Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.
―Christopher Hitchens, "God Is Not Great"
Shanti, the essence of the above quote is that "God" and theologies are clumsy attempts to manifest in explicable ways what may be considered the sublime "noble" aspects of human nature, whereas devils and other "demonisations" (Maya, Ravan) can comfortably (and conveniently) represent our "darker" sides or our fears.
"
When the student is ready the teacher appears" or "
Man is created in God's image". Such sayings tell us that according to our state is the "god' or 'teacher" that we'll recognise. What is truth for us at any time changes as we change. Our "God" is the idealised, aspired-to form which we infer to be there beyond our "everyday" consciousness, tickling the edges of our current state of feeling and understanding.
The loving God of Christ evolved to replace the jealous God of Abraham. The simple God of Martin Luther replaced the pompous tyrant that was the god of the Vatican. The merchant has Ganesh on his alter, the country maiden loves Krisna above all others.
The heavens used to be what we called the sky, that unreachable, infinite space above the clouds from where the sun, clouds, lightning and stars seemed to dominate and onto whose canvas, in our wondrous musings we projected faces , forces and all kinds of meaning, where heroes and the good were cast live among the stars. Now we reach there and beyond as we fly to a business meeting or a vacation or send our satellites and probes, so "heaven" has become another dimension, another time or place, or another state of mind. It is the "greener grass on the other side" of here and now.
God therefore, for any person, is what inspires you, what is at your core, what seems "right" and what seems "better" and can be given no other name or form.
If you once were an atheist and have now had your spirit stirred, you'll need to look at the psychology involved when the sense of "God" arises. Maybe read Jean Houston's 'The Search for the Beloved" for a psychologist's sympathetic investigation of this inspiring aspect of humanity. "The Mask of God" is also worthwhile, by Joseph Campbell (also available as video on DVD (maybe on Youtube?).