I Believe

There are several reasons I believe in Jesus as God's uniquely begotten Son through whom I have a relationship with God. It is true that I was taught to relate to God in this way by my parents, but I have had to come to my decision as an adult. There have been times I have had serious doubts and honestly there I times I still do. I can tell you that the biggest reason for the struggle is because knowing Christ (and even God Himself) always comes through the filters of my own natural experience which I feel is highly unreliable. But I continually return to this question, "How would the invisible God (and Christ) reveal Himself to me in the natural except through points of contact in the natural realm?" There really is no other way to understand and encounter God--it all comes through encountering Him revealing Himself to me IN MY BRAIN. I won't cover everything here as each point could expand into separate entries on their own, but there are several highlights that have become anchors to hold on to: I can't get away from the eye witness accounts as laid out in the New Testament. We're not talking about people who came up with a new philosophy for which they chose to die. People choose to die for all kinds of ideological assents, but Jesus' followers' experience was different. For Jesus followers, it was always first and foremost an eye witness encounter for which they chose to die, not just an idea. Seriously, why put your life on the line claiming something so outlandish as, "I cannot deny that I have seen, and touched and encountered the resurrected Jesus."? Saul also known as Paul's radically transforming change of mind toward Jesus from persecutor to martyr as a result of an encounter (actually multiple encounters) he had with the resurrected Jesus. The gospel message itself--God came in the person of Jesus to fix what we humans could not, to reestablish relationship with us. Jesus demonstrates what we could never understand, that God has always been for us and not against us. That God having no obligation was willing to identify with and endure our brokenness and suffering that He would through Jesus redeem and restore what we had lost. Fulfillment of Biblical prophecies through the life, death and resurrection (according to the eye-witness accounts). Fulfmillment of Biblical prophecies in our present day, ie: the restablishment of Israel as a nation. My own encounters with Christ: through uniquely answered prayer through divine coincidences through unusual foreknowledge I could not explain through miracles and healings through experiences of God's love which has almost always come through encounters with Jesus Himself (in ways I could not have cooked up on my own),  through continual progressive transformation through encountering God's heart as demonstrated in Jesus--finding more of a forgiving and gentle heart within myself as more healing and revelation occurs. When I consider who I know God to be as revealed in Jesus, I recognize I have no basis for understanding God in this way through any other path. Too much has happened in our world that would point to the contrary. For me, only a revelation of Jesus seems to make sense of it all--the good, the bad, the ugly and the glorious. I still have many unanswered questions. But I have finally come to a place of peace about it all realizing that if God is actually a person, then just like people, there is always more to learn. That's what growing in intimacy is all about. I'm no longer troubled by the questions in the same way I once was. You may not believe in Jesus. You may want to but have doubts and questions. That's ok. Just honestly tell the God you're not sure of that whom you genuinely want to know (if indeed the Creator exists and is knowable). There is a popularly quoted scripture which does a good job of summing up the heart of God whom the Bible represents. Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." The next portion of that Scripture is often not quoted-- "Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."