Perfect love doesn’t keep reminding you of its expectations.
So God even when we’re having a wonderful back and forward conversation with you, we can still be miles from what you want us to be doing in the big areas of our lives?
Yes Mark. That’s what I’m saying.
Really God?
Yes. Underneath what you THINK is confusion, you can actually hear me speaking.
Really?? It doesn’t feel like it!
My husband and I attended the three week Leaders' School of Ministry in Toronto in 2008 and after sending for Dr. Mark Virkler’s DVD set and the books on “How to Hear God’s Voice,” in September 2009 I set up a 'Hearing God's Voice' group consisting of nine of our church members - eight ladies and one man. Week by week we met together in our homes, watched the DVDs, followed the book and began to journal. It has been wonderful to see how people have grown and developed such a lovely, intimate relationship with the Lord over that time. It has been an amazing journey.
God I guess I’m going to have to accept that you’re talking. Really clearly.
Since you turned up and started talking four years ago, I’ve been able to hear you. I’ve wanted to ignore you. I’ve doubted you. I’ve argued with the things you’ve said and promised. Sulked. But there’s not much point denying it. You’ve been talking ever since.
Actually no Mark. I’ve always been talking. You just recognised it, all of a sudden, on that day back then.
Really God?
Yes it’s true for everyone.
Mark normal Christianity is no threat to Doubt at all. In fact it’s the opposite. Normal Christianity keeps you in a cocoon of comfortable belief. A nice easy belief. You don’t have much call for Doubt because you seldom risk your comfortable faith by trying to hear a God who might not speak.
Thank You, Father, for Your mercy on my loved one. A long, fearful, prayerful day, yesterday. And now life continues, by Your grace. What would you have me hear from You this day, Lord?
That ‘god’ is an imposter, a judge, a condemner, an accuser.
God I’m waking up in the cabin down by the river. Last night’s fire is still there, the sun’s just coming up over the hill and into the valley. Birds gossiping, dog stretching. The day’s turned up and it seems like you’ve turned up with it.
And you’ve got something to say haven’t you?
I have.
You just said it before as I was waking up didn’t you?
I did. Tell me what you think I said.
Did you say something about circumstances and what they have to do with the meaning of life??
I did. I’ve got a lot to say about circumstances. Unfortunately, so have many others. Too often they make light of other’s pain to support their own positive philosophy. They say ‘what are you doing under the circumstances?’ to people who have no possible way of extricating themselves from their situation.
God speaks to Julia in her journaling: Daughter of Love and Mercy, You were in the crossfire of a very serious problem that had arisen in that church. There was contention and strife already present even before you entered. Just as you learned yesterday from your old friend as she spoke of an experience her husband had while talking to the pastor of your old church and how the pastor told your friend's husband that his church was not a democracy but a theocracy, so no one was allowed to voice their opinion or even have a say in any matter but the pastor and that only the leadership was allowed to do the stuff. This is what I call control and authoritarian leadership.
