Talking with Jesus

from people who presently talk with and hear from Jesus.

@BrianMeir …. I can’t speak to why your circumstances are so desperate and difficult; but I can speak as someone who has also experienced some extremely challenging times. As a Christian, you don’t need to “seek the Lord.” He has already found you. If you’re not hearing Him speak to you, it’s possible that your circumstances have you distracted and focusing too much on yourself.

I hear from Jesus continually—all Christians do. We hear from Him in the love letter of His Word; we hear from Him as the Holy Spirit guides and comforts us throughout each day; we hear from Him in nature; we hear from Him through people who love us. He is always speaking to us. Yes, life is really, really hard—harder for some than others. But we’re still here, aren’t we? Who is responsible for that? He is! Our lives are in the palm of His mighty hand, and how we handle the challenges that come our way is our testimony. There is nowhere we can be in this life that He is not right beside us.

So thank Him for helping you through everything you’ve faced so far, and be grateful for each opportunity you have to tell someone how He’s held you all these years. Thank Him for this forum, where you can share your burdens and have them lifted in prayer. You’re wrong when you say you have nothing. You have everything if you have Jesus, and it is enough. Instead of thinking about what you may be suffering, think of what Jesus would have you do with that or learn from that. If you just hear crickets, rely on what you know and not what you feel. Remember that patience is a fruit of the Spirit. God is faithful and has promised blessings to those who love Him.

Brian are you talking about miracles or signs from God here or something else?
What would you like to talk about in specific about everyone's experience with God? Their way of life or any signs from God in their life?

I can’t promise to be an equal in hearing Him. I’m learning though, day by day moment by moment. Mentor after mentor I’m unlearning what I learned wrong and allowing God to reteach me, apprenticing under Jesus. I had a lot of religious programming as a child that ran contrary to God being interested in having a conversation with me. The God I learned as a child was a silent one who spoke what was in the Bible and that’s all the relationship that was available. I didn’t know God at all as a child besides some whispy religious figure from Sunday school flannel graphics. So I’m often fighting against that old religious programming that said God dosen’t speak. So I’m probably not an equal but I’m in process . Do I hear perfectly? Absolutely not, but I’m open to all the ways God desires to have conversational intimacy with me more and more every day. I’m actually engaging the Word with the ancient prayer practice of Lectio Divina which has helped a bunch.

Dude... There ain't one thing on this whole forum worth getting angry about. It's all just letters on a screen.

I could post pictures of my cat if I wanted. It's an open forum. It would be waaaaaay off topic, and slightly rude of me, to do so, but it wouldn't be worth getting angry over.

At least Karlon stayed on topic.

Hi Bee. I appreciate your considerate reply. My life sort of defies the general logic that God has a hope and a future for all of us. And yes, I have a lot of insurmountable obstacles, physical circumstances and extenuating factors that prevent me from living a full life. Honestly, it would be better for me to die, because there is really nothing I can aim for as long as I am alive in this condition, and as I get old, living will probably become painful. But having said that, I'd really like to focus on the spiritual challenge I can face now, because unlike physical problems that cannot be changed, I can work on it. So much of my prayer life is fueled by hope. Hope for healing. Hope for vindication. Hope for reconciliation. Hope for deliverance from spiritual and physical dangers. Like the psalmists, we pour out our hearts asking for these things, and they are all based on our hope and faith, from our end, and God's willingness and compassion, on His end. Then there is love. We love God by praying to Him, studying and applying the scriptures, loving others, forgiving others, and some of us go so far as to intentionally minister to others and help others. Unfortunately the general premise of Paul's gospel is that we are justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and that ONLY without effort on our part can we receive Jesus. This theology has been bothering me for a really long time, because it contradicts the rest of scripture. Also, it is hard for me to feel God's love simply by studying certain parts of the scripture, such as Paul's letters, because Paul constantly asks his readership to remember him in his sufferings as "I make up in my body for the lack of the afflictions of Christ." I give studying the Bible a break, and I come back to it, year after year, and for the past several years the result has been the same. I just can't trust scripture like I use to when I was young. This is one spiritual obstacle I have. I have gone so far as to pray, Jesus, are you the representation of God? To which I immediately heard a clear voice in front of me say, "Yes I Am." But how much of the Bible can I trust? I don't know. I certainly know it very well, having studied it in depth and believing in it for a long time. Another thing I doubt is the reliability of the platitudes we like to believe in as Christians. Things like, "God will never give you more than you can handle," or "If you give something to Jesus He will give it back to you," or, "God will get you through this hard time," or, "You will be alright," or, "You'll get through this," or, "When God closes a door He always opens a window," or, "God works all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." That last one, Romans 8:28 I believe, I had carved on a wooden bookmark I gave to my friend after I led him through the sinner's prayer. Shortly thereafter he committed suicide. There have also been times good Christians get prayed for: "God says that you are going to recover from this cancer." So they resist taking chemotherapy and they die. That is exactly what happened to my step-father's ex-wife. Or the various situations I have been in where the prayer didn't work and the worst possible outcome took place. So it seems therefore in conclusion that much of what we believe as Christians is unreliable, often because a lot of our theology is based on platitudes and partial scripture passages that keep the encouraging parts and overlook the condemning parts.

