How do I "know"

[checkplease]

Might as well give some background information....

When I was younger I went to church often. I never really understood it though considering I was so little. I then just stopped. Our family stopped going. Now, 10 years later I'm returning this sunday. (I'm looking forward to it)

Since I haven't really been connected with God for a long while I really lost all faith in him. I really want to get my connection back with God. The person I am today is not who I want to be. I have prayed. Confessed of my sins, and asked for Him. Though it wasn't until two nights ago I let it all out. I said: "I've tried changing by myself, and that didn't work. I know you can help. I can't do this on my own."

I honestly don't know if he exists or not. But I am certaintly willing to do go through anything to get a relationship with Him so I can believe.

Basically I just want to say Hi and hear about how some non-believers came to God.

 

[visionary]

Personally, I read the Bible with prayer asking God to show Himself, point out that which He would like me to understand, and that which He would like to change in my life, so that I could be one of those who was allowed into His Presence. God lead me away from the World, and after six months of serious study into what it takes to get into His Presence, six months of what to expect, what to see, what to experience, God decided I was ready and asked me to repent.

Which, like you, I did but it was a short list, then God brought all my sins to mind, like ticker tape running across the room. I never knew sins could be so significant in His eyes, and I learned what sins that I didn't think were that important play a significant influence in not only my life and thinking, but also all those who came in contact with me. Even my secret sins were brought before me, which I truly repented of.

Then it all stopped and God came. He is real, and He is all that He says He is. If it wasn't for the robe of righteousness that He laid on my shoulders I would not been able to stand in His Presence. Even though I had just repented of all my sins, and experienced a peace that passes all understanding.

You are a temple of God, open up the door and invite Him in. He will truly cleanse you of all your sins. Scripture will come alive and if you allow it, it will become a part of your life. Do not depend on others for your salvation. Depend and trust God to lead you on the narrow path.

 

[checkplease]

You are a temple of God, open up the door and invite Him in. He will truly cleanse you of all your sins. Scripture will come alive and if you allow it, it will become a part of your life. Do not depend on others for your salvation. Depend and trust God to lead you on the narrow path.

Thank-you for sharing. This paragraph was nice.

 

[GaryP]

I am going to tell you the opposite. You have to enter into the Temple of the Father.
You Follow Jesus to the Father, The Father does not follow Jesus to you.
Go to Mark 15: 38, You will see the Open Temple, now go in.
One of us is telling an untruth. Your choice, which one?

 

[Webers_Home]

.
RE: I honestly don't know if he exists or not.

Well, you're certainly in good company. After five decades of Christian service in India, Mother Teresa came to the end of her life wondering if a God really existed out there somewhere; and if it did, she was fearful it didn't like her.

I'm not making this up. I got it from a collection of her private letters, published, with Church approval, by her long-time friend Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk M.C.; director of the Mother Teresa Center, and a Postulator in favor of her canonization. The book's title is:

Mother Teresa / Come Be My Light
The Private Writings of the "Saint of Calcutta"
Edited with commentary by Brian Kolodiejchuk, M.C.
ISBN 978-0-385-52037-9

Teresa's doubts about the existence of God are pretty remarkable coming from a nun who once said that God does "the work" through her; citing herself as a pencil in God's hands. You know what that means? Her whole fifty years in India may have pleased the destitute of India, but certainly not the Bible's God.

†. Heb 11:6 . .Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek Him.

Note the word must and where it's located in the syntax; viz: belief in the existence of God isn't optional; no, it's sort of like when you fill out an online form, the fields marked with a red asterisk are mandatory.

C.L.I.F.F.
/

 

[checkplease]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I really want to have a relationship with God, but faith is really a weak point for me. There's some stuff I can't explain though. When I confessed for the first time for my sins, I stopped doing the one that I was doing the most. All the times I tried to stop by myself, it didn't work. Maybe it was God who got me to resist myself. I'm really leaning towards it though. Thanks again for the replies everybody

 

[alexanderjc]

Might as well give some background information....

When I was younger I went to church often. I never really understood it though considering I was so little. I then just stopped. Our family stopped going. Now, 10 years later I'm returning this sunday. (I'm looking forward to it)

Since I haven't really been connected with God for a long while I really lost all faith in him. I really want to get my connection back with God. The person I am today is not who I want to be. I have prayed. Confessed of my sins, and asked for Him. Though it wasn't until two nights ago I let it all out. I said: "I've tried changing by myself, and that didn't work. I know you can help. I can't do this on my own."

