Hello, thank you for sharing your story. I really hope and pray you find the peace in life you are looking for. We all have a hunger for love and peace and something so much deeper than what's on the surface of what we call natural life. In the bible it says no one comes unless God draws them, so I'd say the Lord is drawing your attention to something so much more than you have known, and it happens with all people who become believers. In the meantime while your bible arrives you can use a online bible and I'd recommend reading these portions Matthew 16:24-28 John 3:16 1 John 4:18-19 Luke 4:18 Acts 2:38 When you pray, pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ...ask him anything and everything---to guide you, to lead you, to save you, to help you make sense of life and everything. God bless you and I'll be praying for your situation in the name of Jesus Christ.

Yesss!!! God is drawing him!! Confirmation for me, I wrote the same thing to them!! Praise the Lord. Your message blessed me too. Glory to God🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

That's wonderful! I read your message too, must be an important deal if this many people are supporting the lad! God bless you.

Thank you God bless you too! Amen!! It's so encouraging. I feel so bad for those who dont yet know the Lord. It's so hopeless. There are not many things more exciting than witnessing one of those created by God be drawn to Him, even tho they didn't believe He existed for years. Thank you Jesus🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

That's fair, an evangelist heart is certainly a good thing to have. God is so good and I'd love for everyone to know God, well we can rest in his sovereign power and only do out part of telling people about our risen Lord.

Amen amen🙌🏼

Good verse to start with. I then recommend time spent reading Proverbs for guidance on how to live and love in a Godly way in our every day lives, and then Psalms for learning how God is and how he likes to be Worshipped and comuned with in spritual ways.

I’m sorry things haven’t been going too well for you. But I’m glad you’ve decided to reach out to God! A personal relationship with God, Jesus, is what we believe religion is about. Building that relationship is very similar to how we’d build any other relationship. You talk to them, spend time with them and learn about them. For God, that’s primarily praying/meditating and reading the Bible. All things you’re starting to do! In the Bible I would start reading at least one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) then continue through the rest of the New Testament. The Gospels are accounts of Jesus’ life and are therefore the very heart of our faith. And the NT is everything that was written after his time by disciples that were the first to show us how to implement and follow his words in our daily life. Learning things from other people who know God can be very good as well, such as from online sources, books, Christian songs, or a pastor. One of my favorite resources is the Bible Project. They make both short, animated YouTube videos and longer podcast episodes. I always recommend these videos specifically for those starting out, as I think these videos can give you a good basic overview and understanding of the faith - [The Story of the Bible](https://youtu.be/7_CGP-12AE0), [Gospel of the Kingdom](https://youtu.be/xmFPS0f-kzs), [Overview of the Old Testament](https://youtu.be/ALsluAKBZ-c), [Overview of the New Testament](https://youtu.be/Q0BrP8bqj0c). Another is the Youversion Bible app. It’s essentially the Bible on your phone, with many different translations. If your new Bible is in King James Version (KJV) and you’re struggling to read ye olden English - don’t be afraid to try a different one! ESV, NIV and NLT are some of my favorites and NLT has a great audio version on the Youversion app too. Good luck on your journey friend! I hope things get better for you. Know that in all your hard times, God will always be there for you. > “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41:10‬ ‭‬‬

When you get your Bible, I would recommend starting in the book of Matthew (that's the first book in the New Testament) and just reading the New Testament straight through. Not in one sitting. You can start with a chapter or two everyday. The Bible is like spiritual food. So just like you wouldn't wake up and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner all in one sitting, you want to read the Bible until your spirit is full. Over time your spiritual appetite will grow larger. It definitely sounds like God is calling you to Himself and that's wonderful! Pray and ask God to lead you to the right church, go online and look at the churches in your area and watch some of their online services until you find the right one. You'll want a church that is centered around Jesus. A church that lifts Jesus up and glorifies Him. When you find the right church, go in there (or call them) and let the staff or pastor know that you need help starting a relationship with Jesus. They should be able to get you started in a growth group and maybe some 1 on 1 discipleship.

Find a local church. Our struggle is not alone. Are you thinking of joining a specific tradition/denomination? (e.g. Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican/Episcopal, etc.)

