Is there a God??

[babygurl2006]

ill be prayimg for all of us

 

[Glico]

I don't believe God exists anymore.

 

[DiscardedTruths]

this is an email that I just got today. it is very timely. read it, ok?!?!!!!

This will give you the chills........GOOD chills.




A young man had been to Wednesday night Bible Study. The Pastor had shared about listening to God and obeying the Lord's voice. The young man couldn't help but wonder, "Does God still speak to people?" After service he went out with some friends for coffee and pie and they discussed the message. Several different ones talked about how God had led them in different ways. It was about ten o'clock when the young man started driving home. Sitting in his car, he just began to pray, "God...If you still speak to people speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best to obey." As he drove down the main street of his town, he had the strangest thought to stop and buy a gallon of milk. He shook his head and said out loud, "God is that you?" He didn't get a reply and started on toward home. But again, the thought, buy a gallon of milk. The young man thought about Samuel and how he didn't recognize the voice of God, and how little Samuel ran to Eli. "Okay, God, in case that is you, I will buy the milk." It didn't seem like too hard a test of obedience. He could always use the milk. He stopped and purchased the gallon of milk and started off toward home. As he passed Seventh Street, he again felt the urge, "Turn Down that street." This is crazy he thought and drove on past the intersection. A gain, he felt that he should turn down Seventh Street. At the next intersection, he turned back and headed down Seventh. Half jokingly, he said out loud, "Okay, God, I will". He drove several blocks, when suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over to the curb and looked around. He was in semi commercial area of town. It wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst of neighborhoods either. The businesses were closed and most of the houses looked dark like the people were already in bed. Again, he sensed something, "Go and give the milk to the people in the house across the street." The young man looked at the house. It was dark and it looked like the people were either gone or they were already asleep. He started to open the door and then sat back in the car seat. "Lord, this is insane. Those people are asleep and if I wake them up, they are going to be mad and I will look stupid." Again, he felt like he should go and give the milk. Finally, he opened the door, "Okay God, if this is you, I will go to the door and I will give them the milk. If you want me to look like a crazy person, okay. I want to be obedient. I guess that will count for something but if they don't answer right away, I am out of here." He walked across the street and rang the bell. He could hear some noise inside. A man's voice yelled out, "Who is it? What do you want?" Then the door opened before the young man could get away. The man was standing there in his jeans and T-shirt. He looked like he just got out of bed. He had a strange look on his face and he didn't seem too happy to have some stranger standing on his doorstep. "What is it?" The young man thrust out the gallon of milk, "Here, I brought this to you." The man took the milk and rushed down a hallway. Then from down the hall came a woman carrying the milk toward the kitchen. The man was following her holding a baby. The baby was crying. The man had tears streaming down his face. The man began speaking and half crying, "We were just praying. We had some big bills this month and we ran out of money. We didn't have any milk for our baby. I was just praying and asking God to show me how to get some milk." His wife in the kitchen yelled out, "I ask him to send an Angel with some. Are you an Angel?" The young man reached into his wallet and pulled out all the money he had on him and put in the man's hand. He turned and walked back toward his car and the tears were streaming down his face. He knew that God still answers prayers.

Interesting...
I actually did feel a chill.

 

[Shubunkin]

I cannot imagine asking God to move a knife. Even if it moved it could be explained away.... earthquake, house settling, imagination, etc. It wouldn't work. What works is answer to prayer, I believe, that proves God. I have seen and experienced too much to be unable to not believe. You can test God all you want, but there is no reason why he should do it that way.

 

[USABOB]

A few years ago i got into some financial problems when my business went under and as a result i ended up owing the irs $3,000. I had absolutely no way to pay this money and was in big trouble! I had never bought a lottery ticket before in my life but i bought one and asked God to please let me win,i was at the end of my rope. My ticket was the winning ticket for $5,000! after taxes my winnings came to $3,600, just enough to pay my tax bill with $600 to spare! GOD DOES answer prayers but sometimes not always in ways we expect. Maybe GOD didn't think bending your knife was the right thing to do at that time. maybe He wants you to explore your faith more deeply or that it is just not your time yet. God says "your ways are not my ways" (sorry, but i forget what verse, but it's in the bible)

 

[Kristin82]

Teakon,

What a very normal thing to wonder. I, in my early stages of faith, did similar things. "God, if you're real, give me a sign," and so on. But the user below, matthewgoh, is certainly right. We as people are called to grace by faith alone. God wants us to come to Him, to live for Him, and to give our whole hearts to Him. A true love for someone is not seen, but felt. If God was so apparently real... if we could visually see Him, talk with Him, touch Him, it wouldn't mean that much to believe in Him, would it? It would be just as easy to believe in God as it is to believe in gallons of milk or the stop sign at the end of the street. Those things don't require faith to know they are there, because we can see them!

