RE: Christians: Convince me that God is Real

[theperfect2]

Hi Bidoof.....God is very much real and is very much alive, if I had to search for proof then I could not call it faith however there is evidence from around the world that God does indeed exists and has been acknowledged through the ages by individuals and goverments alike the official USA motto is "In God We Trust" and its even printed on their money and is deeply rooted in thier constitution.

There are numerous books by previous atheists that tried to disprove God existed only to eventually become believers themeselves, there are numerous historical facts that point to Gods existance, for me though I know God exists first I knew him by faith and then I came to know him by his voice which I have heard as have many others.

Here are some books to read to help you on your journey.
Man, Myth, Messiah By Rice Broocks (W Publishing)
Cold-Case Christianity J Warner Wallace
http://coldcasechristianity.com/
Lee Strobel
http://leestrobel.com/

Comments

[bidoof]

The christian god has been acknowledged by governments, but so have other gods. The flag of Israel has the jewish star of david on it, for instance, and many muslim nations have the islamic star and crescent on their flags.

Out of curiosity, what has god's voice told you? What does it sound like?

[stan]

Have you ever been in a Skype chat session with two other people?
Picture turning off the labels so you can't tell whether you, Satan, or God typed something into your stream of thought.

Yeah. It's exactly like that.

[bidoof]

That sounds a bit spooky. How can you trust any of your thoughts if Satan might be causing them?

[stan]

Absolutely not. You should examine every thought.

Here is one such mental Skype session which shows how to handle it:

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
Satan came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" = Matthew 4:1-4

[bidoof]

How would god react if you got it wrong and assumed an idea from satan really came from him? Would he be angry? Surely the devil is clever enough to masquerade as god to make you sin sometimes.

[stan]

Oh yes! The devil is very tricky! Here he is actually quoting Scripture to Jesus:

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

You need to have everything that is written at the tip of your tongue to stand any chance at all.

As to how God will react... like any good Parent he will critique how you processed it, since that entire Skype session is available for review. It logs your responding thought process with everything else. But if you are His child, screwing up does not get you shut out. You just might not get that brand new bicycle you had coming. :o)

[theperfect2]

There are are 3 ways I am aware of that he speaks Audible (which I have not heard yet) Inner Man which is like a voice inside yourself that drowns everything out in and around you (this I have had on a few occasions) and then by his spirit which is like a nagging / urging feeling within yourself that you must do something for instance like you must help someone, or apologize to someone its a knowing feeling kinda hard to describe, the inner man voice is very gentle but you cannot deny its power or authority and it really does tend to stop you in your tracks.

[theperfect2]

Just reading over your comment again do you know that Jesus the Son of God was a Jew and God considers Isreal the apple of his eye so to speak ? the star of David was believed to match / represent King Davids shield and King David in the bible was known by God as a man after Gods own heart :)

[stan]

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" - 1 Kings 19:11

Also referred to as "a still, small voice" in the King James translation.