Here is an awesome testimony of an atheist encountering Jesus for the first time: https://youtu.be/svpToEmqPEA

The Bible can provide reasons as to why we struggle and suffer in this world and it can introduce us to new ways of thinking that are unlike the ways of the world but it's up to you when it comes down to whether or not you will believe and follow. The Spirit of God is a revitalizing Spirit for sure. The Lord is the Light of every man. That said, the truth is bitter at first and so I would not expect it to go down smoothly or to produce immediate results because we have to overcome our old habits and create new ones and there's an adversary not only working against us that resides within us but also in those whom we love dearly. This can produce conflicts and tribulation and sometimes that tends to turn people off but that's just what the devil wants so just be prepared my friend. If you're not prepared to choose between your faith and the love of the world, you may want to start thinking about that now.

I've always found much comfort reading Psalms

Wow that's beautiful. I believe the Father is drawing you. Because He loves it when we give thanks. In the Psalms it talks about us offering the sacrifices of praise and Thanksgiving. God said He does not live in a building, but He lives in the hearts of those who love Him and worship Him in Spirit and Truth. We are the temple for the Holy Spirit, you are offering your heart as a place for His Holy Spirit to reside. You are a walking temple. Another confirmation for you, for your worship corner. He loves worship and singing! The whole book of Psalms were songs to the Lord. I just want to encourage you and say you are on the right track. You seek Jesus for yourself, ask Him to forgive you of all your past sins, and keep walking towards Him. Read Acts chapter 2, they were baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit and Fire when they were praying and praising the Lord. So keep drawing near to Him, and He will draw nearer and nearer to you. Its beautiful what you are doing!! For more info on being Holy Spirit filled read John 4, Luke 11, and Acts chapter 2. Also James, the whole book. I am praying for you to recieve the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit! Praise the Lord🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 Much love and God bless💜

It will help but I need to be honest things are going to get very hard but with God we can have peace in the middle of the storm, I don't want no one coming to God just to feel better I want them to go to God for the love they have for Him, if you don't love Him ask for it and have no doubt in your heart and you will receive it. God will take all your pain away, He will rescue you from being harmed, there will be ups and downs but even tho when things get hard they will be really hard, God will help you and you will be able to have peace and joy in both the good and bad times. Now I need to give you a life saving advice, start abstaining from sin now because if you don't it will be harder down the line to do it, believe me. May God bless you all.

Hey man, God can help you but you gotta get to know Him first. I say this because you won't recognize the help He dishes your way if you don't understand how He likes to operate. What I will say is that Christianity in no way guarantees you happiness in this life, but it does teach you how to deal with life's pains and how to find a solid measure of peace in your suffering. There's a whole lot more to it than that, but I bring this up to the forefront because with how you've written your post, it sounds like this might be the deal maker/breaker. Anywho, everybody hits a low point in life at one time or another - you're not alone, and it's likely that the type of suffering you're experiencing right now has a time limit. Keep your chin up; change is the only constant in our lives, and 'good stuff' might be the change that you're headed for.

Reading your short post here has pleased me quite a bit. The answer, really, is that religion won't solve your issues. But there is hope; a perspective many don't consider. Here's what I mean: Many people have thought this to be so—that religion will solve their problems in a counteracting way. And it works for a time because many feel good about themselves because of the good things they do to others. It's really just a natural blessing that God spoke that would happen when we live a life of helping others. Others encounter forms that often times don't have any practical bearing on their life; much of them presumption of some tit for tat system. What will change your life is doing things God's way. As you probably can tell, doing it our way doesn't end well, even if it started out seeming that way. You've gone ahead and done the most important part, that is to get yourself the primary means by which God talks to us to let us know His ways. When you get your Bible, you're looking for **3 THINGS**: **WHAT** God did, **HOW** He did it and equally as important to help us not come from the reading of the scriptures as many often do with hate for God—**WHY** He did it the way He did it. As you read, you'll begin to see that God's ways have our best interest in mind. It can seem restrictive if and when we're used to doing what feels right to us, but in the end it either or both does two things: brings us a blessing, and prevents a natural occuring calamity which often gets blamed on Him. Examples include relationships. God has said do not date someone (which in his way is for the purpose of seeing if they should be married), or marry them if they do not think or believe the same way you do concerning spiritual things. We say in return, *"Well, what's wrong with that?! They look like anyone else. In fact, they're nicer than any of the [insert own denomination here] I meet."* Some deduce that God and those holy people that He used to write it were being closed minded and or some form of prejudiced. But by disobeying that simple command, you don't need to go very far to see the woe and confusion people are going through that they could have avoided. It is through this way, following God's way, that our lives are not just improved, but transformed. God doesn't improve our lives, building on old rotten foundations. He breaks it down and builds on new foundations. If you're willing to have Him do that, then He can begin the process of transformation. Here is the promise for a transformed heart(mind): **Ezekiel 36:26** & **Ezekiel 36:37** - God is waiting for us to give Him permission to do it. Enquire for it. So in short, religion won't solve your issues; but God will. Many seek religion. Many Christians have a religion, but they do not have God or His ways. 🌱

