Why do you believe and What has He done for you?

[redroses42]

i belive because without Christ Jesus in my life i would be nothing

[James Hutton]

Hello, I'm new.

But, I was wondering why do you guys believe? And what has He done for you? What made you believe?.....

Thanks.

It looks like this thread was brought back to activity in December, so I will just go ahead and and do a post.

I believe because the Bible is the only religious text that actually makes sense to me. Though I went to church some as a child, I quickly quit going and stayed away for decades. I read the bible practically zero for those decades, nor do I remember anything concrete about what I was taught as a child. Before I was a Christian, I had a broken life, and did not even know for sure if God existed. In college, I learned about different religions such as Islam, Buddhism, and Shinto. Yet, I had no interest in following any of them.

I did not read the bible nearly all of those years, until the tail end of my college years. I didn't think about religion much at all, and I was afraid to read the bible because of what could be found within its pages. Once I started reading the bible, I simply tried to read a chapter a day, starting with Matthew. I remember reading weeping and gnashing of teeth. That stuck with me, to say the least.

Anyway, over the time, I learned from the bible, and by going to different churches at the time. I did see that the bible was confusing, and I didn't fully understand it at the time (nor do I fully understand today), but the general unity was there. The explanations of why the world is the way it is made sense to me.

About the "And what has He done for you?" question, a simple spiritual answer is: Jesus Christ died for my sins, and for the sins of the whole world. He added me to his church, which is his body when I was baptized into his death. I have had my sins forgiven, and he has taken them away from me in Jesus Christ. He also forgives me of any new sins I commit when I confess them and repent of them as well. I can also take pleasure in the incredible love of God that is in Jesus Christ.

On the physical level, Jesus has given me a wife, and a sense of general peace and joy that I never had before. I have a purpose in life now, and do not feel lost or in a maze of confusion anymore. I have the gift of being able to pray to God the Father which I was not able to do before as well.

I could go on, and there is a lot of things I have left out, but that is my answer in a nutshell.

Thanks,

James

[Widor1]

Head knowledge will not change you nor save you. It is the personal relationship one has with Jesus that saves. You have to believe and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. No church can save, no bible study can save, no amount of knowledge can save. Only a personal relationship with Him as your Lord and Savior saves.

I want a personal relationship with Christ.

Have you accepted Him as your Savior?

To be honest, no, I haven't. I really haven't, and I'm ashamed.

I've let so many awful feelings and ideas cloud my thoughts, and I feel like I've become numb to the idea of letting him in.

No matter how much I read the Bible, it all boils down to me retreating into myself when I can't handle things like my family, the pressure of finding a job or, someone who'd actually respond to me.

The hardest part about having a relationship with God at first is complete surrender. There are things we are very willing to surrender to, and other things that we have to work months, and sometimes years, to finally get past. Mine was anger. I thought I was a follower of Christ, but I could not see past my anger to forgive those that hurt me. I prayed for months for God to give me the ability to forgive these people so I could move on, and it just never seemed to stick. I would see something to remind me, I would feel terrible bitterness in my heart, and I wanted to hurt them. Which in turn made me feel worse. The goal is Christ. When we take our eyes off the goal, everything falls apart. We cannot live at peace without Him, and if we ARE with out Him we will always feel like there is something missing. We will never be satisfied. In all my anger I went to church one day and heard a sermon on forgiveness. Really simple. Heard the verse from Mark 11:25. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. And it all clicked. How can I sit here and feel bad, feel mad, feel dissatisfied, when I myself have made people feel the same way? Brought a whole new meaning to the part of the Lord's prayer that says Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us (Matthew 6:12)

Surrender is hard, and it is a constant battle. Whatever you are feeling dissatisfied about in your life, pray hard every single day until you get an answer. And trust me, you WILL get an answer, and it may not be one that you are expecting. But if you are truly seeking a relationship, God will listen, and you will be answered. For me, it started with surrender. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

If we don't ever ask, why should we expect to get an answer?

