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NASB | Psalm 46:10 "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth." |
Bible Question: I am a single mother. I have been feeling lost. How do you know there is a God? |
Bible Answer: You have asked a perfect question. Ask the question of God Himself. We find God not because we know how, or learn some method or secret. We find God because He desires to be found. This is the wonder and mystery and magnificence of the coming of God in the humbled form of a man, Jesus. He came to set free people who are trapped in the frustration of being apart from God and living in a depressed and lower state than He (God) created each person for and desires and longs for each person to know and live in. The answer is not knowing that there is a god, but in knowing God Himself. And the word "knowing" is not a word of mere mental affirmation but of personal, embracing knowledge of a father, a friend, and a lover of our soul and selves. God is an awesome and unapproachable God who is beyond comprehension and even description. In His presence all men fall and turn their eyes from His awesome presence. This is the relationship between God and man who has turned from Him and left Him (that is all of us both in our generational heritage and personal experience). But God in His desire to bring man back into right relationship with Him, humbled Himself and came in the flesh and lived a perfect life in the presence of imperfect people. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, joy to the joyless, hope to the hopeless, laughter to the downcast, opportunity to worship to the outcast, and then He submitted Himself to the effect of sin and died a death that was undeserved for Him but due to all of mankind. But in His perfect plan He showed that life in God exceeds the power of death over our bodies. He rose and lived and was seen and communed with those who knew Him. He ascended back to His right place above this fallen and hurting world, but He still seeks and actually calls out to you, and He has given His Holy Spirit who still reached out to each person and knocks on the door of each heart and says, "Can I live with you and stay with you and give you my life which is never ending?" How do you know there is a god? Ask God to show you, pray that God will protect you from the voices of deceit and lies. Pray that The Holy God who created you and who came in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and who still ministers in the Holy Spirit, to reveal Himself and make Himself known in your heart. Admit that you need Him, you do not just want to know about Him. God, Himself will put on your heart a realization of how much you do need Him, of something that is essential that is missing, of life that needs more. And He will answer that need with His very presence and communion. There are demands that He will make. He is God, and He is very patient, but He will not, He can not, be less than God either in all of creation or in any heart. Thus, as He reveals Himself, we submit to His righteous authority and His direction in our lives. Thank God it is ever and always for our good and results in joys and life that are beyond any comparison. As a practical answer, get a good modern Bible translation such as the New Living Translation and pray that God would speak to you and illuminate your mind as you hear His Word. Read the gospels of Mark and John. Before and after you read pray, "God, I do not know how to find You or how to know You. In fact I am not able to find You or know You, but God, in the name of Jesus Christ who I believe came for me so that I may know You, please reveal Yourself to me and show me how to enter into real and right relationship with You. God, you are God and I am not. I want to know You. I need You. I welcome You" As you read, or if you are already a Bible student, a more precise Bible such as the New American Standard and study material will be helpful, but always the key to knowing is seeking and hearing from God Himself. Also, find a group of people among whom you see the presence of God, who seek Him, and who submit themselves to His Word and spend time with them (a sound church). And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you. Jeremiah 29:13f For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. 2 Chronicles 16:9 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. Matthew 18:11 May God bless your seeking with His presence, forrest |