What has God done for you in your life?

[Symph]

I am well aware of the prophesies Jesus fulfilled, but I am looking for evidence that can't have alternative explanations. In the words of some atheist person I don't remember (and again not my words) "It amazes me that a fiction book's prophesies being fulfilled by it's fictional squeal amazes people."

You see I looked to the Bible to see what kind of evidence God might present. God didn't tell the rich man "you should have just known" or "you should have asked for a sign" he said "you should have believed the prophets". What I am doing is asking the prophets, weighing the odds of lying, self delusion/exaggerated stories etc. vs it simply being the truth.

I'm just confused why you don't find the bible itself and it's preservation of existence more convincing, it makes me feel like you haven't seen a good presentation of all the factors involved that couldn't be coincidence. Like "It amazes me that a fiction book's prophesies being fulfilled by it's fictional squeal" If you can take a sentence like that seriously, you don't know anything about the origins of the bible.

We're not talking about one book with one author that wrote things that can only be fulfilled in that book. No we can look through history and see that everything we find DOES correlate with the bible, but usually the bible gives the details that seem real, and the outside sources seem biased (making it sound like the pharoah or king at that time could do no wrong etc) There are texts from the early AD centuries from theologians trying to debunk Christ, but what they gave us is more evidence he existed, cause it just showed at that time even the opponents of this faith couldn't deny Jesus was real they just tried to prove he didn't rise from the dead.

We have historians like Josephus, who also corroborate with the texts, it's a history book no one can debunk and there's alot of bad history out there that's EASILY debunked, it's not easy to make a fake water tight historical account, and CERTAINLY not one written by different people who couldn't ensure it would stay untainted and pure over 1500 years but here it is, still changing lives, still not debunked, still the most talked about book on the planet.

I just feel like if this isn't hitting you as really compelling evidence, you're not thinking about it realistically. Can you think up a viable way they would have pulled off such a hoax? I made a joke in another thread like, "maybe it was time capsules, they finished one book then left a time capsule for a far of person 100 years from now to find that said "ok you gotta make it look like the assyrians took over this city ok? So make it real convincing we need proof for archaeologists to dig up years from now, but after that you're gonna need to leave another time capsule to keep this story going"

It just makes no sense. Can you think of a plausible way to do it? To not only make sure your books get written at the right time, in the right place, continue the right story, confirm each other, and on top of that leave behind all the physical evidence on the planet needed to confirm the stories with reality? How would they do that? Anyway, I just find it odd you say you've looked into but find it to be weak evidence, I'm gonna try to find a video.

Ok this may not be the best I don't have time to go through the whole thing but I THINK I've seen this series before and it's good, give it a shot!

 

[sidewalkchalk]

Hello dallasthomas!

I've got many many of stories where God was faithful with things like money and provisions. People may say it was a coincidence but the thing is it has happened so many times in my life that one has to stop likening it to chance and say that a source, God, is behind it. Meaning a couple answers to prayer? Ok maybe it's chance but that adds up to hundreds and for over two decades then it stops being chance and one has to say the answers come from a source.

-Once I needed $5 for food to get through the weekend and I asked God for it. The next day I got a card in the mail from a relative that I'd not heard from in ages. The card had $5 in it.

-When I prayed for my future spouse I asked God for two specifics, a certain hairstyle and tattoos, and he had them ( we met online btw). My mother said when I prayed to be specific so when God answered I'd know it was definitely Him. So I had two very specific specifics that I wanted my future spouse to have and he ended up having them! I did not tell anyone I just kept that prayer to myself. (And he also went to my church but we never met in person cause the church is huge).

-Another time, and this is silly but true, when in my early 20's I asked God for pizza for dinner. I'd recently moved out of my parents home and was still learning on budgeting and paying bills, etc. That month I didn't have extra money for groceries and was living off of just frozen ravioli and quiche that I had bought in bulk. I was SO SICK of eating both every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So I just one day out loud said "God? I want some pizza!" and then forgot about it. When I got home that evening there was a big pizza on the counter (!) and my roommate told me if I wanted some I could have some. She said that she'd ordered a medium and they delivered a large and she couldn't eat all of it. Mind you I didn't say anything to her about wanting pizza and I had said what I said to God to myself while at work.

