How do you know when Jesus is in your heart?

EvilAngel · Post by **EvilAngel** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:31 am

A serious question. Please do not turn this into a religious debate.

Anyone of faith: How do you know when God is in you?
How does one become born-again? It's getting baptised right?

I have pondered Jesus for some time now and I really want to beleieve but for some reason I cannot get past the blind faith part.

I got really pissed off at religion when the Priests were molesting the children of their churches and none of them were turned in by other priests. Not only that, the christians did not stand up and demand that all molesting priests be turned over. It's like the public turned their cheeks and said "eh". That outraged me more that the happenings.

So, anyways, I am mad at God in a sence and the people around it for what was done and for what wasn't done. Hope that makes sence.

A friend at work explained a few things that made me feel better about approaching the lord once again. All I did was ask him the question in the thread title and it went from there.

Could all of faith please respond to my question? Thank you.

sito · Post by **sito** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:36 am

Do what you think is right, not what everyone else thinks is right. Just my opinion.

Prey521 · Post by **Prey521** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:54 am

J,

Being born again is when you accept Christ as your one and only personal Savior, also you don't have to be baptized to go to Heaven.

In the midst of the storm that is life, when things are going so bad that you think that they can't get any worse, but yet you feel peace in your soul cuz you know that The Lord is on your side, that's how you know that God is with you.

As for the whole catholic thing, it was the catholic churches problem to deal with, not the Protestants (Christians). I can almost guarantee you that had similar situations happened in Christian churches, they would be handled a lot differently. This whole catholic priest scandal is a joke and is a black mark on ANY religion.

Rivas · Post by **Rivas** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:55 am

sito wrote:Do what you think is right, not what everyone else thinks is right. Just my opinion.

good point

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:05 am

accepting Christ as your savior has nothing to do with religion

it is all about a personal relationship with Jesus

it is between you and him, no one else

how do you know when you've been saved?

if you have asked him to forgive you of your sins, (and are sincere of course) and ask him to come into your life humbling yourself to him, admitting he is Lord and Savior

RicRouge has lots of info here: http://www.horizonwebdesign.com/salvation2.htm

There is no magic prayer, God knows and sees your thoughts and motives, but if you would pray sincerely a prayer like this you could claim God’s promise of eternal life: "Dear Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I have broken your laws and stand before you guilty and deserving of your judgment. Please forgive me and save me right now. I receive you as my Savior."

If you prayed that prayer from your heart, God promised He would forgive your sin and take you to Heaven. Write today’s date in your Bible to remember this day as your birthday into God’s family. Then, begin doing the things that help you grow as God’s child.

Bastid · Post by **Bastid** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:21 am

dude, dont be angry at god, the devil won a few souls....god didnt make them do it...everyone forgets that god doesnt do evil things to ppl, but he is the first one they blame...
i also believe that you will know when he is there...i dont think there is a definitive answer...because i believe its different for everyone...

fixationdarknes · Post by **fixationdarknes** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:33 am

EvilAngel wrote: How do you know when God is in you?

Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

If you really desire knowledge, pray to God and ask him for yourself with an open heart, and with that he can't deny you a true answer.

Prey521 wrote: you don't have to be baptized to go to Heaven.

St John 3:5 "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Joint Chiefs of Staff · Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:20 am

EA your thoughts are 95% along the same lines as mine when it comes to believing and faith.

IRS · Post by **IRS** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:53 am

For me, it just all made sense the night my mom died, I had been thinking and researching things for some time but that just kind of did it for me....

How do you know when God is in you?.....
that is easy one for me, every time one of the guys at work ask me a stupid question and I don't blow a blood vessel in my head yelling at them or just smack the snot out of them, thats when I know the Lord is in me, it didn't happen over night but I have grown 200X more patient.

Glad your thinking..... If there is anything I can help with let me know.... Brian

wee96 · Post by **wee96** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 7:20 am

When people truely understand the blind faith side of religion logically, they realize the only proof you will ever have is your own belief, not reality. It really depends on if your able to believe something you truely never see, never talks to you (people will claim that their god/s do, but we all know you dont hear voices and if you do, seek therapy). I think religion is good for certain people who need to believe in something, and it in turn makes them happy. If you are needing that EA, id be happy if you found religion, but I think your too logical and realistic to do it (just personal opinion). I think your probably being pressured heavily by others and its making you try to find some sense in the belief, when there is none. Go with what was stated earlier, dont do what others are pushing on you, go with what you REALLY feel inside. If you dont believe, dont try to make things up so you feel you can accept religion.

Joel · Post by **Joel** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:07 am

Not to be mean, but as a comment, logical, to me, isn't believe I evolved from monkeys.

Accepting Jesus is accepting that you are a sinner, asking God for forgiveness, and believing that Jesus is God's one and only son, and the only way to Heaven.

dude, dont be angry at god, the devil won a few souls....god didnt make them do it...everyone forgets that god doesnt do evil things to ppl, but he is the first one they blame...

