what made you believe in God? what is the source of your faith? how old were you when you became christian?

a-sassy-black-lady :  3 Questions in one!

I'll try and answer it in a single go.  God is the source of my faith.  In fact God (Jesus) is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).  Faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).  It cannot be earned by good deeds or kind words.  It cannot be "worked up" by yourself.  God who is the giver of this gift does not give it because He expects a gift in return, otherwise it wouldn't be a gift!  God wants Christians to understand they have done nothing to earn faith, it’s only because of what Christ did on the cross that God gives anyone faith.  

God is always the initiator.  He is the one who seeks you.  He knocks at the door of your heart, as he did with me.  The question is, are you going to open the door to Him?  God will never force this on you.  You have a choice.  You can either accept Him and the offer of everlasting life He brings, or you can reject Him and what He has done for you on the Cross so that you can be free and have everlasting life.  I chose to do that when I was about 13 years old.  No one forced it down my throat.  My only regret is that I did not do it sooner!

I would not consider myself a Christian, but I decided to start obeying the commands of Yahova at a very young age, and since then kept learning more about them!

I believe in Yahova as the creator of this Universe, as this Universe couldn't just come from absolutely nothing. And I continue to believe in Him on that account.

The Commands of Yahova have been tried and true in my own life. I see it everyday, and avoid many of the troubles and pitfalls that others fall into. It's not hard to see what my own life would be without my obedience to Him. It works a lot better this way.

Sword legion : what is Yahova? i have never heard of Yahova. what are the commandments of Yahova? some background on Yahova?

sassy, have you ever heard of "Jehova"?

I absolutely love this thread. It's a place for Christians to share their testimonies.  

Mine is quite..... quite lengthy, so I'm not sure I want to post ALL of it.

Basically though, God has always tried to reach out for me. His hand was always there, extended in invitation, but it took me a long time to reach back.

I didn't grow up in a Christian home, but I did grow up in a strict one.  This was hard for me at times, and one of my methods for finding solace was contemplating a specific verse: Matthew 5:6.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

I often ran my fingers over this verse and asked God when -I- would be filled.  I wanted, more than anything, to be good.  I had so much trouble seeing myself as anything other than bad.... that this verse came to mean a lot to me.  If I have a gravestone some day, I'd want it etched into the stone, because it developed my desire to know God.

The journey was a long and tedious one though, in which good people of God planted many seeds.  These included some neighbors which read the Bible with me during college lunch breaks, a janitor whom I taught to read, and my own husband.

Before I came to God, I had to learn that  I did not deserve to be forgiven, and yet... I was.  That I was loved, cherished, and could be a part of something bigger than myself.

I had to let go of the past, surrender the negative things within my life, and forgive myself.  I had to humble myself and recognize that I was not the center of the world, that I could not accomplish certain things on my own, and that there was nothing I could personally do to save my own soul.

The day that I accepted Christ into my life, was certainly... most definitely... the most rewarding day of my life.

sassy, I'm glad you asked this question actually. Everyone has a story, and I love to read them. It opens so many doors.

Anywho, so to answer your questions;

what made you believe in God?
 I don't know for sure if there was ever a time where I doubted his existence, as much as I was angry with Him for a lot of things. I grew up in a very religious household. My grandparents are Pastor of a Messianic Jewish Congregation and my mom was a Youth Pastor when I was younger in AG(Assembly of God), and now is an Ordained Minister in Non-Denominational. So I was always told that God existed and I always believed in Him. HOWEVER, I didn't really start following Him until a few years ago. I can't tell you what made me believe in God, other than that it was ingrained in me from a young age that He was real.


how old were you when you became Christian?
I said before that I was raised to believe in God, but it wasn't until I made the choice to believe in Him and become a Christian that changed my life. I became a Christian when I was 13. Like I was 'saved.' However, I didn't start following Him until I was 18. There's a difference between a Christian and a person who follows Him, in my opinion.

what is the source of your faith?
To understand my source, you need to understand my background. As mentioned above I was raised in an extremely Religious household my entire life. Because of that, and feeling suffocated, I rebelled and did things that I shouldn't have. Walked in things I shouldn't have. When I was 11 years old I self-diagnosed myself with depression, but refused to go to a doctor because I didn't want to be put on medication. When I was 18, I went to an actual doctor and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. 
I stopped taking my depression medication six months later(yes my doctor approved), and take my anxiety medication only when I absolutely need it(again I had permission from my doctor).  The reason was because I took a step of faith in that I didn't need it anymore. That God was doing a work in me that would change me completely. And He did. 
Then last year I was accepted into a school that was half-way across the country, and cost $4300 to go. I took a step of faith that God would provide for me, because He had told me that He would get me to where I needed to go and make sure it was completely covered. And He did. 
Now just a few weeks ago, I found out my mom was really sick. Praying about it, going to my group of friends to ask them to pray, etc, I made the decision to move back home. I took a step a faith in doing that, knowing that I'd be leaving my classmates, friends, job, and life in California to take a train back to Texas for an undetermined amount of time. This is the second week I've been home, and already I've had a job interview(the place is to far away so they're transferring the information to a store located closer to my house), am seeing my mom get better, and going to go see family to have some hard conversations with them about my past, if only to get healing for myself. 
That took faith to do. 

My source of Faith comes from the fact that as long as I'm faithful to God, He is always faithful in return. He honors His promises, always, even if they don't look how I think they're going to look. I have a relationship with Him that tells me who I am in Him, and who He is through me. I know that might not make a lot of sense, but it's the best way that I know to describe it.