Faith in God, or belief in the Bible don't come easy in a scientific world; one filled with new discoveries and plausible theories. Christians often site proof texts and archeological finds, but the truth is that all of these discoveries have been refuted - with or without science. For many, the biblical fact that God says He is, is enough proof.
Well, it wasn't enough for me! The Bible, a seemingly rambling collection for random writers and styles was no match for my intellect, reason and personal logic.
For this Christian, there are only three things that make me certain of God's existence, and the validity of Christianity as described in the Bible.
1 Peace - Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. Unless you have experienced it, the peace of God - the biblical kind - is one of the most amazing gifts from the Heavens. In my life it has over powered panic and anxiety attacks, brought solace in desperate places, and provided insulation from situations that were completely beyond my control. Better and more filling than any drug, godly peace allows me to rest, to function in the face of trial, and be refreshed in my soul far more than a 2-week vacation in the tropics.
Real peace is not the kind that you have when all things are going well. No, it is peace in the face of trial. It is peace in the storm. Some times God calms the storm, other times he calms that one in the storm.
The peace that surpasses all understanding is evident to those around us as God handles difficult situations that cause others stress. It is peace when we lose a loved one, peace when we lose a job or have an accident. It is peace in the face of cancer - for it is the peace that only God can give. It transcends our emotions, anchoring our spirit.
2 Power - The Kingdom of God is power - creative power. The supernatural realms operate outside of time and are eternally active. Their impact on the natural is nothing short of miraculous. Once you have seen x-rays that showed a lump one day, and after prayer were clear that next, you start to see things differently. One you have seen a demon cast out, and then done it yourself, you start to get the point.
Most Christians that I know pray what they want, but the ones that are successful (God answers their prayers), pray want God wants. To know what God wants, one must be listening to God and not relying on their own thoughts and feelings.
If we are truly in relationship with Christ, then we are not spamming Heaven with prayer requests, we are saying amen to the will of God. Hearing His voice, and being a vessel for the anointing is the only winning combination. Otherwise healing prayer, and any answered prayer for that matter, will start to seem very random, and the power of God will seem rare - as scare as a spring in the desert.
Isaiah 10:27 It shall come to pass in that day
That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck,
And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.
Only God's power and anointing can draw a man's heart, speak to a man's spirit, and produce Kingdom fruit - broken yolks.
Power was coveted in the early church by both Christians and sorcerers. Paul ran into them in Acts 8:9 and 13:6.
Without power, Christianity is just another empty philosophy.
3 Love - 1 John 4:8 God is love. The evidence of the Kingdom is love - sacrificial love. There is not greater love then a man that would lay down his life for another.
Hollywood has emotionalized love to the point that we cannot even see it as an action. Love is what we do, not what we fell. Love is kind, forgiving and longsuffering - even when we don't feel like. Even the evil can give good gifts to their children, but only God can give good gifts to all of mankind.
Love that would die for another - even for an enemy is the bar that Christian must meet. Jesus said that other would know us by our love, our sacrifice, and the joy and peace we bring others - even those that are unlovable.
I find it interesting that Paul describes real love in the midst of his treatise on the spiritual gifts and their use in the church. The two, love, and the use of gifts is meant to be inexorably tied together to share the love of God, and to meet spiritual and personal needs of those we are in contact with.
How about you, what is it that make you know that God is real? Or what would He have to do to prove himself to you?
8 comments:
People can feel at peace, therefore god? What about those who feel transcendant peace from meditation...those that don't believe in your god?
Power of prayer = god? Except your explanation basically claims that prayer is useless, unless you ask god to do what he was going to do anyway, in which case, prayer is useless since that's what he was going to do anyway.
Love exists, therefore god? Once again, this is not specific to your religion.
@GCT - anyone can go off to some place of solitude and meditate - many may even have peace - well relaxation and calmness.
Those that have the peace of God can have it anywhere - especially during chaotic, stressful and difficult times. IE: Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat during the storm.
The release of power is not specifically released by prayer. Prayer is often required for healing and miracles, but not for prophecies and other forms of discernment and revelation. One must hear God to flow with the Spirit. If I meet a person that has a broken leg, their marriage is falling apart, and they do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior, I don't just start praying for the obvious. I find to what God wants to do, and go with that. That is the problem, so many see God as a spiritual bellhop. Often I find that God wants to help folks make a next step, not fix all the problems and live happily ever after.
