Is God Really Real?

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Today's Passage: Hebrews 11: 1-16
Memory Verse: Hebrews 11: 1

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who's not really an atheist, but has never really given the things of God a chance? Eventually you hear the questions you knew were coming. How do you know God is real? How is it possible to believe in eternity? How do YOU know you've been given eternal life? If you're a brand new Christian yourself, maybe something that's said in today's blog will encourage you to share your faith. But if you've been a believer for some time, these words will only confirm what you've already explained time and time again.

The first thing someone who doesn't know God will try to do is discredit our faith by trying to make light of the fact that we can't see God. When they start to take you down this road, remind them about the air we breathe. We can't see it, but we know it's there because we can feel it as well as hear it, and it 's the thing that keeps us alive. Well, knowing God exists is kind of like that. No-one can see him and live, so He made it possible for us to feel and hear Him. Once we accept His terms, we begin to walk in faith.

As for the issue of eternity, we must tell them that unlike all other created things, we are spirit beings, and we live in these shells called bodies which do not last long. But something else we possess is the soul, that which was formed when God breathed into us at creation. Every human being has one that is unique to him or her, and that is why cloning of humans will never work. We believe in eternity because God tells us so in His Word. The soul and spirit are eternal, so there will have to be a moment of accountability when we will answer to the eternal Judge.

Which brings us to the final question: how do WE know we have eternal life? That's where this crazy thing called FAITH kicks in, and where each of us can only tell our individual stories. Before I came to know the Lord, everything around me told me there was a God. With every breath, I could feel Him willing me to surrender, but in love and not out of condemnation. Along with this knowledge was the dreadful fear that I would spend an eternity in hell if I didn't accept Him into my life. Somehow, I just KNEW that the physical death was not the end. In the same way, when I finally said yes to Jesus, that fear lifted immediately, being replaced by an intense anticipation of being in His Presence forever. If faith is being sure of what we do not see, and skyscrapers emerge from the imagination of architects, then our faith in the One True God is real, as is He.

Prayer: Father, no-one will ever be able to convince me that You're just a figment of my imagination. You've drawn me to Yourself with lovingkindness. Now, may I be used of You to do the same in the lives of others who don't yet know You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.