Ultimately, whether or not you believe the Bible is up to you. If you diligently seek God, you will find Him. When God makes a promise, you can bet He will keep it. Scripture is clear that if you seek, you will find (Deut. 4:29). Of course, “seek” means seek, and God responds to a serious and diligent effort (Prov. 2:1-6; Matt. 7:7-11). There are millions of Christians on the earth, and each of them has a different story of how he or she came to the faith. History is filled with glowing testimonies of people who sought for the Lord Jesus Christ and whose lives have been touched and changed by him.

You do not need to be “down and out” to find God. All He requires is that you genuinely want to know Him. God and the things of God will not become clear to you if you examine them from a distance as if you were considering some object in a store window you were thinking of purchasing. People who remain distant or just want to know about God so they can “decide” whether to believe and obey Him will never learn the truth about Him. God created the heavens and the earth, and He made the rules. We are God’s creation; He is not our creation. Many people wonder if the Bible is really God’s Word. Jesus Christ gave us clear instructions on how to find out for ourselves if God’s Word is true:
John 7:17
If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

This verse is very clear: the key to knowing God is choosing to do His will. As you begin to obey God, He will reveal Himself and His Word to you. Once you begin to seek and obey God, things about Him that were unclear become very understandable. God designed things such that obedience is the great key to knowing Him.

John 14:21
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

Please closely observe the wording in the above verse. When someone loves God and obeys Him, then God reveals Himself. But that is not what skeptics and doubters want. They want God to show Himself so they can examine Him and make up their minds whether He is acceptable or not (Matt. 12:38 and 39). Well, the skeptics and doubters did not make the rules. God is the Living God, and He is also the Loving God. He wants a relationship with people, but, like us humans, He wants a relationship with those who honor Him and believe Him.

He will not “show up to be examined” by the skeptic. Skeptics often laugh at believers and call them gullible, naive, wishful thinkers, easily fooled, etc., because they do not see or understand what the believer does. This is not new. Christ spoke very openly about the fact that people who do not belong to God cannot “hear” the truth. He told the Pharisees who did not believe in him they could not hear him because they did not belong to God:
John 8:47
He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you [Pharisees] do not hear is that you do not belong to God.

The critic and the skeptic will never “hear” the words of God. God’s wisdom is for the seeker and the believer. To others it is foolishness, and the Bible is very clear about that:
1 Corinthians 2:14

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

There are a lot of reasons to accept the Bible as the truth. However, to the skeptic, the idea that “all Scripture is God-breathed...” (2 Tim. 3:16a) is foolishness, and so are the miracles, healings, prophecies, and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us these things will be foolishness to the unbeliever, so we should not be surprised when the skeptics doubt. If you are a skeptic, I urge you to begin to diligently seek God and start obeying His commands. The first step toward really understanding the things of God, and the most important step anyone can take, is to get saved and receive God’s gift of everlasting life. Because salvation is the first step most people take toward God, He has made the instructions clear and the way easy:
Romans 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Salvation is of the utmost importance, so we must be sure we understand God’s instructions. To be saved, you must confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. What does that mean? It means you say what the Bible clearly declares; that Jesus is Lord, i.e., he is the Son of God who died for your sins, was raised from the dead and highly exalted to the right hand of God. Have you ever said, “Jesus is Lord”? Why not say it right now? Just say, “Jesus is Lord.”

Once you have said that Jesus is Lord, Romans 10:9 says you are to believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. This is not difficult to do if you believe in God. If God can create entire galaxies, then surely He can give life to a dead body. Once you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed in your heart God raised him from the dead, you are saved. Salvation is very easy to attain because God wants everyone to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4).

When Paul was teaching in the city of Philippi, he was thrown into prison. A jailer asked him the most important question any human could ask: “...What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). Paul’s answer was short and to the point: “...Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved...” (Acts 16:31). The same is as true for you and me as it was for that jailer nearly 2,000 years ago. If you believe in the living Lord, Jesus Christ, you will be saved. Then, as you begin to obey the commands of God and seek Him, you will find Him.