Consider this. You know the famous Bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11? "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Well, the context of that verse is actually quite dim. First of all, Jeremiah is saying a whole lot of negative, condemning stuff to the Israelites, and then briefly turns positive in that relatively short section of the book. Then later in the story, he warns them not to go to Egypt. What happened? The Israelites go to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with them, and are then wiped out from history.

There are times, like recently, when Jesus comforts me. I was reading a sermon by Smith Wigglesworth a few weeks ago when I started to feel the Lord's presence and I was able to talk with Jesus directly. I asked Him, "Are you good?" And He said, "I Am very good." And many days this last week or two I have felt his presence strongly in the morning and I have lain prostrate on the floor telling Him some of my big concerns. I heard His voice, and other voices, like angels probably, telling me good, godly things.

The biggest thing I notice about being in the Lord's presence where there is potential for two-way dialogue is that the proximity to God sheds light on what is really important, and what isn't. In this situation it feels unwise to press an agenda, such as asking the Lord to address personal needs, even if those needs are immensely important to me. What being close to Him has taught me is that usually His answer is no, and understanding why the obstacles exist is what He seems to care about. Also, when I am praying in His presence, sometimes He reads my thoughts and answers them directly, and other times I have to speak out loud. Also, He is immensely compassionate, and He can and does take away our emotional pain. Recently some painful encounters with people have paralyzed me emotionally, and He was with me for a few hours at a time to strengthen me.

When I didn't have the debilitating problems I have now in life, I would balance these times with the Lord with work, exercise, and relationships. But now I can neither work nor exercise, and most of my friends have gotten married and forgotten about me. So I struggle with purity now where I didn't use to. Before, balance, self-discipline, and healthy pursuits precluded a lot of temptation. But now, what else is there to do but get on the internet? So practicing the fruits of the Spirit is really affected by my condition. And not being able to practice love, joy, peace, faithfulness, and self-control can tempt me to forget patience, kindness, goodness, and gentleness, too.

Imagine you are a virtuous guitarist whose hand gets crushed in an accident. That's me, for all intents and purposes. But it is my mind and my spirit that has been ruined, so that I can't even live by all the godly principles I want to.

Have you ever considered that you can be forced to do wrong? Here's an example. Let's say you are driving on the highway at a safe following distance, when someone cuts you off, pulling directly in front of you. Then, through no fault of your own, you are suddenly in violation of the law, because you are not following at a safe driving distance anymore. And there was nothing you could do about it.

But if you want scripture, I'll give you scripture. "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal." — John 12:25. It seems to me that if everyone actually believes what scripture says we would be sacrificing everything in life to know Jesus in His sufferings and selflessly live for others. "Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor." — 1 Corinthians 10:24.

Most Christians fit in in church because they are too naive to understand the whole message of Christianity. They hear the positive, happy, optimistic verses, and not the ones I quoted here. They never take serious risks because they don't think independently, but they follow along with the lackadaisical Christian crowd. How many Christians act on the crisis that 99% of the people around them are damned to hell?

That's great, Shittim. Is there anything specific He has told you that could benefit anyone but you?

I want to apologize to you, Karlon. I tried to delete my reply as soon as I wrote it but I couldn't. Apparently after 5 minutes it becomes permanent. As I read your post again I get the impression you were trying to explain the basics of the Christian walk. I thought I had implied that I already have fellowship with Jesus, but maybe I wasn't clear. I am very sorry, Karlon. Just to clarify, I don't need help seeking the Lord; what I originally intended was to hear experience, not teaching, from people who presently talk with and hear from Jesus.