God, on the other hand, is a little less apparent to our senses. But that is the true test of Christianity, to have faith. To dedicate our lives to God knowing that it's the one true reason we were ever given life in the first place, with no real evidence to fall back on. It's a difficult thing to do sometimes, and dedicating your life to Christ is certainly not an easy thing to do (it takes constant work, many sacrifices, and the becoming of a totally new creation and person), but the consequences are so incredibly rewarding, and the only way to everlasting life!

Teakon, I pray that the Lord is moving in your heart and that you will accept our Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, by nothing but faith alone.

"And Jesus said unto them ... , "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to younder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you."

~Romans 1:17~

 

[hlaltimus]

I think the best way to discribe me is that I am a seeker (and bed speller to boot, and we'll not mention my grammer).
I have always been on the knifes edge of belief and disbelief, but something happen the other day and I had to finally know.
So i took out my pocket knife and placed it on my work bench and called out. God if your there turn the knife over as a sign that you truly do exist , I will tell no one, no other soul will know that you did this for me, where is the harm.
Needless to say the knife never moved. So i am left with the conclution that either God doesn't exist or He doesn't care or He cannot act.
Yes I know the "you should not tempt God". But what Father when they hear thier child cry out in the dark of nite for them, doesn't go and call back and hug and hold the child to let them know that thier there and all will be alright.
If there is a flaw in what I have done or the way I am thinking, please let me know.


Seeker

Hi Teakon, I have also tried similar "experiments" with God in the past with disappointing similar results! Now, looking back, I can see a number of reasons why God did not grant me my request, some of which have already been covered by CF members...Thanks. I haven't read word for word every one of them, but is it just possible that one reason why God not does not grant us physically miraculous demonstrations is for the simple reason that such demonstrations are also available from Satan? Both God and the enemy can, honestly, work visible miracles, but praise God, only the Lord Jesus is in the business of miraculously changing lives. There is the real miracle to go for.

 

[hisbloodformysins]

I think the best way to discribe me is that I am a seeker (and bed speller to boot, and we'll not mention my grammer).
I have always been on the knifes edge of belief and disbelief, but something happen the other day and I had to finally know.
So i took out my pocket knife and placed it on my work bench and called out. God if your there turn the knife over as a sign that you truly do exist , I will tell no one, no other soul will know that you did this for me, where is the harm.
Needless to say the knife never moved. So i am left with the conclution that either God doesn't exist or He doesn't care or He cannot act.
Yes I know the "you should not tempt God". But what Father when they hear thier child cry out in the dark of nite for them, doesn't go and call back and hug and hold the child to let them know that thier there and all will be alright.
If there is a flaw in what I have done or the way I am thinking, please let me know.


Seeker

Hello Seeker,

God Bless you!! Do you want to know how many times I've also asked God for specific things, and truly believed but they didn't some to pass? I've recently experianced a blow to my faith, and I told God about it, I told him I needed to feel like I can trust him, and what good is my faith if it doesn't work? Well, I didn't hear an audible voice in response, but I'd also consider myself a "seeker". Here's a scripture for you "Seek, and you will find.... knock and the door will be opened...." You see, God wants us to seek, he wants us to find the answer, and sometimes seeking means you have to keep searching, but atleast you are not being complacent, right?