Another time I was having a special event to showcase my work and I wanted some flowers for the table. I felt silly wanting and having to buy flowers for my own show. My husband said that flowers were a waste of money so I didn't buy any. On the day of the show I woke up and asked God for flowers. That milestones in life often include celebrating with flowers and it was REALLY important to me to have some at my show. I was amazed at how strongly I wanted some and it being so important to me. That night at the show my parents walked in and gave me an amazing bouquet made up of of one of my favorite kinds of flowers! I didn't even know that they knew it was a favorite of mine (they didn't btw but God did!). Then a little later a friend walked in with another bouquet of flowers for me, a bouquet made up of a few of my favorite kinds of flowers AND they were all my favorite color (green)! I knew it was God and it showed me that He remembers me and the little things that I cared about. It was a very special thing He did for me.

A couple years ago my husband and I were living in a duplex that I did not like living in. I was really stressed out because of my job and going home to rest was stressful due to our noisy neighbor on the other side of the wall. We were coming home from work one night and I was almost in tears from the stress of work and I prayed that the next place we lived in would be a house. A few minutes later we stopped at a stop light and I saw that that the car that was at the stop light in front of us had a license plate that said "AHouse4U" on it. And a few months later we ended up finding a nice little house to live in!

I've got many more stories like this as well. God has provided so many times in my life when it seemed there was no way to "make things happen" on my end and all doors were shut.

It is good,dallasthomas, that you are asking people to post stories to help you with your faith and I hope that God uses peoples responses to build your faith. Seek Him and He will be found by you when you seek Him with all your heart. (Jer. 29:13)

 

[faroukfarouk]

-When I prayed for my future spouse I asked God for two specifics, a certain hairstyle and tattoos, and he had them ( we met online btw). My mother said when I prayed to be specific so when God answered I'd know it was definitely Him. So I had two very specific specifics that I wanted my future spouse to have and he ended up having them! I did not tell anyone I just kept that prayer to myself. (And he also went to my church but we never met in person cause the church is huge).

Hi; it's so wonderful also to be able to read promises in Scripture about the eternal life and hope that is available through faith in the Lord Jesus and His work for sinners at the Cross, and then to be able to testify that this has indeed been made good in our own experience.

Interesting about the ink also; maybe you guys have subsequently both gotten more tattoos together?

 

[sidewalkchalk]

Hi; it's so wonderful also to be able to read promises in Scripture about the eternal life and hope that is available through faith in the Lord Jesus and His work for sinners at the Cross, and then to be able to testify that this has indeed been made good in our own experience.

Interesting about the ink also; maybe you guys have subsequently both gotten more tattoos together?

faroukfarouk,

No, no tattoos for me. It's a touchy subject in the church I'm sure you know or have heard this before. I don't share that fact often,about my husband having tattoos, but when it comes to people asking about God working in people's lives then I share this testimony of God's very obvious faithfulness. : )

 

[faroukfarouk]

faroukfarouk,

No, no tattoos for me. It's a touchy subject in the church I'm sure you know or have heard this before. I don't share that fact often,about my husband having tattoos, but when it comes to people asking about God working in people's lives then I share this testimony of God's very obvious faithfulness. : )

Interesting perspective, anyway. For you tattoos are important for your husband yet you don't feel you want to become a tattooed wife.

God bless your home.

 

[Divide]

I have doubts, doubts of the very basis of the faith I was born with. I asked God for many different kinds of signs that He exists and received no answer but I never jumped to the conclusion that, that means He doesn't exist.

I remembered the story of the rich man and the beggar, the rich man was told that if his brothers didn't believe the prophets then they wouldn't believe a dead man who was raised from the grave either.

