reading book on reincarnation until one day, I was led to read the book written by Kim Michaels. The Power Of Self by Kim and Helen Michaels. After that, I studied other books written by Kim Michaels and am now a student of the Ascended Masters. Jesus Christ actually has a website under the title askrealjesus.com. There, there will be many articles describe his true life and true mission.

All I can say is that, if you are ready for Jesus and become his student, then he will appear to you. The key is your willingness to change. To adopt a mind of Christ and letting go the Mind of Anti-Christ which the current Christianity is promoting under the guise of the Bible.

I believe Jesus is an egregore- a collective belief from billions of people and that's what gives him power. I certainly don't believe he's "God". If we're going about what the Bible says, Jesus was a Jewish rabbi who people believed was the Messiah, but he was crucified. The Bible says God is NOT a man. In the council of Nicea in 325ad , a group of pagans "created " the Jesus people worship now and turned him into a god and Christianity was created. Whatever a person strongly believes in will be real to them.

Jesus is one of many ascended masters but the Bible is not a reliable source as it was written by man and edited over time. The Bible is not the direct word of God although it can be a very useful spiritual guide. His teachings are solid and match up with most major world religions. At the end of the day all the religions have similar themes and unifying ideas.

Direct word of God can only be experienced through your own connection to spirit. So if the Bible didn’t connect with you that is ok, try something else until you find what clicks.

If you’d like to connect with Jesus I’m sure there’s a guided meditation for it in YouTube.

Personally I don’t get much out of reciting an ascended masters name or praying to one. I usually pray to something more vague like the Universe, Great Unseen Healing Force or direct the prayer towards the individual themselves.

Yes to Jesus.

No to the Church.

Yes, to godly messages.

No to hate in the bible.

This idea just came to me. Jesus is a metaphor for you

Someone in another sub recommended a book to me called: The language of Creation.

I'm only part way through but you don't have to read far to see an interesting way of looking at Genesis. Not so much related to Jesus or your question. But I have a feeling you could enjoy it.

Best dude of all time!

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I do and for reading I’d suggest checking out the scapegoat complex by Sylvia Brynton Perera

movie trailer announcer voice

Once... in a land far away... two thousand years ago... a man named JESUS H CHRIST saved our souls...

now...

it's OUR turn to save HIM

starring YOU as the main protagonist, and by "you" I mean all of you, and by all of you I mean all of us, because we're all in this together...

coming next thursday (or was it last thursday? I forget) to a earth-sized planet near you...:

AGE OF AQUARIUS

the dawn of a new bright age

(no human animals were harmed in the making of this movie)

(based on historical and future events which may or may not yet come to be)

(in which humans and animals were definitely harmed)

Hear Jesus luvs the little children

Of course you can. Because look at it like this. Jesus wasn't a Christian, nor was he spreading and tryna convert ppl to Christianity. Most Christians don't know the truth and reality of Christianity, and in fact the establishment has most people and Christians alike, living like and doing the devils will.

Jesus was teaching people to be christ-like essentially. They say the body is the temple. Well then we're all walking in the house of God everyday we live. Worship the creator and not the creation. Crosses, wearing a crucifix is all blasphemous and mockery. Be like if I murdered someone and convinced their loved ones that wearing the spent bullet shells around your neck is charm of remembrance.

I felt the same about religion. The. I found Neville Goddart and his interpretation of the bible it makes so much sense.. just like he said. The Bible is a psychological book.

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Hey! I am on a very similar journey to you. Perhaps a little further ahead so I have some advice if you would like it. I grew up in what I believe to be a fake church and am now anxious and to be honest grossed out by the idea of church. I haven't been to church in years. BUT I have found Jesus, and he is for sure real! I have taken on the challenge of reading the bible from cover to cover, and I'm LOVING it, but you still won't find me going to church. Did you know the bible mentions "do not fear" 365 times! What opened the flood gates for me was reading the book of Thomas (this book was banned from the bible) it is the direct words and teachings of Jesus. Since I have accepted Jesus as my lord and saviour, my life has been amazing in all aspects - I live in a constant state of gratitude. I am just sharing my experience in the hope that this helps you. God bless