I honestly don't know if he exists or not. But I am certaintly willing to do go through anything to get a relationship with Him so I can believe.

Basically I just want to say Hi and hear about how some non-believers came to God.

First and foremost "welcome to the family"!. At one point in our lives we were all characterized as un-believers.

As it has already been stated and according to God's Word in Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

"Since I haven't really been connected with God for a long while I really lost all faith in him."

Your inability to have faith in God, and you are not alone in this, stems from your choice to walk away from Him and live your own life. God never left you, you left Him and this is how our faith in God dissipates. Jesus gives a perfect example of this in the
Parable of the Sower." Matthew 13:3-23, Mark 4:2-20 and Luke 8:4-15.

Any one of the examples given in the parable could fit the reason why your fellowship with God became distant.

"I really want to get my connection back with God. The person I am today is not who I want to be. I have prayed. Confessed of my sins, and asked for Him. Though it wasn't until two nights ago I let it all out. I said: "I've tried changing by myself, and that didn't work. I know you can help. I can't do this on my own"

Rev 3:20 Jesus said "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." My brother you heard the knock of our Savior and when you asked Him to forgive you of your sins, that was all that was required of you. At that moment Jesus Christ came into your life and became your Lord and Savior.

As far as trying to change yourself, I believe that everyone in this forum will agree with me, this is something that we as humans cannot do in and of ourselves. Jesus knew this also and before he left this earth He gave us this assurance.

John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

As a Child of God we are commanded to be "Baptized" so that we will receive God's Holy Spirit into our lives. Doing so will bring about that wonderful change that you desire. Through obedience in studying the Word of God, which is the food that strengthens God's Spirit within you, you will begin to grow, not only in christian maturity, but also in your relationship in how you treat those around you.

Finally become part of a Spirit filled church one that has a pastor that reveals, to his congregation and to the community, the wisdom and knowledge of God through the fruits of the Spirit of God. Attend bible study and, avail yourself when possible, to other christian groups, preferrably of your age group, that will increase your knowledge of the principles of christian living.

God bless you

Your Brother in Christ

James

 

[Jeffwhosoever]

To know God, you need to read His word, the Holy Bible. I recommend the New Living Translation, the Message, and the New International Version for seekers of the Faith. The Lord Jesus Christ is real! I also suggest "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel, but the Bible comes first.

 

[ditte]

Hi.I'm sure the lord is happy that you seek him in prayer.It is like when the father of the prodigal son was happy to see and hug his lost son.God loves you.Jesus gave his life for us to save us from sin.Talk to him.Just start with a simple saying to him what's in your heart.If you really want a real relationship with God,please ask Jesus to come into your life.If you need help,please ask the pastor or someone in church to help you.Please read the word of God.You can send a PM to me if you need help.God loves you.Gpd bles you and show you his great love.

 

[heymikey80]

Might as well give some background information....

When I was younger I went to church often. I never really understood it though considering I was so little. I then just stopped. Our family stopped going. Now, 10 years later I'm returning this sunday. (I'm looking forward to it)

Since I haven't really been connected with God for a long while I really lost all faith in him. I really want to get my connection back with God. The person I am today is not who I want to be. I have prayed. Confessed of my sins, and asked for Him. Though it wasn't until two nights ago I let it all out. I said: "I've tried changing by myself, and that didn't work. I know you can help. I can't do this on my own."

I honestly don't know if he exists or not. But I am certaintly willing to do go through anything to get a relationship with Him so I can believe.

Basically I just want to say Hi and hear about how some non-believers came to God.

Welcome. There's definitely a case to be made for reading the Bible, but how you're impacted by it is normally a result of the roadblocks your life has put in place so far. For me, the roadblock was intellectual, so it was a different kind of thinking that I needed to engage in, the recognition that there're plenty of things that exist, even if I don't have deductive proof for them.

Does love exist? How about thought? Is "purpose" an illusion of brain cell firings? How about good? right? evil? wrong? The philosophies? Life itself -- not simply the biology life, which even ancient Greeks knew was different from what at least some of them were experiencing. How about personhood? And yet science has trouble defining its examination of those terms.

There are good reasons for concluding God of some kind exists, just from the existence of the larger universals of reality. And there is normally a ready inference, that if God exists, He comprehends, created, and projects into all these realms of existence as well.

 

[Webers_Home]

.
I've run across people like Mother Teresa who not only have doubts about the existence of the Bible's God, but also ask: How can I know if I'm a believer?

