Okay, Teej, your turn (sorry, I just saw this tonight... may you have peace... and dear DC, thanks for the second witness... you know I love you dearly...)
Isn't it amazing, Teej, just how much malice folks have in their hearts? I mean, you would think folks could disagree, without becoming abusive... and just plain hateful, yes? But, then, what can you expect... they learned QUITE well from their 'father'... and his 'agents'. Ah, well... moving on. You said/asked (oh, and for those who think me long-winded, you might wanna go ahead and throw yourselves off... uh, jump off... here):
First I must say that in reading through your description of god's interaction, you kept saying stuff like "when god speaks to you..."
Let ME offer a minor correction, Teej. God has spoken to me less than five (5) times. It is my Lord, His Son, JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH who speaks to me.
Hebrews 1:2
Let me offer a minor correction.
I think I ‘handled’ that already, Teej.
To my knowledge god has never talked to me or communicated with me personally in any way. Ever.
Oh, sorry, I thought you meant about Him talking to me.
You say that God communicates with you in the same manner that you communicate with others
Uh, no, not EXACTLY. I talk to folks with my mouth; you know, lips, tongue, larynx, etc.
with a voice that in time becomes more and more distinct.
Oh, oops. My bad. Yes, the distinction increases. As I exercise faith, I hear even more. GREAT stuff, too.
In saul's experience, you say others who were present also heard the voice. Has a person present with you ever heard god's voice as he talked to you?
Actually, yes. But not in the way that those men did. We just hear the same thing at the same time from the same ‘one’.
I know that I have never heard a voice out of the invisible communicate with someone I was with.
It doesn’t work that way, Teej. It is not a ‘voice with words’.
Hebrews 12:18, 19
As far as I know, none of my companions, family, etc. have ever been addressed by god, at least not while I was around.
They have. And you have. You just didn’t LISTEN and neither did they.
Aside from you, I have never even HEARD of a person who has regularly heard god's voice, other than the folks in the bible, of course.
Poll the board. I think you will there are a few besides me. Please note, however, that the ‘folks’ in the Bible were all ‘anointed’ by holy spirit. And so are my brothers alive today. Why then, would it be any different? Why do you people think God has changed? He hasn’t. It’s US that have changed.
You say that I should show him that I want it because "they" can read hearts. Since they can't be fooled if I'm not sincere "it will not occur."
Yep, absolutely.
You seem to be saying that if I don't want it really really bad and if I don't keep on seeking it, then they won't waste their time with me.
Is that what I seem to be saying… or is that what you ‘heard’?
Hmmm... I'm not like that with my daughter. I talk to her all the time and she hears me every time. After all, that's why I talk to her... so that she can hear me.
Certainly. And you talk to her using your PHYSICAL body… and she HEARS… with her physical body. God, Teejay… is not a PHYSICAL being. He is a SPIRIT. So, in order to SPEAK to Him and HEAR Him… you must do it… in SPIRIT (Lord, what is so HARD about this?)
Usually she wants me to talk to her so I make sure that she understands.
Again, I agree.
I guess god isn't like that with his children. In order for most of us to hear god to talk to us we have to want it real bad.
LOL! (Shaking head)… believe that if you want, Teejay. If it will assuage your need NOT to hear what has been said to you, go for it. Do it YOUR way. But you won’t hear if you do. This amazes me:
“What does God want?”
“For you to listen to Him through His son.”
“Then why can’t I hear His Son?”
“You don’t WANT to hear Him.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then you will hear Him.”
“But I DON’T hear Him. I WANT to hear Him.”
“Then TELL Him that.”
“HOW?”
“You must tell Him… in SPIRIT.”
“But why don’t He hear?”
“He does…”
“And why don’t He answer?”
“He does…”
“Then why can’t I hear?”
“Cause you have to do it in SPIRIT…”
“But I speak to MY child out loud…”
“Yes, you are PHYSICAL… your child is physical… He is not…”
“But I want Him to speak to me like I am, not speak to Him like HE is…”
“Then… you really don’t WANT to hear Him. Because if you did, you would listen in the way that HE says you must listen... and speak in the way that HE says you must speak to Him.”
“Why does it have to be HIS way?”
“Look, you asked how to speak to Him; I told you. You want to do it your way, go ahead. But how can you ask how… be TOLD how… and then demand to have it done YOUR way? How can you say you REALLY want it, if you aren’t even willing to do it HIS way?”