I'll tell you something though, the reason that knife didn't turn over is because you really did not believe. You had doubt in your heart? How do I know this? Because you made a deal with God. You told him that you wouldn't tell anyone, "what'd be the harm in that?" First of all, why would God care if you told? As a matter of fact others are blessed by our testimonies, and I'm about to give you one of my own. I'm not saying all this to criticize you, I'm saying this because I have experianced similar times of lack of faith myself, when I thought I believed. Recently I prayed that God would bless me with twins the next time I get pregnant, but I knew that although I was hopeful, I really didn't believe... and how come I don't believe, well, because it's not God's will. How do I know this, because him & I have been talking about this. There was a time when my son was a infant that my hubby & I decided to go to the movies to sing the Ring when it came out. I was so concerned that my son would cry the whole time, so hubby & I prayed before going in. I did everything I was supposed to do, I relied on my "faith", I stood on his word, and my son was quiet until we entered the theatre and guess what happened? My son bellowed out on the top of his lungs and we just could not consol him, so we finally had to leave. I was left confused and questioning my faith. But now that I reflect on it I realize that the truth is I really didn't believe, I had doubt on my heart, and this was evidenced by me praying over & over again until I had convinced myself that God would honor my request. You did the same thing my friend.

There are times when God does give us the faith to believe for something, and when he does that, the things we ask for comes to pass.

An example of this is my testimony this past summer. I am just petrified of any bug that stings. If there is a bee or wasp flying around, you'll find me in doors as quick as lightening. We always have wasps around our house in the summer, and when i bring this concern up to my husband he tells me I just need to deal with it, oh, he did buy me a can of wasp spray. But he's also said "you just need to get stung" which has increased my anxiety anymore, that's the point, I don't want to get stung, and I really don't think getting stung will help my phobia. Well, this year we had not one, but three wasps nests. They get under our siding. We had those red paper wasps, yellow jackets, and mud daubers. I tried to follow hubbies advice "if you don't mess with them, they won't mess with you" and one day while outside with my daughter one of the red ones came buzzing by my ear twice, then the one turned into 3. So I went inside. Well, this is very upsetting to me because I like to go out in the yard with the kids in the summer, we have a kiddy pool and bikes and so forth, but I just cannot relax when those bugs are out there. So I was thinking about it and how there really isn't anything that can be done about it. But then I got an idea, "Pray". I prayed that night "Lord, we cannot do something about these wasps, but you can," and I pleaded my case with him, telling him that I just cannot enjoy being outside with those bugs out there, whether I should just deal with it or not. Then I asked him to do something about it. I said "Lord, I don't necessarily want you to kill the bugs for my sake, but put some sort of weird vibe around the house so they are repelled and send them in an abandoned field some where near here". Well, guess what, the next morning they were gone. And the next day, and the day after that, and well, pretty much the whole summer. Yeah, we'd have one check out our rose bushes, but they'd quickly leave, and that was that.

So, what's the difference between God answering my prayer then, but not at the movies? I finally know, it's because of my faith.

If you believe in your heart, and I mean truly believe that something is his will, or that he hears you, or that he truly cares about what you are asking for then he'll give it to you. "Anything you ask in my name will be given to you". Also, in James chp. 1 it says "When you ask believe, if you have doubt dont think you'll get what you ask for". In the parables there was a time when a man asked Jesus "please help me with my unbelief" after he said to Jesus, "lord, if you're willing", Jesus responded "If I'm willing?" meaning this man came to Jesus with doubt in his heart.

There are times when you'll have true faith about something, and times when you won't, though you are hopeful.

Hope this helps.

God Bless you,

Don't stop seeking

"If you seek, you will find".

HB

 

[PaulAckermann]

Yes I know the "you should not tempt God". But what Father when they hear thier child cry out in the dark of nite for them, doesn't go and call back and hug and hold the child to let them know that thier there and all will be alright.
Seeker

You are right that no Father would ignore his child if his child cried to Him. But that is not what you did. You did not cry to Him. Instead, you challenged Him to do a parlor trick. Do as you wrote in your analogy - sincerely cry out to God. And as a good Father He will hug you. He may not do some parlor trick for you, but He will hug you.

 

[PaulAckermann]

I like to expand on this:

God has at times throughout the Bible and Church History appeared to individuals. But everytime He has appeared to a person, He has required far more from that person than from other people. God appeared to Moses, and in return for this God required Moses to go back to Egypt, where he was a wanted man, in order to deliver the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt. That is a pretty tall order! In the Old Testament, God appeared to the prophets. In response the prophets lived in solitude and poverty, and most suffered martyrdom. Doubting Thomas demanded to touch Jesus' wounds before he would believe. Jesus obliged. But Thomas paid a great price for this priviledeg of having irrefutable evidence of His resurrection. He became a missionary to India, and became a martyr. In fact, all 12 apostles gave up everything and became missionaries to far-off lands, 11 of the 12 apostles who saw the resurrected Christ were martyred. The Apostle Paul, heard a vioce from heaven, and he became a missionary and martyr.