John 3:16 (MSG) wrote:This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed]

I'd say that pretty clearly depicts how much God loves you.

Meggie · Post by **Meggie** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:35 am

i think its like love, u know it when u feel it. but u cant really explain it to someone else

RicRogue · Post by **RicRogue** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:38 am

EA,

Being saved or knowing Jesus is in your heart, is not about religion. Here are the steps that need to be taken.

1) You need to understand that you are a sinner, and while you may not have ever commited murder. All sin is evil in God's eyes.

2) Because of this sin, we can't be close to God. And therefore we are doomed.

3) Jesus came to earth, to save us. He literally sacraficed himself for us. He loves us so much. You only have to believe in Him. He will do the rest.

That's it. Now onto the question. Have you changed? Now when you sin, do you feel bad? These are some questions you can ask yourself. Only you can be sure. Pray to him and ask him to reveal himself to you. He will.

As far as the church goes, we are all sinners. We all make mistakes, and we all sin. What makes us different is that we are saved by the Grace of God, and we don't have to worry about going to Hell. You don't need to work for salvation, it is freely given to all that ask for it. That is awesome.

[quote="John 3:16-18"] 16"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.He who believes in Him is not judged]

If you need proof of Jesus, IM me and I will give you everything I know.

May God Bless your decision,

Ric

Meggie · Post by **Meggie** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:40 am

RicRogue wrote:EA,

Being saved or knowing Jesus is in your heart, is not about religion. Here are the steps that need to be taken.

1) You need to understand that you are a sinner, and while you may not have ever commited murder. All sin is evil in God's eyes.

2) Because of this sin, we can't be close to God. And therefore we are doomed.

3) Jesus came to earth, to save us. He literally sacraficed himself for us. He loves us so much. You only have to believe in Him. He will do the rest.

That's it. Now onto the question. Have you changed? Now when you sin, do you feel bad? These are some questions you can ask yourself. Only you can be sure. Pray to him and ask him to reveal himself to you. He will.

As far as the church goes, we are all sinners. We all make mistakes, and we all sin. What makes us different is that we are saved by the Grace of God, and we don't have to worry about going to Hell. You don't need to work for salvation, it is freely given to all that ask for it. That is awesome.

religion has too many rules.

RicRogue · Post by **RicRogue** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:45 am

Meggie wrote:religion has too many rules.

Religion tries to follow the bible. The problem is that while we try to live by the bible, we get proud. We think that we are better than others. We are not, we didn't earn our salvation, it was given to us. Therefore we should have nothing to be proud of.

Ephesians 2:8-9 wrote: For by grace you have been saved through faith]

Prey521 · Post by **Prey521** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:58 am

Fixation,

The baptism itself does not bring salvation, salvation inspires the water baptism. So technically, if you were to accept Christ in your heart today and repent of your sins, and say, He comes tomorrow, you will still go to Heaven.

RicRogue · Post by **RicRogue** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:09 am

Prey521 wrote:Fixation,

The baptism itself does not bring salvation, salvation inspires the water baptism. So technically, if you were to accept Christ in your heart today and repent of your sins, and say, He comes tomorrow, you will still go to Heaven.

Baptism is a commandment by God. It is similar to the Lord's Supper. We are told to do it as Christians, but it does not save you.

The Thief on the cross, was saved. Yet, we was not baptized.

With this said, I will not get into a argument in a public forum about this. If you would like to discuss this further, PM me.

Christian need to discuss their differences in PM, not in public view. The devil uses this to turn people off to Christ.

His Forever,

RicRogue

Prey521 · Post by **Prey521** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:17 am

RicRogue wrote:Baptism is a commandment by God. It is similar to the Lord's Supper. We are told to do it as Christians, but it does not save you.

The Thief on the cross, was saved. Yet, we was not baptized.

With this said, I will not get into a argument in a public forum about this. If you would like to discuss this further, PM me.

Christian need to discuss their differences in PM, not in public view. The devil uses this to turn people off to Christ.

His Forever,

RicRogue

Who's arguing? It looks to me like we're agreeing

Joint Chiefs of Staff · Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:19 am

I feel a debate brewing.

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:25 am

Meggie wrote:religion has too many rules.

Religion has nothing to do accepting Christ as Savior. It is a personal relationship between you and him, no one else.

fixationdarknes · Post by **fixationdarknes** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:38 am

Prey521 wrote:Fixation,

The baptism itself does not bring salvation, salvation inspires the water baptism. So technically, if you were to accept Christ in your heart today and repent of your sins, and say, He comes tomorrow, you will still go to Heaven.

Not in my book. The baptism alone won't save you. But you need to be baptized to return to God. But I won't discuss any further because like JCOS said, there could be a great debate coming, and that would be bad.

wee96 · Post by **wee96** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:39 pm

Joel wrote:Not to be mean, but as a comment, logical, to me, isn't believe I evolved from monkeys.