Check your heart, Teej. Do you want what YOU want? Or do you want what HE wants? Be honest, man.
You said that I have to "ASK Out of a CLEAN heart and pure motive (which means LISTENING when he tells you of your uncleanness and impurity and 'leaven', which is hypocrisy... and work to remove such...)."
Yep. I said that.
Is that god's main emphasis in talking to people? To continually remind us that we are unclean and impure?
Nooooo! You want to enter into the Most Holy, yes? You want to go before the ‘person’ of God, yes? Because you want to speak to Him and have Him answer you, yes? (Uh, please know that it is the Son that will speak, though). Can you enter in ‘unclean’? What priest could enter the Most Holy before bathing? What priest could even offer up a sacrifice without bathing? But He is not asking for you to cleans your FLESH… He only wants you to ‘cleanse your hands and purify your HEART’. This means, whatever trickiness your hands are doing, and whatever leaven in is your heart… acknowledge it so that it can be ‘cleansed’.
Remember what Jeremiah said about being unclean in lips? Hey, he acknowledged it. What happened? His lips were cleansed… and he entered. What is the big deal? You know what the big deal is, Teejay? Acknowledging our own error and uncleanness is the HARDEST thing for us to do.
John 3:19-21
Does god ever give direction when people are lost on the road, or have to make a financial decision?
Yep.
Does he ever tell jokes to make people laugh to lighten your day?
Absolutely. He has a GREAT sense of humor. Actually, they’re funnier than we are. You been misled to think they are stoic and pious and angry. Nothing could be further from the truth.
You said that it was "likely" that god HAS called me and that I either wasn't listening or didn't understand.
Yep.
You said that I "DIDN'T listen when He instructed me with regard to what I needed to do... and/or didn't understand that it was indeed me He was speaking and instructing."
Yep.
Again, when it's my daughter, since I'm quite a bit older and she doesn't talk as well, I know that sometimes she doesn't understand what I'm saying. When that happens, I don't go, "oh, forget it... you're not listening" or "you just don't understand." Instead, I use different words or patiently repeat what I said -- maybe lead her by the hand or demonstrate by my own actions what I mean. Before long, there's real communication -- my daughter understands!
Uh, Teejay… He’s trying to do that NOW. That is why I am your ‘servant’, to help you DO this. I cannot speak for my Lord… I can only speak what he TELLS me to tell you… and lead to HIM… so that he can take over. Truly. Once you and he have your relationship and dialogue going, I move on. I am not your ‘leader’, nor would I ever try to be. I am his slave… and your servant. I am only saying to you that ‘my Master has heard you… and in answering you… but he says you aren’t listening. So, this is what he’s saying to you.” That’s it; that’s all.
And he has given me NOTHING detrimental, judgmental, condemnatory, antagonistic, unloving, hypocritical, or hateful to say to you… or anyone else here. EVERYTHING has been, “Come! Listen! Hear! Learn! Eat! Drink! FREE!”
Check your heart, Teej.
I wish god were more like that.
YOU are like that… because HE is like that. You just think that ‘voice’… is you. You have been misled. Truly.
You said it's possible that I "refused it" when god called, like those in the past who were likened to chicks whom god wanted to gather under his wings or even like Judas, Adam and Eve, Pharaoh, and the scribes and Pharisees.
I’d have to go back and review, but you may be right. I thought I said that no one ‘misses’ it, but instead ‘refuses’ it. I don’t recall speaking of you specifically, but I may have.
If that's true, then things aren't looking very good for people like me because I think I know what happened to all of those folks. So in my case (if I understand you correctly), God called, I didn't hear or didn't understand and therefore he sees (in me) another Judas.
Now how in the world did you get THAT? Judas not only heard, Teejay, but heard with his PHYSICAL ears and well as saw with his physical eyes. But did you not hear what my Lord said to Thomas? “Because you have SEEN me you believed? Happy are those who do NOT see… and yet… believe.”
Nope, things aren't looking very good for me at all.
Has your life in this world ended, Teejay? Indeed, this entire ‘generation’ still has its chance… until my Lord passes on to the next one… IF he passes on to it. No one knows the date and the hour, though…
You said that "most have been grossly misled... by RELIGION... that such invitation only goes out to a few. That is true in that there is only a FEW..."
Religion has misled most by saying that only a few are invited, Teejay. In truth… MANY are invited. Few… however… are ‘chosen’… because only a FEW… heed the call.
