As i said earlier...be fully persuaded in your own self...and as i said much earlier...when you get to a personal relationship with God, the closer you are the louder and clearer his voice becomes, then the confusion as to who is talking to me will diminish...no one can do that for me and no one can assure or reassure me of that but the spirit of God that bears witness with mine...it is a solitary journey between you and your ever loving "not dump" creator who wishes all men to hear him and not just the through the prophets, for which loving father speaks to his children only through "interpreters"? maybe when they are babes, but surely also when they are grown?...believe that road with him is both blissful and mysterious.
Enjoy!!

kismat,

Just read the bible and let God guide you during your day to day activities. Try making a living by reading the bible.

Mt 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

I have "worked" less and lived better ever since I have trusted the Creator to take care of me by claiming His promise to us.

Of course I do not "live" by world standards but Kingdom standards.

In the world but not of the world.

The world sees me as "poor" but in the Kingdom I am Rich

RhodaRose

The references are endless...we can go on and on...and why is this so?...because he also is talking to us all the time...why must he keep quiet? believe me or not this is still his world...his baby creation irrespective of the works of evil, yet the gates of hell shall not prevail ...man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, he who has an ear to hear let him listen...because he who is talking will never stop doing so.

Are you not making decisions (cognitive process) by selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives which are based on your knowledge?

Absolutely..i made a decision...because i am fully persuaded about it...you cant sit on the fence though...the powers that keep the world in motion does not permit that...i believe everyone should at one time or the other make decisions on issues like this and similar ones...life is a process of decision making...yes kismat...i am making informed decisions.

@nice...informed decisions based on you previous knowledge. Which means i dont have to have a holy ghost/spirit for me to know that stealing is bad, or helping the poor is good, or working for too many hours and chasing the quick buck means a healthier life (@rhod).

As long as we are well knowledged, we can make informed decisions which you seem to be attributing to the holy spirit.

as you like it what i say i say...what you hear you hear

Kismat, what really is your argument here?

@nice

My point (not argument) is that God has nothing to talk to us about. Through the prophets we have received his message and it is up to us to read (seek knowledge) and worship him accordingly. What you claim to be God talking to you is nothing but conscious guiding you during your decision making process.

The heart of man is desperately wicked, who can know it?...that was God's words to Jeremiah.

Ok kismat...let your conscience continue to guide you....as for me, i will continue to listen to the leading of God for my life.

@kismat: If prophets have given us His message, does that mean God has nothing else to tell us? When people see visions, is it also a "conscious guiding"??

Goodguy...you are asking answers, of course he doesnt believe in that..visions perhaps will be vagaries of human perseption...and the thought that God has nothing to say to us today is but appaling and audacious for a man to say...like i said it is always enlightening to know how others see these things

kismat,

i don't have to have a holy ghost/spirit for me to know that ... working for too many hours and chasing the quick buck means a healthier life

You are kidding, yes?

Who does as you say and not have high blood pressure, ulcers, gall stones, hernias, strokes, heart attacks to name a few....

...doesn't sound like a healthier life to me...

You must go by the premise "Who ever dies with the most "toys" wins....!?

Sad way to think.... "Stinkin' Thinkin' "

RhodaRose

Kismat if u think our conscience guides us good for u but we know better. I don't think that should really be anyone's biz if God talks to us and how if u don't believe. So lets leave it at that.

ok guys...what does your talking God tell you that we dont already know?

@rhoh....please read my statement before you assumtions start kicking. What i meant is you previous statement

The world sees me as "poor" but in the Kingdom I am Rich

didnt come from the holy spirit. You reached that conclusion by reading holy/unholy books which guided you to come up with that belief. We or certainly most of us who are educated in religious and non-religious matters know that money isnt everything in this world. Thats what i meant.

@ Kismat, You obviously worship a god that has mouth but cannot speak...i worship a God that has mouth and do speak...it would be irrelevant to tell you at this point what he says to me because you will not recognize his voice...until you come to know and acknowledge him.

@kismat, there are countless instances of where God has spoken to people. Mere reading of my Bible alone means God is passing a message across to me. You sound as if we (humans) know it all so there's no need for God to tell us anything new again.

Do you believe in God at all?

Yes...in a god who have said all he has to say through his "interpreters"...and today just fold his arms akimbo.

kismat:

ok guys...what does your talking God tell you that we don't already know?

Why are u interested?