Well, that question is easily answered because it deals with the supernatural aspects of New Testament Christianity.

†. John 3:31-36 . . he has come from heaven. He tells what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them! Those who believe him discover that God is real.

What John is talking about there is something akin to a close encounter of a third kind. What I mean is: when someone's a believer, God's Spirit communicates with them.

†. Rom 8:16 . .The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's kin.

I can assure you, from personal experience, that people in touch with God's Spirit have absolutely no doubts about the existence of the Bible's God any more than they have doubts about the existence of their natural mothers and fathers.

An additional supernatural aspect that prevents those kinds of doubts is the spirit of adoption; which will not permit believers to develop feelings of abandonment— a chronic condition suffered by Mother Teresa during her entire five decades in India.

†. Rom 8:15 . . For you have not received a spirit of slavery again to fear; but you have received a spirit of adoption, whereby we call out; Abba! Father.

†. Gal 4:6-7 . . And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of His son into your hearts, calling out: Abba! Father.

The word abba is an Aramaic word. And it's not really translated; but rather, it's transliterated. The word means: father, dad, daddy, papa, pop, or whatever's your favorite; and it never means mom or mamma as if the spirit of God's son would ever compel God's kin to call out to a woman. You might ask: Why put two "father" words together?

Abba is a vocative— a vocal expression for getting somebody's attention —like the words children might use to get their parents' attention. When my son is out in the kitchen talking about me with my wife, my filial name Dad is just simply who I am to them. But when he calls out to me in the back room to get my attention (e.g. Dad! where are you!?) then dad becomes a vocative.

The Greek word for Father is pater. It's another noun that means father too but in a much broader way. It can imply a parent, an ancestor; or a relative. So when you put abba and pater together, it comes out something like this:

If I were to meet President Barack Hussein Obama, I would have to make an appointment first; and then stand back and address him as Sir or Mister President. But his two daughters Sasha and Malia can run right up uninvited and cling to his arm because he's their father; and they call him daddy. Now if the Obama's should adopt a little boy some day, he will have all the very same rights and privileges as the Obama's natural-born daughters; including a legal right to inherit because the law makes no distinction between natural children and adopted children (*see note below). Their new son would have every right to run up uninvited to Mr. Obama yelling: Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! and cling to his other arm.

The spirit of adoption imparts to God's kin the heartfelt bond that enables adopted children to feel the love, and the friendship, and the security feelings that normal boys and girls feel with their birth parents.

†. John 14:18 . . I will not abandon you as orphans; I will come to you.

†. Heb 13:5 . . I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

*NOTE: This is an important point for men contemplating marrying a divorced woman and adopting her children from a previous marriage. In the event of a break-up, he will be liable to pay child support for another man's kids just as if they were his own.

C.L.I.F.F.
/

 

[checkplease]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes =) I guess I'll update the thread every so often just to share what's going on. God Bless.

 

[seashale76]

[FONT=&quot]"Belief is a matter of dying for Christ and His commandments. It is believing that such a death is life-giving. It is to count poverty as riches, and to consider the lowest humiliation as true honor and nobility. Faith is believing that when one has nothing, one has everything. More than this, it is to possess the incomprehensible riches of the knowledge of Christ and to look upon all visible things as but clay and smoke." ~St. Symeon the New Theologian, The Practical and Theological Chapters

[/FONT] "If you wish to save your soul and win eternal life, arise from your lethargy, make the sign of the Cross and say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Faith comes not through pondering but through action. Not words and speculation but experience teaches us what God is. To let in fresh air we have to open a window; to get tanned we must go out into the sunshine. Achieving faith is no different; we never reach a goal by just sitting in comfort and waiting, say the Holy Fathers. Let the Prodigal Son be our example. He "arose and came" (Luke 15:20)." -Tito Colliander The Way of the Ascetics.

[FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]

 

[heron]

Maybe it was God who got me to resist myself.

Sure! That's a concept we have to be reminded of over and over. We are supposed to lean on Him for help, even in the areas where we feel obligated to please him.

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy peace, patience... self control.... These are not our own fruits, but the result of God's work in our lives.

Where we are weak, He is strong.

 

[Aibrean]

Those who believe him discover that God is real./QUOTE]

Amen to that! I haven't "heard the voice of God" or seen a vision of him but he reveals himself in other ways.

It sounds like you want a vision or something supernatural to happen to you. That is testing God.