For one thing, I'm pretty sure that I haven't been misled by religion
Er?
at least not any more
Okay, then…
but even if I was, wouldn't god be even more interested in me then to direct me OUT of falsehood?
He did. And He IS. You’re not IN religion anymore, are you? But now that you are ‘out’, now that you’ve separated yourself and ‘quit touching the unclean thing’… now what? Do you want to be ‘taken in as a son’? Or do you want to just wander outside the gates of kingdom, wondering if such kingdom even exists and if so, why you can’t get in?
That would be my goal with my daughter.
Yes, and it is His.
And why does the invitation go to only a few?
See above, dear one. Again, you have been seriously misled with regard to that.
What's so special about people like you that makes god want to talk to some of his children (so that they understand) and seemingly disregard the rest?
LOL! There is NOTHING ‘special’ about me, Teejay. Honestly. Nothing at all. In fact, if we were comparing sins, I would most probably have you beat by a LONG shot. That’s why it’s called UNDESERVED kindness. I don't DESERVE it. The ONLY difference between me and you… is that I LISTENED… and put faith in what I heard. I attributed it to whom and what it WAS… and obeyed. That is the ONLY difference. I ‘exercised’ faith. I heard a voice say ‘Go build by temple’… ‘go feed my sheep’… ‘go speak to Israel speech from my mouth and you must say to them… whether they hear… or whether they refrain.”
I heard… I listened… I did. That’s the ONLY difference between me and you. Nothing more.
Is it really true that all of those that don't hear are really not wanting to hear or is there another reason(s)?
It is true. And if their hearts are obstinate, my Father may hand them over to even more obstinance. You can’t see that in some of the responses I get from time to time? Surely, you do.
You recommend that I approach the Father, through the Lord, asking in faith, not doubting... and with a clean heart and not trying to fool him.
Yep, I did. That’s what he told me to tell you (my Lord did).
I know it's easy but it sure sounds hard.
Actually, you have it backwards: it sounds easy… but apparently, it’s hard. In truth, as my Lord said, “faith… is not a possession of all men.” I have found that to be a profound truth.
When my daughter wants to talk to me, she just walks right up and boom... we're talking. Faith and doubting and clean heart, all that stuff, doesn't even figure into it. If she tries to "fool me" I talk to her anyway. I don't mean to offend or sound presumptuous, but I think I could teach god a thing or two about talking to his kids.
And there we have it: you know better than God how to communicate with your children. Why then should God bother such a good father as yourself with His puny directives? He doesn’t know what He’s doing and HE… should consult with YOU… on how this should be done. Yes? Check your heart, Teejay.
I'm serious.
Oh, yes. He knows that.
After millennia, it seems that there's a veil between god and humans in the matter of communication
There is… it is that which is PHYSICAL: the FLESH… and the Law Covenant which was a law… UNTO the flesh. The NEW Covenant… is a law… unto the SPIRIT. For God… and my Lord… are SPIRITS. The flesh, Teejay… is the CURTAIN that SEPARATES us from God. You have to go THROUGH the ‘curtain’ in order to entry into the Most Holy. You have to ‘put off’ your flesh and enter through the ‘flesh’ of Christ… which MUST be done… in spirit!
2 Corinthians 3:12-18.
and it's a barrier of god's making
No, it was of Adam’s making…
cause I don't think many humans would refuse the chance to talk to god if they could.
Really? Quite, obviously, you have never read Exodus 20:18, 19. Just how is it that you think Moses BECAME the mediator for Israel? I’ll tell you how: God was coming down upon Sinai to talk to them ALL. And they… DIDN’T WANT IT. So, they told Moses to go and talk to God FOR them. I tell you the truth. Read it; it’s there. And Israel is exactly the same way today: hard-hearted… and stiff-necked. God says “Turn your head THIS way,” and Israel says, “No, I want to turn my head THAT way.” Nothing new under the sun.
You just don't hear it that often. I think it's interesting that god has told you that i was serious, he's talked to you ABOUT me, he just hasn't talke TO me. At least not yet.
Yes, my Lord told me what was in your heart, for I cannot ‘read’ hearts. Only my Father and my Lord can do that. But he HAS spoken to you, Teejay. And when you finally concede to LISTEN, you’re gonna say, “OMIGOSH! He HAS been speaking to me. I just didn’t KNOW it was Him! Nobody TOLD me!”
Keep asking, dear one. If you do, it WILL be ‘opened’ to you.
I bid you peace… you AND your household… to time indefinite.
I am your servant, and a slave of Christ,
SJ