Source of Article

manmustwac: Did God call you & tell you that he will prove himself?

obadiah777: how the heck an atheist like you become a MOD. thats like asking a vegetarian to guard a truckload of pomo, shaki, goat head, cow foot, goat meat and beef

seriallink:

Now, that got me rolling on the floor laughing

seriallink: Stiff-necked atheists!

Act 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers [did], so [do] ye.

Y'all need Jesus!

plaetton: If god has to prove himself, then that sounds to me like a petty little despot, not the omnixx omnixx creator of the universe.

obadiah777: how the heck an atheist like you become a MOD. thats like asking a vegetarian to guard a truckload of pomo, shaki, goat head, cow foot, goat meat and beef

frosbel:

Which is why he does not have to prove himself, especially to ignorant people.

The truth is people like you know that there is a GOD , but instead of seeing him as a benevolent creator you see him as a show spoiler who stands between you and your yearning for all out lawlessness and wickedness.

plaetton:

Nonesense. I guess you have nothing else to say.
See how silly your words are.
So now it is god that stands between unbelievers and all out wickedness?

Ok.
Now who stood between pius religious people and centuries of slave trade. Does slave trading qualify as lawful and kindness to your religious mind?
Who stands between the evangelical fraudsters, whom you are fiercely against, and their hapless victims?
Who stood between the holy roman catholic church and the tens of thousands of victims of the holy inquisitions ?

Who stood between christian Europe as they went on a wolrdwide o.rgy of rampage, theft, looting and genocide of native peoples all over the world?

Who stands between pius god believing groups like Al Queda,Boko Haram and the innocent people they have butchered over the past decade or so?

Who stands between pius catholic priests and the tens of thousands, if not millions, of young lads who have been bottom-molested over the 2 millenia of your unbridled christian lawfulness and kindness?

Talk about moral ambiguity, huh?
For someone who worships a bi-polar schizophrenic god,how dare you talk to me about allout wickedness and lawlessness.

Silly rabbit. Tricks are for kids.

frosbel:

whatever rocks your boat is fine with us, you can bow before a stone or choose not to, you can believe in the foolishness of atheism, again this is your prerogative, whatever you feel is good , just do it.

One life is all you have , get the most out of it , we are all marching to the same place of silence where our boastings, noise, nonsense talk will be silenced forever until that great day of judgement. We might not be here tomorrow, who knows.

It is your choice to de-contextualise scripture to your own liking, fine with us.

We Christians are also on a journey , therefore while we have life, the name of JESUS will continue to be proclaimed to anyone who wants to listen until the end comes.




Get over it !!

ifeness:
Religion has been a brainwashing tool from generation to generation plastered all over for a very long time now infecting billions of people and making it into a multi- billion dollar business.faith-healings have never been proved by anybody not even by a third party doctor(s) and the bible is a 2000+ ancient story book written by man that can not be trusted or proved and contradictory.

manmustwac: In the interest of fairplay I was asked to become a mod so we have a theist mod & an atheist mod that way the scales stay equally balanced. Hope u get what I mean

frosbel:

whatever rocks your boat is fine with us, you can bow before a stone or choose not to, you can believe in the foolishness of atheism, again this is your prerogative, whatever you feel is good , just do it.

One life is all you have , get the most out of it , we are all marching to the same place of silence where our boastings, noise, nonsense talk will be silenced forever until that great day of judgement. We might not be here tomorrow, who knows.

It is your choice to de-contextualise scripture to your own liking, fine with us.

We Christians are also on a journey , therefore while we have life, the name of JESUS will continue to be proclaimed to anyone who wants to listen until the end comes.

Get over it !!

plaetton:

I just gave you few examples of the moral schizophrenia that is part of religious beliefs, especially yours.
You are very correct. Whatever rocks anyone's boat is fine.
But, dont you Dare come on this forum to tout some schizophrenic, god-centred high morality.
You can reserve the tricks for children.

frosbel:

We agree on the former but not the later.

