Seeing with Spiritual Eyes

Having spent many hours in debates on message boards, specifically with many atheists, I have come to the conclusion that much of what I have said and debated has fallen on deaf ears or "blind eyes."  There are some things that can only be seen with spiritual eyes.  The Bible even tells us that we were "once blind but now we see."  It should come as no surprise that when I am sharing truth from the Bible I have found that it will be perceived as foolishness to those that are not open to the things of God.  The question then leads me to ponder if these discussions are completely pointless or not.

Take some excerpts from my last discussion for example: 

Atheist: You seem to have blind faith in the bible and there is absolutely no way to know the accuracy of what was written in it.  Every religion has their own holy book, what makes your Bible valid and theirs invalid?

Me:  I have blind faith?  You may see it that way.  What is strange, and even supernatural, is that the Bible says that God will "Open the eyes of the blind."  In reality a person cannot see things spiritually until this happens.  Many people have said that the Bible did not make sense to them until they accepted Jesus and then it was like they could "see" things that they never saw before.  Although these experiences are not that common in my life, there have been some times in my life where I have "seen" sins that a person is struggling with the sole purpose of praying for that person.  I have seen visions.  I have also seen some people that I recognized were demon possessed just by feeling their presence in the room and then looked that direction and it was obvious that they "saw" me too!  A bit creepy but at the same time it just proved to me that I can see things in a spiritual way that many cannot.  The Bible is even said to be "foolish" to those that do not have the eyes to see. Instead of judging others for not seeing I really should not expect them to be able to.

I guess the thing that I would mention, in regards to your inference that the Bible is not true or it is just our "truth" is the question of why are so many people hostile to it?  If it wasn't so revolutionary why is it still banned in some places of the world?  Why has the Bible changed people's lives so much?  Why have people been willing to give up their lives for the truth in it, especially if it was not important?  Sure there are other religions that people give their lives for willingly, however, the one thing that separates Christianity from all other religions is that Christianity is the only religion that is not about earning our way to God.  In fact, it is all about realizing that there is no possible way to earn salvation at all.  It is about realizing that we are in need of help.  It takes humility and an open heart that prays and ask God to forgive us and "open our eyes" if you will to see things from God's perspective.  Then God, out of His great love, comes in and helps us to see not only ourselves, but others in a different way.  He helps us to love ourselves and others. He helps us to forgive, have joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control.  He then gives us the gift of His Spirit in our hearts and then we are able to do good things because of His love, not because we are trying to earn our salvation but because we are so thankful for what He has done for us.  

Atheist: The placebo effect can be a very powerful thing.  A good example is those balance wristbands that say their holograms will make you have better posture, better at sports,  and so on.   But they actually are nothing but a piece of foil and some rubber, but the people wearing them believe in it so much that their brains make it true to them.  I'm not sure what you mean by saying that the possessed people "saw" you too, but 2 people looking at each other proves nothing supernatural.

People are hostile to any religion other than theirs in a lot of cases, or a specific religion because of the one they believe in, culture, etc.  In some places any religion except for the one of the state is banned, so does that mean every religion is valid?  The bible has changed people because they read it and thought they could be changed, coming back to the placebo effect.

Me:  I am not able to comment on everything right now but I do have a quick story to share regarding "seeing" people that are possessed.

What is strange is that I can feel their presence without seeing them first.  Then when I look the direction that the person is in they are often glaring at me with a sinister look.   My husband has a story that is more compelling though.  When he was in college he had a part-time job at an auto-parts store.  There was a strange guy that would come in on occasion and talk about Nostradamus and my husband noticed that he was possessed.  There was a very weird and dark spirit about him.  One day he was at work and he felt this guy's presence even though the guy was not in the store at the time.  My husband then commented to his co-workers "That Nostradamus guy is back."  The guy wasn't there so they said, "Where?"  My husband then sensed him near the 7-11 store next door and then pointed.  He sensed the guy walking and as his finger moved to where the guy was he was directly pointing at him when his figure appeared in the window walking by the store front.  His co-workers started freaking out and asking him how he knew that.  My husband just said it was easy.  He could "see" him or "sense" his evil or dark presence.  Having had this same experience I totally get it and understand it.  But it is something we can only "see" with our spiritual eyes.

And so the discussion has ended for now.  The atheist did not have a comment after I shared my husband's story (yet anyways.)  I figure the most important thing to do really is just pray.  Pray that the person reading the words will have a small desire, or even a curiosity in seeking more.  Really it takes God's Spirit to draw us to Him.  There is nothing brilliant enough that I could say to convince anyone otherwise.  So often these discussions lean towards "evolution and intelligent design" where I am treated as completely ignorant for even thinking that intelligent design was a possibility.  It seems to steer towards the question of if there was a God, why would He allow suffering and that is not the kind of God they would want to serve anyways.  Of course I explain that Christ suffered greatly too for us and that we have the free will to choose to love or harm others. But all of these discussions seem quite empty and most often end with no resolution.   Maybe a seed has been sown.  Maybe somewhere down the road a simple thing stated will cause them to ponder who God is in their lives.  I often try to intertwine personal stories because it is hard to argue with something that really happened to me, but even then I have to be a little thick skinned and not take an attack personally.  I suppose I need to consider it a compliment if I am hated for anything I say in defense of God's word.  I am in good company as I study the Bible for being laughed at and ridiculed.  So I continue to pray that I will see things through "spiritual eyes" and have the words to say that can open the eyes of the blind and lead them from darkness into light and that God's light will continue to shine brightly in and through me.