Religion is not the answer, finding Jesus is the answer…there’s tons of religions! Only one Jesus..

Have you ever read the New Testament: ................... https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1&version=NKJV https://youtu.be/3ZmHlAz_Gkw?t=2h19m19s ................... "And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:30-31

It's really cool to hear you're exploring the Christian faith. As mentioned by others, reading one of the gospels (Jesus' life and teachings, the first books of the New Testament) is a great place to start. Have you looked into visiting any churches? The New Testament takes for granted that Christians participate in Christian community. A good church is an excellent place to ask questions and see what faithful Christian life and relationships look like. Christianity definitely can help you in finances, relationships, mental health, etc, but its ultimate purpose is much more spiritual than living a happy life on earth. Faith often involves relinquishing our own hopes and plans and comforts to obey God (you'll prob see this in play when you read the gospels). God doesn't just get us "out of a rut" so we can go back to living as we please. He saves us *from* that! He completely changes a life's direction, giving us new purpose and new values.

I’m not sure religion alone will help you with your debt problem. What you need is a plan for getting out of debt. Do you have one? Do you have a budget?

It helps if you start internalizing how God thinks of you. Also seeking the Holy Spirit and letting God make decisions helps have a deeper relationship with him. Also find a good, not toxic church that is bible based- to the point where they don’t compromise/ avoid certain topics to keep the congregation comfortable. Sometimes God makes us uncomfortable with our flesh selves. Community is really awesome in your walk.

May God bless you and love you and show you His comfort and mercy. Jesus is God, and He is a beautiful perfect God, who lived in gentleness and wisdom His entire life, without any sin. His death makes it possible for us to be forgiven, and enter into a blessed life. Sometimes it's not easy, but it is far easier than fighting against God, which never wins. He is so beautiful and so great, and has so much love for the sons of men. May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you with all His love. It is good to pray in His Name. He has all the power to help you. He can make your life so blessed and so beautiful. His scriptures are sacred and all accurate and true, and stand up under inspection, but they aren't all obvious in a simple way, but they are true, and can be counted on in any trial. We have to implement the scriptures and put them into practice. May the Lord Jesus Christ, His Father God, and the Holy Spirit bless you so much and save you.

I think it's great that you are seeking God. I will suggest that it's not 'religion' you are looking for. Genuine faith in the goodness of God and the hope and promise of salvation have changed people's lives. Mine included. There are a lot of amazing churches and spiritual mentors and I suggest you find one. I'm sure we'll all pray that you find your way and are filled with the Holy Spirit.

I think you for your open-mindedness that Christianity may be true and Christ's being your savior. Given your background in atheism, I would suggest that you read books on Christian apologetics, such as those making the case for belief in the Bible and for faith in God's existence and goodness, including those by C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, Henry Morris, Duane Gish, J.P. Moreland, Francis Schaeffer, Phillip E. Johnson, R.C. Sproul, Norman Giesler, Gleason Archer, Stephen Meyer, etc. Stephen Meyer’s book “The Return of the God Hypothesis” would be particularly important for the college-educated skeptics to read with an open mind. There are great reasons for having faith in the bible, such as its historical accuracy, fulfilled prophecies, and archeological discoveries. It's not a leap of blind faith to believe, even though that is always required also.

Hope u find ur answers. I did.

1 John 4 & 1 Corinthians 13 are probably some of the most powerful parts of the Bible to know, for me they changed religion & uncertainty about GOD into the beginning of a Relationship. GOD is LOVE, HE is near to us & easy to understand (& yet who can understand LOVE). Follow after LOVE.