The Bible is a treasure of TRUTH. It is up to the individual to 'dig' for this TRUTH. When we shine the light of Jesus into this cavern of great riches , we will indeed be blessed with untold treasures and unspeakable wealth.

However , lazy people will never find this TRUTH because they make all sorts of excuses and give up too early in their search for the TRUTH. So they settle for myths, silly theories and wishy washy ideas , which are the dregs of a poverty stricken world.

Only the diligent , hard working and humble till find this truth. The arrogant and lazy will search for all eternity and never come to the knowledge of truth.

If the Catholic church or ISLAM decided to twist this truth to their own destruction, it does not in anyway change the truthfulness of the truth.



Indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones - Proverbs 2

lagerwhenindoubt:

What happens when you have found the "TRUTH" and it turns out to be either a LIE or a case of Mis-information (TRUTH deliberately obfuscated for whatever divine reasons). As in my case the Catholic Library Zaria was a treasure trove of TRUTH, especially about the Bible we read today. if you are non-catholic, you'd have to admit your source of knowledge has been (possibly) tainted as history will have it. like you said, it is a choice to rely on tainted-history or Faith. perhaps a discussion for another thread.. willing?

truthislight:

which catholics?

I thought their preocupation is to Breed atheist?

lagerwhenindoubt:

All Christian-related Religions have deep roots in Catholicism - save for theological disagreements, they are father and son. quit trying to discount the Truth with your throw-off comments

lagerwhenindoubt:

All Christian-related Religions have deep roots in Catholicism - save for theological disagreements, they are father and son. quit trying to discount the Truth with your throw-off comments

plaetton:

Yeah. Imagine the stem of a tree disowning the root of the same tree. Or the branch disowning the stem and the root of the same tree.

Judaism is the root, catholicism is the stem, and every other denomination or sect are the branches. All have their foundations in the root and are nourished therefrom, via the stem.

frosbel:

and yet JESUS Christ is the WAY , the TRUTH and the LIFE.

The path to LIFE is not through a religion but through a PERSON.

To reject this Person is to seal your fate .

You cannot find him and will not find him because for starters God resists the arrogant and reveals his truths to the humble.

It appears if I may add , that the more GOD ignores the foolishness and childishness of atheists , the more eruptive tantrums they throw .

Have you heard that saying , silence is the best answer to a ...............


"I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins." - John 8:24

lagerwhenindoubt:

haba frostbel.. e never reach like dat naow.. calm down let us continue in the pedantic discussion, we all know how it ends but is there any need to reach there in a road-rage

lagerwhenindoubt:

haba frostbel.. e never reach like dat naow.. calm down let us continue in the pedantic discussion, we all know how it ends but is there any need to reach there in a road-rage

plaetton:


@ Frosbel.
Threats, threats and more threats.
What else is new?
Any new message from Jesus? It's been long long time since anyone heard from him.
lol.

frosbel:

Threats

It's like me telling my SON not to put his hand in the fire so that it does not get burnt, same thing.

Jesus is not threatening anyone with an eternal torment, he simply says if you do not believe in ME , you will die in your sins, a sort of friendly advice.

And why would you want to live forever with someone who you mock , scoff at and reject, you will get what is coming to you , surely that is fair , no ?

There is a consequence for every action whether good or bad.

plaetton:

How, in your feeble mind, does not believing in jesus become a sin?. I thought sin was defined as lying,stealing, murder, envy, self-service(lol) etc.

But does everyone not die, including believers and even righteous people?
Does everything that lives not die as part of the cosmic cycle?

If stars and galaxies can collapse and die, why would any puny human be afraid to die?

Can't you see just how silly these threats of death are ?

Its like threatening a farm vegetable or a cow with ultimate death, mastication and edification.

What a confused mind you have.