Accepting Jesus is accepting that you are a sinner, asking God for forgiveness, and believing that Jesus is God's one and only son, and the only way to Heaven.

I'd say that pretty clearly depicts how much God loves you.

Just curious, where did you get the monkey idea?

The Devil · Post by **The Devil** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:17 pm

I just spoke with EA on the phone and everything is cool now, he's back to worshiping me, and he's promised not to talk to Spammy any more on the subject.

Brent is a little tougher to crack, although I have been successful in getting him addicted to pornography, for which he repents constantly.

Prey521 · Post by **Prey521** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:18 pm

The Devil wrote:I just spoke with EA on the phone and everything is cool now, he's back to worshiping me, and he's promised not to talk to Spammy any more on the subject.

Brent is a little tougher to crack, although I have been successful in getting him addicted to pornography, for which he repents constantly.

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:32 pm

The Devil wrote:Brent is a little tougher to crack, although I have been successful in getting him addicted to pornography, for which he repents constantly.

OMG!, Satan? Is that really you?

The Devil · Post by **The Devil** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:33 pm

Brent wrote:OMG!, Satan? Is that really you?

BEHOLD!

tao_jones · Post by **tao_jones** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:41 pm

wee96 wrote:Just curious, where did you get the monkey idea?

its the eternal evolution versus creation debate.

wee96 · Post by **wee96** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:42 pm

tao_jones wrote:its the eternal evolution versus creation debate.

Yea, I just assumed it was stated because someone felt it was said in the thread, even though it wasnt.

Spammy · Post by **Spammy** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:49 pm

Wow John why don't you go to church with me on Sunday..? To be honest i Knew God existed and i knew God loved me.. However i never really felt it as strong then when i went to church and got baptized..

Listen to Ric and Brent and all the other Christians here, not one of them have gave you bad advice.

So if you give God a chance bro.. You will feel a release you have never felt before i Guarantee it.

The angels are singing in heaven for you my friend/Brother.

tao_jones · Post by **tao_jones** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:52 pm

wee96 wrote:Yea, I just assumed it was stated because someone felt it was said in the thread, even though it wasnt.

its just one of the easiest things to bring up...that the fallacy that Catholics arent Christians.

The Devil · Post by **The Devil** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:56 pm

Spammy wrote:

Wow John why don't you go to church with me on Sunday..? To be honest i Knew God existed and i knew God loved me.. However i never really felt it as strong then when i went to church and got baptized..

Listen to Ric and Brent and all the other Christians here, not one of them have gave you bad advice.

So if you give God a chance bro.. You will feel a release you have never felt before i Guarantee it.

The angels are singing in heaven for you my friend/Brother.

Too late, brother, I've already spoken with him on the subject and he's all mine. He knows it too.

Spammy · Post by **Spammy** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:57 pm

The Devil wrote:Too late, brother, I've already spoken with him on the subject and he's all mine. He knows it too.

The power of the Devil is good enuff to cleans Jesus Feet and thats it.
Thats about it.

Joel · Post by **Joel** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:17 pm

I stated the monkey thing as a generalization of where you could believe we originated from if not by some Supreme Being greater than you and I.

I wasn't essentially saying you believed in monkeys as our source of creation, I was just saying that there aren't a whole lot of options.

'tis all. To each their own.

The Devil · Post by **The Devil** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:20 pm

Spammy wrote:

The power of the Devil is good enuff to cleans Jesus Feet and thats it.
Thats about it.

No, that would be the job of his Pope-on-a-Rope soap.

Spammy · Post by **Spammy** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:21 pm

The Devil wrote:No, that would be the job of his Pope-on-a-Rope soap.

DaddyLongLeg · Post by **DaddyLongLeg** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 3:12 pm

EA, as I understand it, Jesus is always in your heart.

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:51 pm

DaddyLongLeg wrote:EA, as I understand it, Jesus is always in your heart.

Actually, there is a very clear choice.

The free choice is there to accept him or not to accept him.

JawZ · Post by **JawZ** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:01 pm

Brent wrote:Actually, there is a very clear choice.

The free choice is there to accept him or not to accept him.

Well...I think you are both right....isn't Jesus always with us and it is up to us to accept that prescence or not?

EA...if you ever have a doubt about God or Jesus being in your heart....look into the eyes of your children and ask yourself..."Has God ever been with me?"

Spammy · Post by **Spammy** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:20 pm

Here John this is a great verse that pretty much clarifies UOD's statement..

Matthew 17:20

If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there" and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.

DaddyLongLeg · Post by **DaddyLongLeg** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:28 pm

UOD wrote:Well...I think you are both right....isn't Jesus always with us and it is up to us to accept that prescence or not?

EA...if you ever have a doubt about God or Jesus being in your heart....look into the eyes of your children and ask yourself..."Has God ever been with me?"

Thanks UOD, thats what I meant. And that's also good advise about the children cuz they definately a blessing from God