Thoughout history we find the same thing (as a Catholic my examples here are Catholic examples, but I am sure there are Protestant ones as well). A man once heard a voice from from God to repair His Church. He responded by giving away everything he had, and lived a life of a homeless beggar. He was known as St Francis of Assisi. God once sent the Blessed Virgin Mary down to a Jewish man who scoffed at Christianity. He responded by becoming a Christian and becoming a monk (St Alponse Ratisbonne). Holy Mary appeared to a child, who suffered tremendous perscution from the government because of her testimony, and she later became a nun. Here name was St Bernadette. Holy Mary also appear to three children in 1917 in Fatima. All three suffered persecution for this. Two died in their childhood. The other became a nun.

God does not require all to renounce everyhing, live in poverty and celibacy, and to die as martyrs. For most of us, our simple child-like faith and humble obedience throughout our normal lives is enough to please God. But Jesus warned that to him much is given. much more is required. If you happen to be one of the priviledged few, that God somehow miraculously reveals to you that He exists, watch out! In exchange for that priviledge, He requires far more from you in return! You will be required far more sacrifices in return for that miracle. God would not be pleased by only your child-like faith. After all, who wouldn't believe if God performed a miracle just for them? Even the demons believe that there is a God! God is not impressed with the faith of demons. After all, they once saw God, its no big deal that they believe.
Jesus said to Doubting Thomas "Blessed as those who did not see, and yet believe". If you have not seen a miracle that absolutely proves that God exists, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. God is then pleased just with your child-like faith. Those that have seen a miracle have to do far more than just simple faith in order to please God.

So before you ask God to prove His existence to you, ask yourself if you are willing to bear the cost if He actually did this. Would you be willing to go beyond what is required of the average Christian? Would you give up everything, in a very literal sense, for God?

Now, wouldn't you rather just receive a nice "hug" from God? A hug requires a lot less from us in return.

 

[CASEY82]

I have only been a christian for a year now so i cannot give you a defined answer, but when i can tell you is how that very same question was answered for me. You've made the first big decision, you want to believe, i'd reached a point where i knew the life i was living wasnt enough and that god was the answer so i went and sought advice from my uncle who is a pastor and started attending church on a few sundays. My heart had the desire to believe and to change but yes that doubt was still in my head, especially when you've gone down hard roads. I had arrived at work one morning to find my boss there and to be told i was fired, they had deicded that i wasnt right because i would soon be attending university, it was the last strand for me as well as all my other problems i was losing my job just weeks before xmas, i was driving home and all i could think to do was pray and try to tell myself it was going to be ok. As i stopped the car in my driveway i felt this warm heavy blanket wrap around me, i felt at peace and heard the softest voice say "It's going to be ok, im here" wow let me tell you i sat there i awe,i started crying and i just said "oh, so there you are....your actually real" i've had 3 other moments like thsi where i have felt a power and a force beyond my understanding move in me and the feeling of knowing gods presence is like right there in front of you is something beyond any words.

I'd love to say my life has been fabulous since that moment, but it hasnt, living with god is a growing process that invloves good times and bad times. There are lessons we have to learn and sometimes we need to learn the hard way, we need our faith to grow the hard way. God cant rain blessings on us 24/7 there are hard roads we must walk down, but its in those moments that god is standing there right beside us saying "Will u still seek me, will you still have faith?" I have just come to the end of my hardest journey thus far and there were so many times i could give up and i came close, but i was like ok god, i will push on, i will trust you......it took me 6mths to get through that, but at the end he delivered me and rained his glory down upon me, so much so that everyone around me is like wow...god is really working for u latley. And im not talking about being delivered in a small way, i had to go to court and from all the legal adive id gotten, i was expecting to be charged and given some form of community service.....but i was let go, no charge and no service a clean slate - everyone knew, all the people who were in that court room knew it was the hand of god that led the judge that day. So take heart and keep seeking god! just because your knife didnt turn over, doesnt mean he isnt there....i have never seen god move an object in front of me...but i have seen him do the most amazing things! Including brining my cousin out of a coma that he should of died in and erase his brain damage to let him walk away from his accident perfect. Sometimes we are standing here screaming at god for answers for deliverance - but is waiting for us to have faith! please keep seeking him....this horrible journey is sooo worth living in his glory!
Casey