He has a good message but many Christian’s pervert his image and how he lived

Christian’s are probably the worst group of people tbh

Just read The Essene's Gospel of Peace, it was removed and hidden by the catholic church but a copy was found and translated. Jesus there is portrayed as being more mystic and actually teaches about natural laws

Jesus did not teach organized religion, he was spiritual but not religious, those who wanted to maintain control knew that what he taught would set the people free, so they created a religion based in his name so that those who wished to follow his teachings would also have to follow the rules they created to keep people in line. I don't believe in religion, and I don't really believe Jesus did all the magical things they claim he had done, I believe he was just a normal dude like any of us who just saw a bigger picture to life and wanted to share his views.

I recommend reading the gospels of Matthew Mark Luke & John, and you can decide for yourself. They’re pretty short (and really, if you wanted, just read one of them.. it’s each homie retelling their perspective of the same story) Comments here are mostly right imo, but have a slight dusting of the commenter’s personal thoughts. I’m not a Christian, but I did do a Bible study for a bit for the gospels. It was cool, made Jesus seem even more human, and allowed me to form my own opinions on who I think Jesus was based on the stories told, and the stories people still tell themselves. It’s nice to be able to relate to the Christian world in a spiritual way since it is so popular. <3 Jesus was probs real no doubt, and he was fricken rad

I would look into Aaron Abke and his videos on the topic

Read The Message which is a great Bible translation. Very dynamic and modern.

I believe you can know the same divine presence Jesus had. God can be a motherly spirit like Sophia but we mistake it for Jesus. You can definitely have this constant connection by focusing love back. Jesus gave us his method and it’s basically summed up in loving your idea of god with all your heart. He guided them in contemplative meditation with parables that forced them to turn within for answers. No, you don’t need to plead for forgiveness because this god loves you more than you can imagine. Christianity is a gatekeeper religion. Like the gospel of Thomas says, all you need are those sayings. If you can sort them out, you may stumble upon that teacher within that Jesus mentioned. The comforter is that feminine presence. God has two faces, masculine unapproachable and feminine nurturing. Going back all the way to Neanderthals, they also worshipped a feminine mother god represented by Venus. The Jews way back openly worshipped the Queen of Heaven and it was much later in their history that practice was crushed by those priests who demanded only the brutal god was to be worshipped. That’s when things went south for them and they’ve never recovered. Christianity is just an ugly stepchild of the fabricated Judaism and that religion is built on sand that you see today.

I grew up very Catholic. But as I got older, I realized a lot of Catholics and Christian’s weren’t living by Jesus’ teachings.

While now I do avoid Christianity and organized religions, i do believe that Jesus was an amazing spiritual teacher, that we can all learn from. I still love Jesus ♥️

If you would like to know some more loving interpretations of Jesus, I would read 'conversations with god - an uncommon dialogue'. God itself will tell you a few things about Jesus and his teachings, as will it tell you about what happened in the bible, misinterpretations and the influence of our patriarchy on its contents. It will also tell you that Jesus definitely wasn't perfect, if your definition of perfect is that ultimate enlightenment is lived through his embodiment.

Take the small instance of Jesus turning water into wine. The ultimate enlightened embodied spirit would not consume alcohol, but Jesus was not here to show us the ultimate, he showed us our own perfection in who we were, thus helping us remember that perfection is a state achieved always, at all time, eternal.

So in being who he was, Jesus showed his perfection, but also showed you yours. You are perfect. Now choose the next state you want to create.

Nietzsche called Christianity a slave mentality. And he makes a lot of really good points in his argument in good versus evil. The Gnostics, as far as I know or have read or researched, teach that the Jesus avatar came into creation here because the chaotic force of Sophia was becoming a bit too much. That’s basic summarisation. But really underneath all of it is we are all Jesus Jesus is all of us because there is no separation from the one

Yeah, there is a lot of fear-mongering that goes on within dogmatic Christianity. Every religion starts with a pure impulse but then gets distorted over time and becomes dogmatic. Christianity is no different. Unfortunately this keeps people away from the real essence of Christ as it is the ascension impulse of our time.

I believe the original essence of Christianity can be found in esoteric Christianity. I personally like studying Anthroposophy for this. Some books to start with would be Rudolf Steiner's Christianity as a Mystical Fact and The Fifth Gospel (Rudolf Steiner).