To the OP, thank you for asking these questions. I think a lot of people have thoughts like these, and they don't have the courage to seek answers. I believe because I sought very very hard for the truth, and when I thought I had found it, I kept searching until I did. Having a relationship with God is a constant lesson. If you have doubts, read the bible and write down questions about verses that you might not feel are true. Talk to lots of people about what they think of the verses, and do your own research. You will find the more you read the bible, if you read it with an open heart, the truth will clearly be presented to you. I used to have a lot of doubts, and I realized the more I fought it, the more strongly I could not deny that doubting would just be me lying to myself. Please seek the truth, if anything else, because you will not find anything if you do not try. God bless, and please keep asking questions!

[jeffreynaylor2009]

I believe because I have been convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit from the preaching of His Holy word from a vessel of the Lord. What he has done for me is revolutionize my life by allowing His presence to permeate every decision I make in life. This usually ends up doing things more His way than mine.

[CaliforniaJosiah]

Hello, I'm new.

But, I was wondering why do you guys believe? And what has He done for you? What made you believe? You see, I'm a teenager and I've been going to church for a while. Ever since around 4 years old. My mom made me. But, even though I have been going to church I still have doubts. I went to retreats. And I seen miracles happen, but for some reason I still have some doubts. Like, why are their so many people in Africa with no food. Why did the Holocaust happen? And my dad, he doesn't go to church, but he believes. He says he's too busy. I know life is not supposed to be a paradise, but some things around the world is cruel. I always wonder, why does God let these things happen?

Thanks.

ALL GREAT QUESTIONS ..... just kinda hard to "answer....."

I'm 25 and a physicist, and QUESTIONS is what I do - and what I get paid for doing. But..... life is not math or physics (where, in truth, answers are very allusive, too!!!!!). Our RELATIONSHIP with God is.... complex, not like 1+1 should = 2. No relations are like that.

There's a .... balance here. Yeah, I was raised in a VERY Christian family. Baptized literally within one minute of my birth. I was song Christian songs before I was born. And from before I can remember, I believed....... My parents have this OLD, grainy video of me at some closing church event where I'm talking about "what Jesus means to me." I was like 5. A cute little blonde/blue boy in white shorts...... I use to dig that out sometimes STUNNED by the faith of that little kid..... I've always believed.

I've always had questions and doubts, too. Some have impacted me. Most dramatically, I left one denomination and joined a different one - a really BIG event for me; leaving family and friends and history of my family going back centuries. I USED to say that I was making a list of ALL my questions for God when i get to heaven.

But I think I make a distinction between belief and faith, doctrine in my head and faith in my heart. I struggle trying to wrap my faith around my brain - not always SO sure MY brain full grasps God and all the stuff of God. In fact, I'm 99% sure I don't. I may not even be close. I'm a real theology junkie (I READ seminary TEXT BOOKS for fun - i'm not kidding), and I LOVE all that stuff. I just don't equate it with the issue of faith. Belief, doctrine, theology - that's how we Christians TRY to understand and articulate the faith in our hearts. The faith in our hearts..... that's a whole other enchlilada.

I have a STRONG, POWERFUL sense of God's presence and care and love. I feel it constantly and powerfully. I am totally unworthly, I am THE sinner - He is my father. Patient. Forgiving. Empowering. He doesn't make the "valleys" disappear, but He walks with me through the valley of a shadow of death. He doesn't answer ANY of my questions (and they are REALLY good ones, too!), but He does draw me closer to His heart.

I don't have all the answers (just 10,000 of them). He has me. THAT'S what really matters to me.

We all have our OWN journeys. And i think that's GOOD, that's the way God WANTS it. Struggles strenghten relationships - and bring us together. Struggles remind of we are frail. Struggles remind us there needs to be something..... Bigger.

- Josiah

[Angel1969]

I believe because the bible tells me who Jesus Christ is: 1 John 1:1-4 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life--the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us--that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship [is] with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.And these things we write to you that your [fn] joy may be full.

[tyler1234]

i beleave in the truth and that the truth has set me free

[Guest]

Does anyone have any actual EVIDENCE; testable, verifiable, objective evidence?

Israel

Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Isaiah 66:8

And Jerusalem

The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Zechariah 12:1-3

Yet Most Folk Remain

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

Snake Bit

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Genesis 3:1-(a-c)

You

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

See?

[Love is alive]

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but so that the world through him might be saved.

Welcome to worthy!!

I believe because God has changed my heart and my life. Hope these comments from our individual members helps you. May God bless you and continue to draw you closer to him.

[densin]

great responses