I guess I am talking about hearing Jesus directly speaking to you as it practically grows your character and enables you to live a more godly life. I am not a super big fan of the signs and miracles crowd because in my experience hanging out with some of those people, they are seeking the signs and miracles for their own intrinsic value, and Jesus said, "A wicked and perverse generation asks for a sign." I believe we should seek God's face, not His hands. And we should not seek His presence just to experience His glory either, but to be changed by it. I am personally seeking the Lord for a work in my heart. I know that His work in my heart, my soul, and my spirit has to come before healing my mind and my body. Ultimately, I would like to be healed in my mind and body as well, because I really practically have nothing and no one to live for with my present limitations, but I am very aware that this my priority must come after God's priorities in my life. I am not even sure God cares about me very much, unless I devote myself to Him.

I think modern worship music is very ungodly. You know that song, "Holy Spirit you are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory God is what our hearts long for, to be overwhelmed by your presence, Lord....Let us be filled with the glory of your goodness, etc." How is that song glorifying God at all? How is it worship? The Bible says "Therefore I urge you brethren, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, for this is your spiritual act of worship." That song is not proclaiming God's work or his attributes, or asking God to change our hearts, or committing our lives to Him, or thanking Jesus for anything. It is demanding the sugar and ignoring the vegetables.

So to answer your question in a word, no, I am not seeking signs and miracles. I am seeking direct words from the Lord, first to know what He wants, and then to gauge from His presence how I can respond, and as necessary, to ask Him for the assistance I will need to do what He asks me to do.

Most of us have the blessing to pursue good things in life, for our enjoyment, but at this point I have a really limited capacity to do this. So I want Jesus to hopefully accept my devotion to Him instead.

Brian, i can see from your answers that you are very emotionally and spiritually mature and you seem to be very familiar with the question of suffering. Suffering enables you to have more empathy and compassion for others. God bless you.
I just wanted to say in regards to miracles; When you have such a one-on-one relationship with God like you have now, and you talk to Him and He talks to you, wouldn't you consider that a miracle?
I think you are already blessed so maybe you're seeking fellowship due to your personal situation/condition?
God bless you again and glad to have you here.

thank you much for you Christian maturity. some of my experiences; Jesus turned my head at the perfect moment to see carp jump out of the water, images of holiness in clouds, miracles performed on me like when i smashed my thumb with a hammer once, i thought i broke my thumb but next morning , no pain, no discoloration, just totally healed, a finger healed by miracle also, jesus mowed 2 lawns for me miraculously while i was behind in work 1 week because of so much rain, instant answers to prayer concerning work & hobbies, experiencing knowledge given in the morn, Jesus joy & mercies in the morn, & Jesus turns me, physically in the right direction to be productive or to tell me not to do something, He always wakes me up at the top, quarter or bottom of the hour like 6:00 this a.m., (haven't used an alarm clock since i was 16), Jesus joking with me is a daily occurrence & then there is the Holy Spirit's experiences & communication which is a huge story in itself. hope this is on the right track Brian Meir.

our relationship with Him is a personal relatiuonship.

I cannot speak on the behalf of others, but this is exactly how I live every single day of my life.I am ever aware that multitudes of people around me are headed for eternal damnation, and that greatly affects the way that I live, and the way that I interact with others.

As I mentioned to you before, I am extremely busy (trying to help others), and I am also going through the biggest crisis of my life at the moment. I did read your response to the pm that I sent you the other day, and I will eventually find the time to answer it more directly. For now, I will just say that you made some wild assumptions about me in your response which could not possibly be further from the truth. I am not the least bit offended by what you said, but you would probably be better suited by asking people questions as opposed to making assumptions about them. Again, I am not the least bit offended. Instead, I am merely hoping to offer you some constructive criticism which may prove to be to your benefit.

Have a blessed day (sincerely).

We are indeed "special" to the Father in that His love of each of us is in His own very special way, and deeper than we are likely to experience outside Him.
He will grow us as much as we will be grown.
blessings

1. That verse about hope and a future was a specific verse directed to a specific group of people.

2. Dying of cancer being the worst possible outcome depends a lot on the values of the person evaluating the outcome. Judas was remarkably successful by some metrics, but he killed himself. Peter was a failure by some measurements because he got executed by the local government, but he went to his cross rejoicing. Did God bless Judas? Did God abandon Peter in his hour of need?