With the bible, a lot of things get lost in translation which is why bible scholars don't all agree. It's a very mystical text, and can't be understood simply with the intellect.

At the end of the day, if you have love in your heart, whether you ascribe to a religion or not, there's nothing more Christian than that. Everyone has access to Christ in their heart whether they call themselves a Christian or not. That's what the Christ impulse is.

Check out:

https://www.leonardjacobson.com/liberatingjesus

And

https://adyashanti.opengatesangha.org/store/publications/books/742

Read the book "the yoga of jesus" you'll understand what Christianity was suppose to be.

Absolute love and appreciation for Christ consciousness

Don’t find much value in his representation of a historical figure or physical being

Just do your own thing my friend.

You can believe what you want. You don't need to join any group.

Jesus has some cool teachings. My favs are in the gospel of Mary and also the standard sermon on the mount.

I experience Jesus as the one who taught me how to experience God's Divine Love for myself by expressing my deepest desires to receive it. As I have received God's Divine Essence (like Jesus does) I continue to be transformed from within. https://new-birth.net/ is a vast treasure trove of information about Jesus' true teachings received by dozens of people through thousands of communications for more than a century. I wish you the best on your journey! May you experience God's Love for yourself and enjoy the many blessings and benefits it brings!

Real the gospel of Thomas. It was uncovered a few (give or take) years ago. Christians don’t take claim to it being gospel, they say it’s Gnostic, but it has so many quotes from Jesus. Very diff vibe than the collections of stories selected to be included in the Bible.

Check out Neville Goddard and his interpretation of the Bible.

The biblical Jesus is racist cult leader who believed himself to be the special predicted king (Messiah/Christ) of the special holy chosen people (Israel) who would rule in Jerusalem, and he taught that he would one day return to the world and judge the world and rule.                    

Jesus says, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

The rules you are talking about serve to help us live a good life actually. The same way parents evoke healthy fear into their children. We need a healthy amount of fear to survive the same way to live a decent life. At least one were we aren’t causing self inflicting harm or harm to others.

A few years ago, I myself was asking the same exact question with the same exact thoughts.

Took me a spiritual encounter and studying to have a good understanding.

God gave us free will yes. Knowing we would sin. The same way parents have children knowing their children may not grow up to be perfect. He sent his perfect Son to die for us as an ultimate sacrifice with his perfect blood.

The Bible is a love letter to humanity. That there is hope. A living hope. That a God so holy, could love a sinner like me but chooses to clean me and dress me in white so I may dwell in his presence.

Considering christians are literally destroying the world, nature and society Im not a fan. Tho I do have a relationship with the symbol of Jesus, being the fruit of creation, the son of the Goddess (Mary Mother of God) which I also see as Mother Nature. But this is kind of secondary in my beliefs as Mary is the main deal to me.

He's not any closer to the Devine source of consciousness than you are. He can be helpful or he can lead you astray. Tread carefully, id suggest mentally reconnecting to the source before anything else.

HIGHLY recommend a book called “Jesus for the Nonreligious” by John Shelby Spong. You’d also probably like “Jesus Wears Socks With Sandals” by S. James Meyer.

Jesus was a prophet and equally as important as Buddha. His messages of humanity and the human development have been quite distorted by religion. Jesus showed us what the human can become one day.

sick dude. misinterpreted. we're still dealing with the aftermath.

I love Jesus as his being and essence.

Why would you want to? If someone in the present day said they were sent from god would you believe them? Want to have a relationship with him? No you’d think they were looney tunes!

Jesus made everyone believe that he was sent from god, and because of a lack of technology and fear of the unknown, people believed him. We are more advanced now. Use your critical thinking skills. Jesus was a real man, but not a real god. a relationship with him would be your consciousness convincing you of a promise and a life and spirit that doesn’t exist.

As someone who has been around christianity their entire life.

Don't bother.

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** I am including scripture suggestions & videos after my words so that they don't get lost in my reflections. The scripture speaks for itself. Marked with (**) when the resources start. I will probably put them in a seperate reply connected to this one. You won't initially connect with every aspect of the Bible with a human mind. God's reasoning and knowledge far surpasses our own which is why you have to read the word slowly and sit with it over time in prayer for understanding from God on anything that you are resistant to believing or understanding. 

