Questions about God....

My name is Elizabeth and I have been a christian for about 4 years I would say in a serious way and I've always known that God exists but wasn't really sure about him and I would just believe....

Why did God truly die for us? Why is there different churches like Baptist, Catholic etc... I don't understand the bible and I feel I should know some of this and through my whole life I always wanted to know what He is thinking and it can't all be good things and I am glad I am asking questions and I know nothing about Christianity and I am baptised and I was baptised on Febuary 16th 2003 and I don't know what to do anymore... Jesus please Help me!!

I just ask whoever is reading this that someone will be able to help me with this, that would be extremely helpful! thanks

Jesus died for us out of pure love.

God desires all to spend eternity with him. However, he had a problem. He is absolutely holy and as such cannot allow unholy beings into his eternal presence. Because he is also just he demands punishment for unholy behavior. So he sent his Son to take that punishment for us.

Jesus paid for our sins on the cross. God puts on all who believe the holiness of Jesus.

That is a simplified reason for Christ's death. Actually it was probably a little more complicated than it needed to be. Perhaps someone more eloquent than I can chime in.

As far as why are there so many christian churches. That is because there are many different people who read the Word of God many different ways. They find that there are differences in their interpretation that are important enough to them to start a new fellowship of believers that believe the same way and can worship together.

Now that I have passed the 1/2 century mark I find I am becoming less and less dogmatic about what I consider to be doctrines away from the central theme of Jesus Christ and his life and death. Focus on him and you won't go wrong. Focus on Jesus and you can tolerate many different denominations as long as they believe the same thing about Him.

It looks like you're in need of a modern English translation of the New Testament so that you can find out more about God.Fortunately for you, a new Bible specifically written for teen girls came out just a few months ago.It's desiigned like a magazine with alot of pictures and practical advice so I know you'll like it and find it really helpful.It can be purchased for about 10 U.S. dollars in Christian bookstores some of which can be found on the internet.

You mentioned that you were baptized which of course is a first step.After you start to follow Jesus' teachings which you will find in the Bible,you then should start to pray for the second baptism that's necessary,the baptism of the Holy Spirit that God sends in response to prayer.Keep seeking God and you'll find him.

Thank you for replying to my questions and there are so much more I want to know about God like...

well I know He hates to see us suffer and some people are like if God is real why would we have to suffer so much? and I can't even explain that and all I know is that God gave us free will and I know satan tempted Jesus but Jesus refused and wanted to go with God's will and I don't understand or know much about Jesus life on earth and I know it's teaching and helping and I am learning about Him and I thankful for that but when I am at college during my lunch break it's really hard to lean on God because of society and I feel like I am the only one that knows God and the rest can do whatever they want.

God please help me understand you and thank you for dieing and coming to earth even if I don't understand some things!!

I will pray for you. I am not sure where to begin with answering questions about God. I guess this would be a good place to start though. Jeuss answered this way when asked what was the most important commandment. "love God with all that you are and love your neighbor as yourself" Jesus said if we really follow this great commandment then everything else will take care of itself.

The reason there are so many different churches is complicated. Some have a history of disagreements. Others just happened seperately because of culture or circumstances. My personal opinion is the root of most of the differences comes down to authority. Meaning who makes the decisions and what are the rules?? Some churches follow only the bible and allow individuals to intepret it. Other churches have a more defined interpretation of the bible and traditions and rules that support that. I guess which church you choose depends on how much structure you want/need and who you trust. No one gets it 100% perfect but church leaders can be a little like parents. It sure beats being an orphan but can also be dysfunctional at times and even in extreme cases abusive. Hopefully you find a church where they are interested in helping you grow and nurture your faith. as with parents there are all different styles and issues. The bottomline is the same with both. True love covers a lot of errors. I would rather have a dad who loves me than one who is perfect...although a dad who is a mess can lead me into a lot of grief too....... Hope you can follow this analogy/comparison.
Anyway, I hope this helps.

"And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks. Luke 11:9-10

COMMIT YOURSELF TO READ THE WORD EVERYDAY AND YOUR LIFE WILL BE CHAGNED, YOUR EYES OPENED, AND YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED!

Thanks everyone for replying, A friend said this or I read this somewhere but I need to tell you guys.

How can you believe in something you can't see? I can't even answer that one!

I know that I believe in Jesus and everything but my heart is getting softer but still is really hard. Even after I watched the passion I stared at the screen for about 20 minutes saying abousolutely nothing!

Some people said that the movie was about abviously his death and some people wanted Jesus to die already and that hurt but I don't know what I should do or what I think about Jesus and I love him so much and it's not all by feeling and I know that

anyways thanks everyone for helping me with my questions about God! May the Lord bless you all!! Thanks again

Lizzie01 said:

I am still struggling with God but then again I am not making the effert but I feel so hurt for like the longest time, I don't know why I should bother about asking questions about God, I mean it's meaningless meaningless and I already read that part in the bible where it says EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS and it's true my life is meaningless.

