How do I get that close personal feeling with God and Christ. I want that warm feeling in my heart that I hear so many others speak of. I want to know that God and Jesus really love me and are hearing my prayers.
Dearest Diamond... may you have peace... and may I respond? Thank you.
It is a VERY simple process, dear one. What is NOT simple... is faith. You see, by means of 'religion' and their leaders, we have been taught a false concept of faith, that is it simply believing in something or someone. That is not true. I will try, then, to break this down for you a bit, to help you understand how you can receive what you are seeking and asking for:
First, faith... is the ASSURED expectation of this things hoped for... the EVIDENT DEMONSTRATION OF REALITY... though not BEHELD. What that means is that there is EVIDENCE... but not that which you can see... with your physical eyes... or hear... with your physical ears. Thus, you cannot 'behold' it with your physical body. So, how DO you see and hear? With your SPIRITUAL eyes and ears.
You see, dear one, God... is a SPIRIT. He is NOT flesh, nor is His Son, my Lord, the Christ, flesh, for although that One CAME in the flesh, he was raised up a Spirit... and as a spirit... HE LIVES. He is ALIVE... and exerts power. So, in order to see, hear... and worship God... you MUST do so THROUGH His Son... His WORD... the Truth... and you must do so... 'in spirit'. For God Himself is LOOKING for suchlike ones.
How does one 'do so' in spirit? You must realize that your body of flesh is merely a vessel... a container... for the person, the 'man' (although you may be a woman) that you REALLY are. See, we look at people on the outside, their flesh and the skin, hair, proportions, even the clothes COVERING it... and we think that THAT... is the person. But, shave off the hair, burn the skin, remove a limb or two, or even an organ... change the proportions (weight, etc.) and the clothes: has the TRUE person changed? Or are we still 'what' we are... on the INSIDE? Okay, well, that INSIDE person... is your SPIRIT. And it is with this person that you can see, hear and talk to God.
But that person HAS to believe that God IS... and that He speaks BACK. Granted, He does not do so personally, but through His Son... His Word... the One He appointed to speak FOR Him.
So, this is what you do:
First, you must prepare your heart. How so and why? Well, your heart is the seat of your motivation. Therein lies your motive for doing, thinking, saying and believing all that you do. If your heart is HARD (i.e., if it is full of HATRED, even for ONE individual... and I am not speaking of, say, 'distaste' but literal hatred; if it is full of HYPOCRISY, in that you judge others while you yourself are 'unclean', even in the tiniest bit; if you expect MORE of others than you can do even yourself; if you think you are BETTER than others, etc., etc., etc....), then you will not hear God speak to you through Christ. At least, not often, and not clearly.
Why is this? Because in order to speak TO you... they must come INTO you, for it is from INSIDE you that they speak. In this way, dear one, the kingdom... is in your midst. It is INSIDE you, for God, through Christ, will come TO you, enter INTO you... and reside IN you. When this occurs, you are acting as a 'vessel' for GOD's spirit, holy spirit. You are then a 'stone' in the 'temple'... not one made with man's hands, but 'built' by Christ. But God's spirit can not 'reside'... in an 'unclean' vessel. Do you remember the admonishment to the Pharisees? "Cleanse the INSIDE of the cup!" Because although such ones appeared righteous on the OUTSIDE... INSIDE... they were 'full of DEAD men's bones'.
Next, you have to BELIEVE that you CAN hear them speak and when you DO, it IS them speaking. Remember what 'faith' is? The ASSURED expectation... the EVIDENT DEMONSTRATION? If you dismiss it as others things, then, as James said of the man desiring wisdom, let not THAT man suppose he will 'receive' anything at all: he is indecisive... unsteady... for he lacks faith. He cannot accept that what he is receiving IS from God, so he should not expect to receive ANYTHING. Such man does not have to remain that way, though: since faith is a fruit of God's spirit, as well as a GIFT of it, he can always ASK for faith... and 'turn around'.
Okay, so how do you talk to God and receive answers:
1. First, you MUST remember who it is that you are approaching: His position, His authority. He is THE King, and just as you would approach with some reverence a king of THIS world, some measure of decorum should be used when approaching God. However, please know that He is NOT as 'exacting' as earthling man is or as earthling man would have us believe He is. Not even. He 'knows' what is IN man, so if you lose some of your decorum because you are tired, or confused or frustrated... or even angry... He will know this. And He will allow it, IF your heart... your MOTIVE... is 'right'.
2. Okay, so you're going before the King. Can you, in this world, just walk right up and approach a king or other government official? Or do you need to request an audience? In some cases, you must even have an escort, yes? Okay, so if you would concede to such for a earthling man, then why not for the Holy One of Israel? In that case, the One through whom you request an audience, the One whom you seek as your escort, is the SON of God, my Lord, JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH.
Sooo... when you approach God, you must approach THROUGH this One.
3. So, say you've been granted entry; then what? Well, what would you do if before, say, an earthling king? Would you right away start asking what you wish for yourself? Or would you first grant such king his honor... and his tribute? I mean, you would AT LEAST thank him for granting you an audience, yes? Okay, so go with that. THEN, you get your 'stuff'.
For these past 3 issues, remember: Humble YOURSELF before God, and HE... will exalt you. Exalt yourself... and He WILL humble you. Your choice.