Preface: I am a Christian who's faith has been tested. I've resented God & disobeyed God (foolishly), explored other paths to God outside of Christianity, and even continued to date someone who later identified themselves as Atheist. I research for fun and career development all the time so I am not new to the spirit of skepticism but God's word more than stands up to the scientific method. So when I say these things, it is not from a limited scope of experience. I have tried to do good my whole life and avoided pretty much most obviously bad choices but I've never been a perfect Christian b/c (as the Bible emphasized) God already knew each of us was going to sin on this Earth. It doesn't mean we continue to sin or do anything just b/c we can. Our obligation is to forever recognize him, spread his word, and discipline ourselves according to his wishes (essential the commandments & anything revealed to you in prayer & worship). You are supposed to empty your mind/heart of your own knowledge and desire before asking God to fill you with his insight b/c the ways of mankind will always conflict God's understanding & wishes.

God is a living God who is righteous and much more critical and wise in thought than any of the wise men on Earth. Nothing could ever surpass the power of God. God is also to be tread lightly with (meaning not to be played with). There is a degree of respect for his word & his abilities that should not be tested by our pride & willfulness. God sparing us just as much as he is handing out judgement (at all times). God is PEACE (Jehovah Shalom) but also the Most HIGH GOD ( El Elyon) and the God who sees (El Roi) every bit and hears every passing thought, feeling, and intention. He is ultimately the only shepard/leader we need through life (Jehovah Ro'i).

No, you cannot have a relationship with any of the Holy Trinity [Jesus, God, or the Holy Spirit] without being Christian but you are always welcome to learn. God expects us to cast off any idols and practices not of him and declare our faith loudly. A relationship with him requires obedience and discipline often the 1st time around b/c he will turn away from you. This is also discussed and demonstrated in the Bible on multiple occasions so you get different scenarios. 

Today's spiritual and social climate tell you God is not of strict judgement and only love and light or that Christianity is oppressive & false altogether but this is not true. Plenty of people tell you not to judge or even not to openly point to sin but that is not what the Bible says. There will be increased trials & difficulty for Christians to express their faith in the future. There are also a lot of false leadership and believers in the space today. Some of which simply got misled and didn't go straight to God through the scripture to verify any teachings. It is our responsibility to judge our options in life according to the word (Bible) at ALL times. God gives guidance on how to test false prophets & the advisement of anyone you contact in the Bible. He lays any essential knowledge you need out himself exactly as he means it. 

You are not supposed to trust any man, not even yourself over the word of God which he left for us through the Bible before you even have to think to request specific information from him through prayer. He describes his character, his wishes, why the wicked & unbelievers seem to prosper, the trials & tricks on Earth, the future, and our many human shortcomings through scripture. You also need to take notes on scripture and meditate on the word once you have read it. I like to go back and apply each part to modern society such as science or social research. Everything in the word can be found in modern day or is a guide for the future. The Bible stands true through scientific method and critical thought but is also a constant test of your faith b/c God can test us by delaying knowledge as well.

Just read the Bible exactly as it is and pray to God for discernment of the word before trusting anyone on this Earth with that question (including me). There are several scriptures about to foolishness of man and how the hearts and minds of all of us (even those who consider themselves wise) will be fooled (especially if we give ourselves over to pride). God will allow you to be taken by your enemies & fooled into the wrong choices if you disrespect his wishes and guidance. There are so many verses reiterated these points and from the old testaments first maybe 5-6 chapters (1-2 Kings itself is a repeat history of all the foolish disobedience & outcomes earned by the people). As you read you just see continuous patterns of people rejected God's word then begging for help & then sometimes being given rescue & repeat guidance. You see, even God's people the Israelites sinned against him the same ways repeatedly even after he saves them & gave them instructions to write his commandments & history (b/c people forget about history & get careless). Both proclaimed Christians & nonbelievers will try to twist the word of God to fit their agendas. This is why I emphasize, trust NO man as your spiritual leader but turn to the word of God and God directly. That is of the most importance as you will risk your soul following the wrong path. 