 

[matthew241006]

I think the best way to discribe me is that I am a seeker (and bed speller to boot, and we'll not mention my grammer).
I have always been on the knifes edge of belief and disbelief, but something happen the other day and I had to finally know.
So i took out my pocket knife and placed it on my work bench and called out. God if your there turn the knife over as a sign that you truly do exist , I will tell no one, no other soul will know that you did this for me, where is the harm.
Needless to say the knife never moved. So i am left with the conclution that either God doesn't exist or He doesn't care or He cannot act.
Yes I know the "you should not tempt God". But what Father when they hear thier child cry out in the dark of nite for them, doesn't go and call back and hug and hold the child to let them know that thier there and all will be alright.
If there is a flaw in what I have done or the way I am thinking, please let me know.


Seeker

[Reply deleted due to inappropriate content. Sorry]

 

[Bain_Adaneth]

God don't have to give us more proof than He has already....the earth and heavens are His proof....why don't people believe?...I don't know!...I guess they need more proof...or maybe they believe that we're actually small mircrobes who have slowly evolved to become humans....that is so pathetic....I know Satan's having a good laugh at his lie.......laughing and laughing that people believe they really are monkeys....come on....we're humans...so the next thing we just have to figure out is WHo put us here......so that's the right path...that leads to answers....and one of the answers for people is God....the next step is How and who is God and why, and where.....and so this is searching for the Truth.....we have proof that GOd exists....why do you think so many people are searching for Him?....we all have an understanding of evil and good...for some reason......you have to search the scriptures....find out and list out the reasons why you don't believe and also those things that you doubt....and then search for answers from the pastor, other Christians, the bible......for all the answers you get, the bible should be your authority.....it is more accurate that what a pastor or friend will say....and pray....you need to pray for God to reveal it.....ask Jesus to find the truth...because He said if we search we shall find.....and you will if you search with your heart...that's being open minded...not quiting to easily....keep on going....and searching...

 

[Bain_Adaneth]

PM me if you have any questions that you're pondering or wondering that I may have an answer to...May God bless you...I hope that you find Him....

 

[hlaltimus]

I think the best way to discribe me is that I am a seeker (and bed speller to boot, and we'll not mention my grammer).
I have always been on the knifes edge of belief and disbelief, but something happen the other day and I had to finally know.
So i took out my pocket knife and placed it on my work bench and called out. God if your there turn the knife over as a sign that you truly do exist , I will tell no one, no other soul will know that you did this for me, where is the harm.
Needless to say the knife never moved. So i am left with the conclution that either God doesn't exist or He doesn't care or He cannot act.
Yes I know the "you should not tempt God". But what Father when they hear thier child cry out in the dark of nite for them, doesn't go and call back and hug and hold the child to let them know that thier there and all will be alright.
If there is a flaw in what I have done or the way I am thinking, please let me know.


Seeker

He's there Teakon, He's there, but His very name is "The God of Truth" and will never, ever, ever be found in the space or perimeter of a lie. The truth of the Word of God, the Bible, will make all the difference here in the world for you. If you have to stay up late at night in order to learn about how this God works and how He doesn't work....Do it, because victory or defeat hang in the balance upon this single point. Soak up the truth of the Word of God into your very being and sacrifice what it forbids while pursuing what it allows for. Take it from an old Christian, you will not be disappointed. I cannot say that you will no longer have any problems in your life, you won't so much loose all of your problems as you will gain a solution for them. He makes and unmakes whole universes at a single, spoken word Teakon, so just imagine what kind of a friend this Being would make, so you must therefore study all you can learn about what He is pleased or displeased with. It will be well worth it.

 

[HVNbound07]

YES! THERE IS A GOD! Look around you at the beauty that surrounds us! First of all we are not to "test God" also, talk to God like yopu were talking to a friend, and if you listen, he talks back, some times in a song we hear, or some one might say something we need to hea.

I know God exist because several times in my life I should have died and I didn't, I believe it was because it wasn't my time, but when it is my time, I won't be afraid to go.

I hope you find your answers.

 

[BloodFire]

yes there is a God
and He loves us, including you, very much!

 

[HVNbound07]

Interesting...
I actually did feel a chill.

Not only chills but it brought tears to my eyes!