Why God

The more I read the more I can not deny God.

Faith is hard to explain. Kinda like knowning something without proof(phyical).

Yesterday at 08:18 PM happy said this in Post #1

Why believe in God?  What does it take to believe in Him?

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I would say believe in God because He's there... then of course I am slightly biased through personal experience with answered prayers and the such.

It is really not hard to believe in Him... do you believe that I have written this post? Same thing with God... just believe that He is there. Too many people make it out to be a lot harder than it really is.

If you choose to believe in God, when you read His word (the Bible) you will see what He wants for you in life and what actions He is pleased with. To make it easy for you, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to teach us and to take any punishment for any sin (and oh so much more) off of us and onto Him. In other words... Jesus taught us to love, and if you come to Him, He is more than willing to forgive you because He already paid the price for your redemption. So in Jesus, you can have free forgiveness and a restored relationship with God. Can't beat that!

You will also discover many blessings God wants to give you for being faithful to Him... sooo much stuff there for you!

Yes God is the maker and ruler of the universe but so what? 

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So... He is the maker and King of all the heavens and earth, and He still loves you and desires for you to come to Him and begin a relationship. Isn't that awesome? The almighty God loves you!

 He is up there and I am down here.  I can't see Him, but people tell me that He can see me and knows me.  I am told to talk with Him thru prayer but how can I talk with someone that I can't see, hear, touch or smell. 

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There are times where you can hear His voice. Times where you can feel His Presence. Times of teaching and leading by His Holy Spirit. And if you ever have a specific prayer answered (the request of which was totally out of your hands) you know that He hears you... it's a great feeling. God is real and He is concerned with your everyday events and thoughts.

The only knowledge that I have is about Him, the bible.  But some of the things in the bible seems a little outdated not to mention kind of hard to read.  I have heard that I must apply the bible to my life.  There are a lot of do's and don't's which is fine.  

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Find a translation that is easy to read (NIV or even a children's Bible are good choices and put the Bible in plain English). Also this is a point where church is really beneficial. There are often times where you just don't know what in the world the Bible is talking about. But there are people who have studied the Bible and are pastors as a vocation. Find a church and ask someone there. And if you want a very simplified "do's and don'ts" ... read this:

Matt 22:36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 
  Matt 22:37 And He (Jesus) said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 
  Matt 22:38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 
  Matt 22:39 "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' 
  Matt 22:40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." 

It seems to me that I have to be able to read between the lines in order to apply the stuff to my life.   And then there is this word called "faith".  What does that mean exactly and how does someone get some by believing?

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Heb 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Pretty much, it means that what you believe changes your life. If you believe you know how to get a million dollars tax free, but don't do it... first off, you aren't very wise, but second, you just believe it. If that belief causes you to go out and try to get that million dollars, then you are acting in faith. Belief is what you believe, faith is something you believe that makes you act. Does that make sense?

Often Christian "faith" makes reference to this: If you know you are to love someone and help them out in their need, you just know it. If that belief causes you to give or help someone, then you are acting in faith. If that still doesn't make sense, I'll try and explain it better, or maybe someone else could help me out Have a great day! I hope my post helped..

Faith is the substance of things hoped for – It is the proof of things that we have not seen. Heb 11:1. The substances of faith are to believe in God John14:1 and have faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:21
We are commanded that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ 1John 3:23. We also believe in the writings of Moses John 5:46 and all things which are written in the law and in the prophets Ac 24:14.
We believe the promises of God, and being fully persuaded by it. We see that, what He has promised He was able to carry it out Ro 4:21. To them that have obtained precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ: 2Pe 1:1
WE build up ourselves on Your most holy faith Jude 1:20 Remembering without ceasing Your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; 1Th 1:3 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith Heb 12:2. We will through faith and patience, inherit the promises Heb 6:12 that has been given to us by God.

Why do I believe in God? Because ever since I gave what I am over to Him, I have a love that cannot be described. I can now wake up and know that He is there.

Yesterday at 08:18 PM happy said this in Post #1 

I am told to talk with Him thru prayer but how can I talk with someone that I can't see, hear, touch or smell.  The only knowledge that I have is about Him, the bible.

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If the only knowledge you have of God is what you know about God, then you most likely don't have a real relationship with Him.  Once you seek Him, and let Him be your living God, you will see what faith is really about.  It is about believing in Him when the world says He isn't real.  It's about trusting Him to lead you, even when you want more than anything to be in control of your own decisions. 