What love exists, people being nice to each other? Feeling all warm and fuzzy? How long does that last when violence has been perpetrated against a person. Anyone can love nice people, but few can love their enemies, and few still are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of another.
"Those that have the peace of God can have it anywhere - especially during chaotic, stressful and difficult times. IE: Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat during the storm."
And once again, this is not specific to your religion. There are people who can be calm in difficult situations regardless of their religion.
"If I meet a person that has a broken leg, their marriage is falling apart, and they do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior, I don't just start praying for the obvious. I find to what God wants to do, and go with that. That is the problem, so many see God as a spiritual bellhop."
The problem is that your version of prayer makes it useless. If you only pray for what god is going to do anyway, then it's useless since god was going to do it anyway. The prayer is completely unefficacious and superfluous - not to mention that what you claim is not what is described in the Bible.
"What love exists, people being nice to each other? Feeling all warm and fuzzy? How long does that last when violence has been perpetrated against a person. Anyone can love nice people, but few can love their enemies, and few still are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of another."
You mean like that nice Xian man Ghandi? Oh wait...
Once again, we see that this is not specific to your religion, and simply claiming that some Xians can be nice people even in the face of nastiness doesn't give evidence for god.
Your three examples are not at all compelling.
Adore this post David.
I can relate.
God's Peace, Power, and Love. Once you've experienced them, you really do KNOW THAT YOU KNOW that God is real!
Plus, I gotta tell you, that you had me from the title. (Just a silly aside pertaining to dogs being our best friend. We just came back from being gone from our home for 6 days and our next door neighbor took care of our dog. Upon our return the neighbor told me he was concerned because Jake neither ate or drank hardly a thing in our absence and the neighbor imagined some illness. However, within minutes of our return, Jake was alternating between jumps of joy and pets and going over to snag munches of dry dog food and sips of water.)
When I think of sacrifices by one for the sake of others I have to think of our military forces that laid down their lives in WW2 , Vietnam, and the curent military action now in the middle east.
These people died as a result of fighting an ideaology of oppresion and hatred against others. Some can call it freedom or political reasons. Still these people laid down their lives for an ideaology.
And yes Jesus died for our sins as a sacrifice through his love for us.
I would like for all to remember them during this Memorial day weekend.
@GCT - so what wold God have to do for you to believe?
There's quite a few things that god could have done/could do. (On a side note, shouldn't god already know what it would take to have me believe, and shouldn't god have already done that if he wanted me to believe?)
1) Write scripture that makes sense and doesn't contradict itself or the historical record.
2) Not be contradictory to logic and reason.
3) Show up from time to time in verifiable ways.
Etc. Instead, we have a god that you must have faith in because evidence, logic, and reason are not compatible with this supposed god and his supposed attributes. We have a god that supposedly interacts with the world but can't be evidenced or studied through science. We have a god that supposedly wrote a book about himself and got lots of things wrong, and not just slightly wrong but spectacularly wrong. We have a god that is supposedly perfect, but can't get things to go his way and continually fails at his endeavors.
Also, pointing at natural phenomena and saying, "It's evidence for god," is simply wrong. This is doubly so when people of other faiths have the same experiences and claim the same things for their chosen god. Next time you put forth an argument, you may want to ask yourself this question:
Is this supposed evidence something that a believe in another faith could claim, and further would it be something that would make me seriously consider believing in their god?
Why can a Muslim not claim that love is evidence of Allah? Why can a Hindu not claim that love is evidence of Ganesh? And, if a Muslim or Hindu came to you with that comment, would you think it compelling enough to believe what they believe?
Psalm 22, that was the scripture that held my me together when a devastating event rocked my faith to the point that I questioned the very existence of God.
It was written By King David of Israel over 1000 years before the life of Christ and describes the details of Jesus' crucifixion with total accuracy. Death by crucifixion wasn't known to David at the time he penned this Psalm, yet in verse 16 it states, "...they pierced my hands and feet." Other prophecies in Psalm 22 describe additional events that were also fulfilled at Christ's crucifixion and verified in the synoptic gospels.
In spite of how I felt, common sense told me that only by the Spirit of God could David have written something 10 centuries in advance of it taking place.
It was these verses from Psalm 22 that kept me from walking away from God at a time when it would have been much easier than believing. Thank God His word holds true.
Psalm 22
1My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
10I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.
11Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
17I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
***********************************
To follow up on the God/Dog thing:
GoD And DoG by Wendy J Francisco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H17edn_RZoY
Be blessed,
~Jan~
Post a Comment