Moving along, I will tell you how I gain access (and please, any others who are reading this, know that I am only relating to you what is TRUE... and not attempting to glorify myself or blow my own horn. Someone asked a SINCERE question... and I have been granted to answer it, sincerely. So, okay...)
First, almost EVERY time I feel the 'urge' or need to pray, or I just desire to, I hear a voice that says, "Won't you prostrate yourself before the Holy One of Israel." Well, I can:
1. Argue
2. Reason out of it
3. Deny I heard it
4. Disobey it altogether and just pray
5. Obey... and prostrate myself.
I tend to choose number 5 because it's no big deal to me and if that's what HE wants... so be it. My 'rewards' are WAY too great for me to argue. But the TRUTH is, it is NOT the Father who makes such request, but His Son, my Lord, that asks me. The Father does not make such requests for Himself, but because of the kind of Son he is, my Lord gives the Father such respect, and has taught ME... as a son... to do likewise. He is a VERY good 'teacher'.
Next, I speak FROM MY HEART, in ALL sincerity, and say just who it is I am 'approaching'. Yes, I call Him "Father", I call Him "JAH", I adress Him as "the Most Holy One of Israel". When I am REALLY in despair, I may even call out "ABI" (erroneously translated "Abba")... and say, "ABI JAH", which means "Father JAH!" But I have been granted much peace, so it is rare that I do that.
Anyway, I then tell Him who I am; no, that is not true: I USED to always identify myself, but for some time now I have not, not since I 'heard' my Lord say, "You do not have to keep identifying yourself, child, for the Father knows you, just as I know you." So, in order not to insult Him (though He would not be, but manners prevail), I no longer identify myself other than to say, "It's me." (Note: I would suggest to any who are approaching for the first time to identify themselves until they are reassured that they no longer need to. Just out of respect.)
I then tell Him that I am seeking to approach His throne through my Lord, His Son, JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH, and that it is THROUGH that One that I wish to speak. I then hear my Lord say, "Go ahead, child, speak," or something to that effect, and so, I continue, as I have 'granted entry' and given an 'audience'.
I then ask for 'a portion' of His holy spirit to be 'upon me' AS I speak, so that I can 'transcend' the flesh... and enter before Him... IN THE SPIRIT... and thus, with my heart exposed. This is important to me, so that He knows I am trying to hide nothing, and so that I myself can see what is there, that I may not have seen before.
After that, I give Him His 'props': I ask that HIS name is sanctified and glorified, that the day will come when ALL creation will know Him and be known BY Him, that HIS kingdom is established and HIS will done... on earth... just as it is now done in the high spirit realm.
After that, I THANK Him for His blessings upon me and my household (and they are many and great)... and THEN... I proceed with my request(s). Usually, it is not FOR anything for myself (occasionally, though, it has to do with my children or my health, or forgiveness for something - oh, yeah, I do that one a LOT! - etc.), but mostly it is on behalf of others who I know want to hear Him, too, or are in need something... including peace. I don't ask for things for myself because I know that He already knows that I need... and provides them. So, what's the point? Again, I don't want to insult Him, so...
Then I ask my Lord to 'relay' the message to the Father, if he would be so kind and if NEED be (I do NOT want to 'passover' him, but go THROUGH him!), and ALWAYS, he replies that my prayer 'has been heard'. And then I conclude.
Now, THAT... approaching God... is quite different from speaking with my Lord... for HE is ALWAYS there and I don't have to engage in so much 'pomp' to speak to HIM. I simply ask, or speak... from my heart... and he answers. Anytime. Usually, right there on the spot, and MANY times, before the request is completely out. There are MANY times when someone is speaking, even asking something, and as they speak, my Lord is speaking to ME... with a reply. He speaks to them, too, but... well, perhaps they aren't quite paying attention: there are, after all, a LOT of distractions in this world, including what they call 'white' noise.
With all of that said, my Lord now directs me to ask YOU to:
Go inside yourself, to your DEEPEST point of existence. Go there, and speak to the One that can reside there. Ask him if he is there... ask him if he loves you... and LISTEN TO THE ANSWER... and... PUT FAITH IN IT. Do NOT doubt. You will not hear a voice 'outside' of you that others can hear. And you may even think that what you receive is a 'feeling'. But... it is NOT. It is a VOICE. It is on a frequency not discernable by our physical ears, but only by th spirit... and it IS there. Listen to it, dear one. And trust it.
Then speak to that voice; ask it what you will. But know this: IF your heart harbors hatred, anger, hypocrisy, etc., then what resides there is NOT God and Christ... but an Adversary. Oppose that one, and he will leave you. But if he does, and you fail to allow God and Christ IN, by FAILING to soften your heart... then you will only allow that one to return... possibly with others. And they WILL torment you. It's their vocation to 'wage war' with us, so...
I, myself, SJ, have spoken truth you, just as I have heard it, learned it... and exercise it... by means of my Lord, the Son of God and His Christ, JAHEHSUA MISCHAJAH. I know it will seem 'over the top' to some, and 'fatiguing' to others, but... you asked. And I was permitted to reply.
May the underserved kindness and mercy of my God and Father, the Holy One of Israel, whose name is JAH... of Armies... and the peace of His Christ... be upon you.
Your servant and a slave of Christ,
SJ