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Life is not meaningless. It is a gift from God. We don't see radio waves, but I'll bet that doesn't stop you from turning on a switch to listen, does it? There are many things we do not see, but that doesn't mean they don't exist and that everything is meaningless.
If you're going to college with this weak of a faith in God, you may not get far before falling prey to the lies the world has to offer which are very deceiving and can trip up a person with roots not strongly grounded in the Word of God.
As Pastor Frank suggested, a new translation of the Bible like the living Bible, which is a paraphrase, would be something to strengthen your faith. When you run into a verse you don't understand, don't throw up you hands and give up, crying it is all meaningless, but type the book, chapter, and verse here and ask your question about it. Is it worth a little bit of effort to learn about? If it isn't, then the movie and God's calling could be lost as only a fading memory if you don't feed yourself a little and at least try to keep your faith in God strong.
The only thing meaningless is a life lived without God in that life.
God desires to have fellowship with His creation and wants a family, but He wanted a real family - not robots. That is why He gave man a choice in the garden of Eden. Man fell into sin and death and we have inherited that sin and death from Adam. Jesus came back to give us new life that does not have the curse of sin and death on it, and to be the firstborn of many brethren. When we ask to born again, we are given a new spirit that is after the nature of God instead of Adam's which was to sin. If we follow the Spirit God has given us in the new birth, we will live our lives blessed and full of faith, but if we listen to the old nature that was to die in baptizm, we go back to the sins and death.
I pray you will listen to God's Spirit and follow Him and learn how to serve others with your life. We have a choice of a selfish life or one after the life of Jesus, where we gave His life for others. It isn't an easy life, but it is the only one worth living, and seeing the great reward of eternal life, it has great hope. I hope you chose to not be so easily discouraged, but to pray for God to make you born again and to keep you safe from the old nature and the sins and death of the world. Ask Him and He will give, knock on His door and He will open it.

Lizzie01 said:

I am still struggling with God but then again I am not making the effert

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Then make the effort...

but I feel so hurt for like the longest time, I don't know why I should bother about asking questions about God, I mean it's meaningless meaningless and I already read that part in the bible where it says EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS and it's true my life is meaningless.

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Life is not meaningless, it is a gift, not only is it a gift, it is a manifestation of God's mercy, withholding judgement on the sinner until his death. Everything else, sin, the world, worldly possesions, desires etc, that stuff is meaningless.

How can you believe in something you can't see? I can't even answer that one!

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I THINK it's Paul who said we should all be able to give an answer for our faith. Find yours. The reason though, why we believe or adhere, is because we are the called of God. We have been saved by His grace, and he gave us the gift of faith that calls things that are not as though they are. The reason others do not believe is because they have not been called by God.

well I know He hates to see us suffer and some people are like if God is real why would we have to suffer so much? and I can't even explain that and all I know is that God gave us free will and I know satan tempted Jesus but Jesus refused and wanted to go with God's will and I don't understand or know much about Jesus life on earth and I know it's teaching and helping and I am learning about Him and I thankful for that but when I am at college during my lunch break it's really hard to lean on God because of society and I feel like I am the only one that knows God and the rest can do whatever they want.

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Romans 5:3-5 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
(NKJV. I added the bold for emphasis).
If you don't know much about Jesus's life on earth, I suggest you read the New Testament. Not only was his life about teaching and helping, it was also about rebuking, and fullfilling prophesy.

Why did God truly die for us? Why is there different churches like Baptist, Catholic etc... I don't understand the bible and I feel I should know some of this and through my whole life I always wanted to know what He is thinking and it can't all be good things and I am glad I am asking questions and I know nothing about Christianity and I am baptised and I was baptised on Febuary 16th 2003 and I don't know what to do anymore... Jesus please Help me!!

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Someone already did a pretty good job of answering these questions, but I just wanted to add something to the second question. I would suggest doing a casual study of church history. Martin Luther is a historical figure I think everyone should know what he did. John Calvin is another. Then there's Wesley, and Spurgeon, and Augustine, and Finney. Martin Luther is I guess you would say the "father" of the Protestant church. He started the Reformation. His famous 95 point thesis on the heresies of the catholic church at that time pretty much started it off. This is something you should look into.

I have lots of garbage in my life and what is in my heart I believe is bitterness,self control, anger, jealousy, doubts, fear, lonliness etc and also unable to forgive people for what they have done to me and unable to forgive myself! I want to truly have joy in my life and actually have a relationship with God but I am so freakin lonely it's really hard to explain!

I AM SO BROKEN AND I HAVE LOTS OF GARBAGE THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT!!

Hello Lizzie,

It's difficult to understand the nature of God, in fact this is something that Philosophers and Theologians have debated for centuries. We can never 'know' God, in other words, we can never prove that God exists, or that God doesn't exist. We can only believe, and have faith.

To try and understand the nature of God (which is what I picked up from some of your other posts in this thread) on top of handling all the other 'garbage' in your life at the moment will be difficult; If you have all these worries piling up around you, how can you expect to spend time and effort relying on God and trying to believe in Him?

Well, some people might say prayer. Look at it as a way of telling God about your problems, your concerns, and your hopes. I can't really give any advice about how to pray (someone else might chime in with that!) - But if you find it difficult to talk to God right now, then there are other options open to you to try and ease your mind and bring you some peace. Have you considered counselling? Or do you have any close friends or family you can trust enough to talk to?

Once you start feeling better about yourself, then you can start sorting out some of the thoughts you have about God, and start building a relationship with him, and finding joy. But you should take things slowly and a step at a time. And relax...

John.

Lizzie

Do you have a local church? one that preaches the word and maybe has small groups so that you can get some support and good bible teaching? It's not selfish to need help, you sound like you are a toddler in the christian life... toddlers need feeding and need hand holding, that's ok.

Have you ever done an Alpha course? that is designed to answer many of the questions you have put on this thread. Here is the link to find a course in Canada.

http://www.alphacanada.org/courses/search_course.php

With regard to talking to God, be real, talk to him like you would your friend, moan about what you're unhappy about, thank him for your life and chat to him about what you feel. I find it helpful to write my prayers in a journal, then I sit and wait and see if I 'hear' anything from God, I usually start to write down what I hear, when I read it back I am usually amazed, it's so spot on. Of course when you start doing this it can be hard to hear God's voice above your own thoughts so It's good to get a mature christian to check this over when you first start to see if what you are hearing is God or yourself.

There are some great courses out there to help unravel your soul issues, but to be honest finding a church that can give you minstry and prayer support is often the best way , the more of God that goes in the more it sorts out what's inside.