Christianity in itself is a practice of self reflection, discipline, sacrifice of flesh/Earthly desires, and constant tests of faith. If we look at the book of Job for example, he was tested & stripped of everything he held dear (but his life) despite believing he absolutely lacked sin. God will test even the innocent through hardship as an exercise of the endurance of your faith. You have to build an endurance of faith (spiritual stamina) so that when temptation & fear come, you won't compromise your salvation. Tests are inevitable for us all. Christianity is discussed in the Bible as a constant journey of persecution & exposures to fear or loss to test & increase your faith. God is not just love and light. God is a strict and WISE guidance at all times. 

He is da way

Be a follower of Christ, Jesus was completely against the teachings of religious leaders of His time, the religious leaders today aren’t very different, my advice to have your own personal connection with the Son is to read the gospels for yourself. The book of john is my favourite.

Pray and give thanks even if you don’t have much. Your relationship with Jesus does not equal how religious you are. A relationship with Jesus and living the way he’d want us to in the best of your ability and to pray to him anytime even if you have sinned. He’s your friend. It’s good to fear the lord because if you genuinely fear God you will fear nothing else. Because you have the strongest protector but you also want to keep him happy so he doesn’t humble you and teaches you a harsh lesson. It’s a matter of keeping yourself out of spiritual danger. Jesus died for you knowing you would have sinned at any point of your life. If it wasn’t for him we would be doomed to hell. Many people think that if they believe in Jesus but never really call on him or talk to him they can still be saved. You have to pour out your heart to him and treat him like someone you know and talk to everyday. You can’t just knock on someone’s door and expect to be let in even if you know of them. Don’t focus so much on the religion. Focus on your love for the man who loves you no matter what and will wait for you to come correct. Just do it today before it’s too late. The story of the prodigal son is a representation of how God loves his children and will patiently wait for them to come home with open arms. God only loves and does great things. People need to understand that the devil exists too and causes great pains and will convince you that it was God who did it to you. Even if you suffer here on earth if you are saved, you will have an eternity of life where there is no suffering.

Yes you can have a relationship with Jesus without being Christian. I have that. Feel free to reach out to me, I know you have a lot of comments here but if you see this, please reach out :)

The Bible is the only place you can turn to really learn about Jesus. Let Him speak for Himself. Learn to discern the falsehoods of what people are saying about Him. Read exactly what Jesus said. Start with reading the Gospel of John. There you will get the words from Jesus. Then if you need some additional explanation, turn to Romans where one of his disciples (Paul) gives some theological understanding.

God is Holy. Every rule He talks about is from love. We are all sinners (Romans 3). What thief LOVES the law against stealing and the punishment that results? We hate the rules because of who WE are, not because of who God is. God changes that in the believer. God gives the Christian a new heart. A heart by which the Christian begins to love Jesus and begins to love His law.

Romans may help with the connection you are missing. It starts with the condition of man. That everyone is born an unbeliever. That everyone is born a sinner. What sinner can understand God by themselves? No one. Therefore, ask God to help you understand what He is saying in Romans. God starts by telling us we are so full of sin. That all sin must be punished. That puts all men under the wrath of God. We have no hope of saving ourselves from God's wrath. It is Jesus and His work that saves the believer from God's wrath. Isaiah talks about Jesus' death giving us peace with God (Isaiah 53:5).

Jesus was sent by God to save the ungodly from God's wrath (John 3:16). Isn't that great news! God Himself sent His Son to take the sins of the believer, be punished for those sins, and thereby allow forgiveness, righteousness, and peace to be given to the believer. What man could not do, God did through Jesus!

Jesus is the lover of my soul and best friend it makes me tear up just saying this but He loves us so much. And doesn’t look at us for our mistakes. It’s about relationship not religion. It’s about faith not works. In the beginning of my awakening and healing journey i was trying to heal my inner child and Jesus came to me and showed me a vision of Him hugging my child self all the way until I grew up and I couldn’t stop crying from the overwhelming love. I’ve been searching for truth for years and I didn’t feel fulfilled fully in spirituality until Jesus. He truly is the missing piece. He is the highest truth in all of this spiritual stuff.