It got me thinking, maybe the only proof I'll receive is through believer's testimonies.

How many of you needed just $120 to pay the bills that month, and then a fellow believer who didn't know about your situation just randomly gave you the exact amount you needed? How many of you received blessings from God at the most unlikely of times? In ways that negate any possibility for it to have just been coincidence because the odds were millions to one?

I ask for this sort of testimony because I can explain away other aspects, which means Satan will continue to cast doubts about my faith. But I know statistics and I have heard of stories like this. Tell me, are they true? Does God bless you in ways where you can be SURE it is His doing? If so please share, I want to know the truth and put this behind me.

Brother, I got probably about a dozen of them. Some minor, some major. You asked about $120 and got it? Ok, I'll tell you about the time that God sent an Angel to my garage sale.

When I was living in Colorado a few years back, I had a 4 BR house with a 1 1/2 car detached garage. My rent was 1000 bucks a month. I was two months behind in rent, and also has a $300 utility bill disconnect notice for Monday. (this was saturday) I had made a garage sale and built a couple 4 X 8 tables in the garage to sell off household things from my 26 year marriage which went down the tubes (but she left 99% of the stuff). But you know garage sales are right? It wasn't bring in enough to pay rent but was pretty much feeding me. (I am a self-employed mechanical contractor since 1994). Work was real slow because of the economy but I was out there sitting in the garage doing the garage sale thing. Then my landlord pulled in and apologized as he handed me my 3 day notice and told me that even though he sympathized with me, that he had to get someone in there that would pay because he has bills too. Then he left. As he pulled away, I sat down to pray. I asked the Lord for help, in Jesus name, Amen.

It was dusk about that time so I went ahead and closed it up, and went back into the house. As soon as I sat down the phone rang. A man said he seen my ad on CL about the garage sale, but could he come by in about an hour or so when he got off work to have a look. I of course agreed. He showed up and I walked him out to the garage and as soon as we stepped through the door, before he even looked at anything, he said, how much do you need? (Tilt). I sort of ignored the question and began showing him the stuff and so forth. "How much do you need?" (Tilt) What do you say to that? I didn't answer that. He walked over by a table and sort of glanced around with not much interest, weird. He said again "How much do you need?" So I went into salesman mode and began talking about the knick knacks and stuff. Suddenly he says, "How much for everything on this table?" Now this is getting really weird. Garage salers do not act like that. They pour over the stuff and offer pennies on the dollar, and try to talk you down and stuff.

I figured he might be a flea market guy wanting to stock up a little or something. I was picking stuff up, telling him the age blah blah blah, handing it to him so he could see it and so forth. He would take the stuff from me, give a quick glance and set it down. He turned to me and said, "how about $1900 for everything on this table. I thought he was joking and so i kept talking. Then he says, "well, how about $2400 for everything on this table?" (Tilt!)

I stopped and said yeah, sure. I was waiting on the punch line...(Garage salers don't talk you up, they talk you down!). I was bewildered. So he says "ok" and pulls out a sheath of 100 dollar bills and counts me out 24 of them. I said wow. Do you need some help loading it up? He said yes thank you. So I grabbed a few boxes and began putting stuff in them, and he starts pulling stuff back out and setting it down. Oh I wont need this you can keep it. That either...(Tilt) He proably left about 25% of the stuff on the table and didn't take it even though he just paid for it. And overpaid i might add. I didn't have 2400 dollars into this stuff when it was new. Mayybe 1500 or so? We loaded up his truck, he shook my hand and drove away.

This guy was no idiot. Not one of those with more cash than brains. He was well spoken, well dressed and groomed and drove a nice white pickup truck. I walked back into the house wondering what had just happened...and then it hit me. I had prayed for help. And in less than two hours I had all the back rent, the utility money and an extra 100 for groceries. Nothing else can explain it but that was an Angel sent to help. That explained everything.

I consider that one a pretty major one myself. Glory to God!
How's that one Brother? You want more?