And we all call ourselves Christians. Here we are sitting talking about something as fundamental to a personal relationship as direct communication with the Father and we cant come up with an answer. Is it possible that we are asking the wrong people?
Is it possible that the bible is sufficent enough to answer all of our questions. And we should consult it. I am not trying to step on toes. I just came from bible study and that same question is what led me here but may I ask you this. If God inspires you like he did to say........Paul.........or John or Luke or Moses and you wrote that down........wouldnt, according to 2 Tim 3:16, that be "scripture"? Are you an author of the bible? Does not Jesus say in Revelation "do not add to this book"? I am at a loss for how God responds to us as well all. But I do feel that maybe this is not the group to consult when looking for that answer. Good luck in your quest for answers. Maybe I will have something more meaningful for the next post. I just felt I should say that.

ryder....why not try going through a few of the responses given so far maybe you might have a clue.

ryder:

And we all call ourselves Christians. Here we are sitting talking about something as fundamental to a personal relationship as direct communication with the Father and we can't come up with an answer. Is it possible that we are asking the wrong people?
Is it possible that the bible is sufficent enough to answer all of our questions. And we should consult it. I am not trying to step on toes. I just came from bible study and that same question is what led me here but may I ask you this. If God inspires you like he did to say........Paul.........or John or Luke or Moses and you wrote that down........wouldnt, according to 2 Tim 3:16, that be "scripture"? Are you an author of the bible? Does not Jesus say in Revelation "do not add to this book"? I am at a loss for how God responds to us as well all. But I do feel that maybe this is not the group to consult when looking for that answer. Good luck in your quest for answers. Maybe I will have something more meaningful for the next post. I just felt I should say that.

I don't know why some people open thjeir gobs at all. Since u just came from bible study and u feel no justice has been done to the question why not answer it.

PrettyH, be nice

n2h

If you would have actually read and understood my post then I would have to return your statement......I dont know why you opened you mouth at all. What I am saying is that I am in the same boat and was doing some wondering and web surfing at the same time and came to this site. The topic was interesting and according to the number of posts (around 450) its quite popular. It all sounded very nice....what everyone was saying. But I feel that this is not the correct place to look for this answer. No conclusion was really being drawn and there was some fighting beginning to happen.......sound familiar. This is very fundamental thing (communication with God) and maybe we need to look to the Bible...or some wise counsel (pastors, mature Christians, a in depth group study) instead of pretending to know and leading people the wrong way. Thats why I said " I offer no answer" I was just trying to encourage everyone to look elsewhere for an answer as none was being supplied. There does that help. Thank you for trying to make yourself look good at my expense.

welcome to the house___ryder, please feel free to offer your opinion, suggestions and criticism, once again welcome!!

@kismat, there are countless instances of where God has spoken to people. Mere reading of my Bible alone means God is passing a message across to me. You sound as if we (humans) know it all so there's no need for God to tell us anything new again.

Do you believe in God at all?

I like ryder's reasoning. and i've done that (thought about the question) and my answer is still the same. I hope you mean Metaphorically God is talking to you when you're reading the holy book.

God doesnt need to talk to you. He talked to Moses, Jesus, Abraham etc. If he can talk to you, then why send them? Saying God talks to us basically makes the jobs of prophets obsolete and no-brainer.

This concept of saying God talks to me etc only makes a religion more exclusive and renders the chances of people believing in it. Take for example timothy McVeigh, Ok'homa bomber. He is a devoted christian (still reading the bible everyday in prison) and he claims that God talked to him. Get my point?

Increase your knowledge and you'll know what God expects you to do. And what better way to start than hear a religion (Islam) asking you to:

1. Declare there is only one God
2. Give charity
3. Pray
4. Fast

How simple can it get?

Abraham wasn't a prophet, yet God talked to him. King David in the Bible wasn't a prophet, God talked to him. King Solomon was not a prophet, God talked to him also..and so many more. So what are u saying?

I am sure KISMAT will respond adequately to the question it just happened that I am here first so please excuse me for "cutting in line." Again I have not come to a conclusion on this matter but I believe (from what I have heard in my search for this answer) what KISMAT is trying to say is that  God has done all he is going to do in this matter. He provided a book to be lived by and a Holy Spirit to guide us and he does not need to talk...he already said what he needed to say. His (kismat) caution is in false prophets. Careful in writing what you do off as God told you to do that because thats what Tim Mcveigh did and look what happened. Sorry I hope I did not get in the way Kismat I meant only to help clarify and I hope I did.
I have my own questions that make this conversation go the other way also. I do want to say that this question is not mean to shake your faith or make you a non-believer, if that is the case then we need to divide. I am wondering about it being said to come to the Throne of grace, about Jesus being a bridge so that we can go to the Father, or the curtain on the Temple being torn when Jesus died so that we can go into the holy of holies.
Did God say all he needs to say in the written Word. Yes. IF you know and understand that and live it then I think through Prayer that God tells you specifics to your daily life and how to do specific things that are in line with what is written. I think there is living and understanding and doing the Word and then God invites you to a deeper level also....a very personal one found in Prayer. Those are my thoughts and I haven't yet found an answer. Is it one that I need to find? I don't know. I believe in God and the savior and salvation....how he talks (right now) seems to just be an interesting debate. Again I meant no offense in this...rather a "what I have learned or thought." Good luck in your quest for answers.

@Kismat, nice one. You dont make a living by reading the bible. You make a living by preaching it. Take a look at the streets of lagos and tell me which two does not have a church. I contend that God (as revealed by motheism) does not exist let alone talk to anybody

he talk to you through ya heart