The best way for you to get an answer to your own question is to talk to Him.  Spend time with Him.  You might not always feel like He is there, but He is, and as long as you are faithful, He will reveal Himself to you.  You won't be able to physically feel, hear, touch or smell Him, but you will feel His presence and He will speak to you.

[pong][SHADOW=silver]Happy Birthday Job_38 [/SHADOW] [/pong]

May your day be blessed and beautiful

That's exactly where faith comes in! 

When you talk to God, don't expect Him to have a conversation with you, especially so early on in your relationship with Him.  Just get comfortable with being with Him. 

Just talk to Him.  Tell Him about your problems.  Tell Him about your dreams.  Ask Him for guidance.  Talk to Him like He's your best friend.  Ask Him for a hug.  It sounds weird, but when you feel His presence, you just feel at peace.

It's hard to describe how He talks back to us.  I'm no expert in the field because I have a stubborn tendency to ignore Him when I shouldn't be.  It is something that just feels right.  Sometimes He says something to you through a verse you are reading or a song you are singing.  He doesn't physically say (in a voice you can hear), "Happy, you need to...blah blah blah" 

Here's an example about how He spoke to me recently.  I haven't been the best Christian lately, but in the past couple months I've really been putting in an effort to connect with God again.  Just a few days ago I was worshipping to the song "The Heart of Worship" when God really spoke to me.  The words of the song were the words that described what I was feeling and going through, and God touched my heart and let me know that He's been with me by  my side through all of my struggles, even when I was doubting Him and felt as far away from Him as I'd ever been.

Heart of Worship by Matt Redman:

When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart


I bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about you
It's all about you, Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it
When it's all about you
It's all about you, Jesus

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much you deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is yours
Every single breath

Because that's what God wants, and who woudn't want to know God and be His best buddy??!!! One particular verse comes to mind.

I John 1:1-4"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it,and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship iswith the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full."

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Here's another verse for you:

2 Corinthians 5:14-17

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.  Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

The difference is that when you only know about God, you only know Him through a worldly view even if you read the Bible for yourself, you are always thinking about what the world says about Him.  But if you actually get to know God for yourself, then He will change you and make you a new creation.

Someone may have already covered this, but when I read the first post one thing stood out in my mind and so I'm going to jump the gun and respond to it immediately. As I said, someone may have already responded to this part...but nonetheless, this can be said a billion times and people, even devoted christians, can still miss it.

The whole thing about "God is up there and I'm down here" is completely untrue. Jesus said "The Kingdom of Heaven is here." This means, it's not far away. It's not unreachable. You're standing in it.

God isn't some old man far away on a mountain somewhere. He's here with you and through you and in you and around you.

And that ends my little rant dealy. Don't have much more to say.

That's the funny part about it, you do...but He doesn't count it against you. He paid your debts, and He's not asking anything in return that isn't already for your own good.

And as far as wanting to change everything about yourself... it's a good thing in some ways, and bad in others. At least according to me (and probably a whole mess of other people but who am I to speak for them? They can speak for themselves.) By the time we're in heaven we'll be us, but we won't. We'll be Super Us. We'll be the us that we've always wanted to be on some level but couldn't. It's like an evolutionary step in a direction nobody could of made up.

Anyway, the whole idea of it is that, yes, God knows what you're doing, thinking, seeing, feeling, smelling, whatever at any given second, and whether or not He approves of it isn't important. Don't take that the wrong way, because it obviously is, but it's secondary to the fact that He WILL forgive you for it if you seriously want Him to.

There's also the whole thing of "What if I don't remember every single thing I've done wrong? What then?!" Well, people speculate that when Jesus said "Forgive them for they know not what they do..." He meant that in a very large sense. He had a way of seeing the big picture, ya know?

You also have to keep in mind that Jesus lived as a human, and he knows what it is like to be tempted, and to have certain thoughts.  It's only human to have those feelings that we know we shouldn't be having, and God knows it (He created us, after all), but He doesn't look at what temptations you have to deal with, He looks at how you deal with them.

Agreed, one-winged and zoe...

Paul talks a lot about the very same thing in Romans. Romans 3:9-26 to be more specific...

Oh, and the post about getting a Children's Bible...that's what I did when I began reading his word. You get the big picture and allow yourself to mature spiritually and can eventually move into something which has more depth. Very helpful in my spiritual walk...

I thought of another way to tell how God is speaking to you.  You  may have already felt this, you just didn't realize it was God.

Have you ever been in a situation where you need to do something, but your pride is preventing you from doing it.  There is this urge, deep down inside, that is saying, "Do it.... Do it..."

That is what it feels like (and often times, that is God speaking to you.)