Faith & Believe Help

SW501 said:

I just finished the case for Christ and it was very interesting (albeit a little biased). I think I need to try and research myself. Just have no idea how to get into it from a scientific point of view as when it comes to religeon I find its hard to find an objective view point. For example, if you look at Richard Dawkins (someone who i respect) he is so intelligent but his views on Jesus etc cant really be trusted because he is so heavily biased that he doesnt exist if you get my meaning. On the other side when I talk with my mother in law it is the same but from the other side.

Maybe even I am biased slightly because I want to believe so much but my head keeps pulling me back.

I am in no doubt that Jesus existed, its just trying to make the next leap that he was the son of God. I have done an alpha course many years ago and I remember part of it tried to say we have more evidence for Jesus than we do Caeser. The trouble I have with this comparison is if the source are reliabile or indeed factual at all. For example, if you ask 100 people if they have heard of the Lochness Monster most will say yes and can recall a story about it but we all know it doesnt exist.

That said i do believe he did exist, like the video said how could christianity grow so fast other wise. Also look at this vid

The other religeons kinda of start in one place and spread but with christianity it was quite spread. Its facinating really.

I just need to figure out what I can do to get myself to let go. If for no other reason than for my Kids I need to know there is more and that this is not it for them. Honestly, it east me up if i think about it too much.

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Give it time and don't force it, because your anxiety will cause you to choose unwisely.

SW501 said:

Thank you. It is a strange feeling when your words and your actions are all telling you to give in to this and believe yet your mind blocks from completely giving over.

I dont want to just say I believe but really I am doubting. I want to 100% give myself over to this.

I worry too about being judged like when I first turned away from this path. You think because people are Christians they should be nice and non-judgemental but in my experience, it was the complete opposite.

Is it considered bad to ask God to proof it to me on a personal level? I have asked this before and was told its wrong you just have to have faith but how can you have faith with nothing to base it on.

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There is an example of asking for a sign in Judges 6:36-40, but this is of a man who already knew God (read Judges 6 from verse 11). On the other hand, in Luke 11:29-32 Jesus is saying that the generation who in the presence of His miracles, was asking for a sign, is officially "evil". The basis upon which He makes that judgement, is that there was a city mentioned in the book of Job, "Nineveh", whom God sent the prophet Job to announce a warning of judgement for it's sins. But the city received the words of the prophet Jonah very seriously, and they repented solemnly so that it was spared. This was the response of a city that received a conviction of the truth of the words of Jonah, not that they had seen any great miracles that Jesus performed. Yet, in the presence of the great miracles that Jesus was performing, that the people were rejecting His words of truth was a greater condemnation upon them because by contrast the city of Nineveh accepted the words of a prophet having lesser status that Jesus. So, it seems that the condemnation for faithlessness is proportional to the amount of proof that one has to disregard in order to disbelieve.

What I can point to that will help you, is that when Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman in John 4, He said that "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth". He mentioned in the preceding verse that until that time, only the Jews were the ones who could personally know God, but as we know that following the events when the Jews rejected The Word of God that Jesus spoke (because He was condemned without being guilty of sin), then the opportunity exists for all who would worship Him in spirit and in truth, to know Him (John 1:12).

Consider Deuteronomy 30:14, Deuteronomy 30:20, Jeremiah 32:23, Jeremiah 32:33, Proverbs 8:1-4, John 10:4-5, John 14:6. These are telling us that we who know God (John 4:22), are saved through hearing what God says to us in spirit, and putting into practise His teachings (Matthew 7:24-26, James 1:22).

In 2 Timothy 3:6-7, Paul describes to Timothy that a type of person would come to exist, who has a false godliness, who will work their way into the household to captivate those who carry burdens of sin. These are they whom John 10:1 and John 5:39-40 describes - that their beliefs have given them a false sense of salvation, because they have never opened their heart, eyes and ears to receive that The Holy Spirit is speaking to them. It is not the doctrines of Christ that they teach, but the doctrines of false teachers originate from the spirit of the antichrist, which is who we choose to believe instead of Christ when we turn away from the truth that The Holy Spirit speaks to us (1 John 4:1-3, John 8:44).

When I came to know The Lord, I remember that through an internet forum like this, I was arguing with Christians for about three weeks. I was day and night trying to figure it out, and even in my sleep it was consuming me. I woke up one morning, clutched my hair and screamed toward the sky "show me the truth!", and then in the very next scripture that I read, I began to hear Him speak to me. Sometimes, I think that we just need to get all the way to the end of our tether before we can give God the opportunity to be heard .. not that it is necessarily a reflection of a preference to do evil or to hide from God, but some people are just very stubborn and they will not accept that anybody should tell them what to do.

This is why I said to just wait, because God is greater than all. He knows that you want faith, and it takes time for a mind and a heart to take form (Jeremiah 18:6). My concern for you was that you might become impatient in your anxiety, and choose to submit your will to an idea that did not fully satisfy your investigation, and was more-or-less to compromise your integrity to the truth, coming under a doctrine of falsehood. But rather, trust in His goodness, and pray too! You already know that He is there and watching, so just have some heart-to-heart with Him in private. There is no shame in that