What if I just don’t buy it?

[ldonjohn]

chrisRDBA, there are things in the bible that I don't fully understand like the Trinity, but I accept them. For many years I was confused about the meaning of "believe in Jesus" until I earnestly searched the scriptures while looking to God to show me the truth about the matter of "believing." I found my answer while reading the Gospel of John, and I want to explain what the Holy Spirit showed me by summing it up in a few short sentences as follows:
To believe in Jesus means to believe Jesus when he said in John 3:3 "......, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
To beleive in Jesus means to believe Jesus when he said in John 14:6 "... I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
To believe in Jesus means to believe him when just before he died, he said in John 19:30, "it is finished."
To believe in Jesus means to believe him when he said in John 6:37, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."

Believe Him and leave that which you do not understand up to God.

Do you believe Him?

Regards,
John

 

[Sharon Hayes]

When you read the Bible, concentrate on the New Testament, and start with the Gospel of John and read this gospel three times before moving on.

That said, there is something you must understand. Jesus tells us God is a spirit, so His word is spiritual which means the Bible is not a book for academic learning. It is spiritual, supernatural, holy and God-given, which is why the carnal mind has trouble grasping it. Pray for understanding and read the gospels.

 

[chrisRDBA]

I appreciate the replies here. After posting this I decided to simply ignore what I don’t believe, and “pretend” to be a real Christian for 90 days and see where it goes. I’m reading the word, praying, going to church, hanging w other Christians, worshiping, and going to a Bible study.

We will see what happens. Thanks for all the encouragement.

 

[TGGIL]

WWJD. What Would Jesus Do?
That is my final answer about life as a Christian which my meaning to saying I am a Christian is to believe in God and God shows us in Human form that we can live a Holy Life, meaning a (glorious, happy, heavenly life) if we just accept God as your created Father of this entire Universe.
The rest after this, though will be difficult to maintain a WWJD attitude because there are too many others who will not follow or accept you and that's called crucification.
Eat pleasantly, Drink friendly, enjoy the fruit you grow.
Keep the peace, listen and don't talk unless a question is asked of you. Expect everything can happen at any given time and walk softy but carefully distancing yourself from known potholes in your path.
Be wise in conversation, never indulge yourself into anything that doesn't get along with others. Just stay away from harm, be gentle and kind, be wise and understanding.
Expect everyone can be an angel but many don't care, don't believe, won't follow you or even know what you mean to say.
So keep your mouth closed, watch with caring eyes and follow a path saying to yourself "What Would Jesus Do?" anytime you need a helping hand on your shoulder.
Trust in the Lord our God with Jesus being our example that living on Earth can be successful but the world will try to Kill you along your way.
Have no Fear, God is always near. Believe in yourself both front and back because your are guarded with God' Armor, but do not be a King or a Master.
Better to serve then to lead those who try hard not to follow. Serving will be your weakness but your strength is the faith you present for God to others.
This may look weak by others when you appear a servant, but you will be leading your path smiling that God has your life in his hands.

Be yourself, look into your mirror, ask God to take your life, meaning to (Kill all the confusion inside you) about this world that you have come to the final conclusion, where wisdom of all this world is to simply give your life up for God. Yes die on your cross for God. Be like Jesus until you can't be him anymore.
Raise yourself up after death and live a life dedicated to Love and God in any order because these two words mean the same.
TGGIL

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Greetings. I’ve been struggling w the whole Christ/ church/ Bible thing for over a decade.

I wish I could believe whatever I read in the Bible, or at least most of it, but I just can’t.…. But here’s the catch — I believe in Christ and the resurrection. Resurrection itself would be supernatural, so I have no problem believing Jesus is the son of God. I believe God created the universe and everything in it. I’ve also seen things happen with no earthly explanation available, and have no problem calling it a miracle.

However, I dont believe in any of these things because the Bible says so. I believe in all of them because there’s enough scientific and/ or historical evidence to prove them. I’ve read a lot of articles and watched countless YouTube videos of really smart guys on these topics that have convinced me.
Unfortunately, there’s no such evidence to prove a guy was in a fishes belly for 3 days then barfed out and survived. Nothing to prove staffs turned into snakes then back to staffs gain. Definitely nothing to prove the contents of Revelations is more of a real prophecy than what Joseph Smith saw in a corn field. Note these are examples off the top of my head, I could probably have dozens more if I wanted to type it all out. I simply don’t believe everything in the Bible just because the Bible says so.

I want to believe all of it. I’ve prayed about this stuff countless times. I’ve dove more into the Bible, talked to pastors, had people pray for me, etc. but nothing seems to convince me. My wife is tired of my up and down nature on this stuff. So am I quite frankly, it’s exhausting.

Where I’m at currently with all of this is I’m going to pretend I’m a real Christian for 90 days and see what happens. I’ll be in church, read the Bible, pray earnestly, worship throughout the day, maybe even hang w some Christians. At the end of that time Ill either be in or out, but I cannot keep beating my head on this wall any longer.

Any other advice on what I can do in that time? Again, I really want to be convinced of it all. Before anyone says “you believe in the important stuff, don’t worry about the rest”— I assure you I’ve been told that at least a dozen times. If I could I would.

Note that I’m no highly educated/ scholarly/ scientific kind of guy. Just a regular guy that cannot believe in a book because the book says I should.

Thanks!

If I were in your shoes, which in a way I am, I'd study Epistemology, Historiography and the Philosophy of History to mediate my expectations about the nature of written history and the actual past. However, doing what you're planning on doing for 90 days doesn't hurt either.