God Told Me...

[angels111]

[quote name='Anna' date='Oct 3 2003, 08:15 PM']Over the past week or so, there have been sooooooo many instances people claiming that "God told" them this or that...

Scripturally, I do not see any of the Apostles claiming that God told them stuff, even though Christ spoke directly with them every day for three years.

I cannot think of a single instance of Scriptural references supporting God casually chit-chatting with His creatures. 

Is that what they are inferring here?

What do they mean by that phrase?
Sorry........
I gave several possibilities, but only they printed out all as one.  Don't know how to fix that! 

But please tell what you think the phrase means?
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I believe that God speaks to us in many ways, note Joan of Arc, Moses, St. Paul.  I had an experience and have been doubted.  I do not believe myself special, quite the contrary, I feel unworthy and this can be summed up in the phrase, "why me?".
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[angels111]

[FONT=Geneva][quote name='VeraMaria' date='Oct 16 2003, 07:11 PM']We read the bible. All the time.

And the WHOLE thing, truth upon truth, not just the books that we decided will fit into what we believe in. The COMPLETE Word of God.

No sarcasm intended.

God Bless

Vera
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Jesus was the word made flesh, the bread of life...

[infinitelord1]

Its funny that there is a thread on this...........i will tell my story for the 20th time now since this is a good thread for this.

I once had a coworker back in michigan............i approached him one day and started discussing with him about how i was thinking about moving to texas. The next day.......he approached me at the start of his shift.........He says, "matt, you should move to texas". I asked him "why?". His response, "God told me something amazing was going to happen to you there". Those were his exact words pretty much. I didnt really know much about god at the time........i wasnt sure about much not even my faith......i still really aint but i must add that it has grown a little. Anyways, i trusted what he said. I ended up moving to texas and here i am. For the longest time i was waiting for that amazing thing to happen to me......it sure hasnt come yet.......and i am thinking hardly about moving back to michigan. If that amazing thing doesnt happen to me soon (i could end up moving back to michigan within a few weeks)........I will not be surprised. For a while, i expected that thing to happen. Now, i have accepted that nothing may not happen to me. Will it effect what little faith i have in god? Maybe.......but it certainly wont make me an atheist.

About the coworker......i wanted to trust him........i looked at his personality.......he is a very nice person......very humble......and that is why i figured i should trust him. If it were some gang banger or something i wouldnt have trusted it as much. I was thinking that god would use someone good to communicate with me (I wasnt a very good person at the time). But who knows........even good people are flawed.

[angels111]

[quote name='Freaky Chik' date='Oct 5 2003, 11:06 AM']I heard God's audible voice... which then resulted in my salvation.

Don't try and justify this... I know what I heard...

That was the only time I did hear His audible voice though (which, mind you, was absolutely BEUTIFUL!!!) , but I DO speak to Him EVERYDAY. I'm in a relationship with Him and I talk with Him EVERYDAY.

I'll give you a bit of a testimony okay...

Was worshipping God and suddenly I hear God say (that small inner voice within you) "Are you ready?"
Me: "Ready for what?"
God: "You've known Me now for four years... i've prepared you... are you ready..."
Me: "To do what? I'm afraid Lord..."
God: "These dreams that I've planted on your heart, these visions I've given you... they're about to begin."
Me: "But God... I'm just a child! I'm still so young! I can't talk! I can't do this."
God: "Don't say that you're just a child, I AM WITH YOU. I am Your God. I am all powerful. I can use you. You may be still in your youth, but I'm going to use you. I'm going to place MY words in YOUR mouth."
Me: "Oh man... this is too weird...What about other people? They'll bag me out!"
God: "Don't worry about them. Just go where I tell you. Just say what I place on your heart. They may rebuke you, but I AM with you. Don't you see, I have set you apart for this... you are my child... I've annointed you for this purpose."
Me: "oh God, I need confirmation that THIS IS YOU, that I'm not making it up. Please give me confirmation."

I then proceeded to pick up my Bible... it slipped through my hands... landed on the floor and opened to a page, and these words came jumping out at me:

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I [i]set you apart[/i]; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
"Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child. 'You must go to everyone I sent you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth."
"Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I comnmand you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 1: 4-9,17,19
You do not believe me? Fine, that doesn't matter, I know that this happened. I can testify before the LORD. I have many other stories that are similar to this, that have happened in my non-catholic life.

Love you all heaps!
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[FONT=Optima]
I read your message and, wow. I have heard his voice too. On several occasions I was asked, "Are you a Christian, then why do you curse?", then, "Are you a Christian, then why don't you read the Bible?", and "Are you a Christian, then why don't you go to church?". It changed my life!

[angels111]

[quote name='notbilln' date='Oct 3 2003, 10:24 PM']I'm not really sure. I don't want to weaken anyones faith by telling them directly that God did not tell them that they had to do vaccum the rug or something along those lines. Although, it depends upon the person. I have a freind that shall go nameless that often says god is calling him to do things, when its pretty obvious that he's using that to justify what he wants to do. Not bad things but things that they he wants to do because of his ego. Usually I just let it go and say thats nice.
Its not that I don't think that God talks to people Its just that I think he only tell speople very important things, rather than trival everyday sort of stuff. But Maybe I'm wrong, thats part of the reason why I just accept it at face value. So I guess that I'm saying that I don't know, but I am mildly skeptical of it.
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[FONT=Geneva][SIZE=7][COLOR=blue]
God does speak to us if we listen, if we are open.

[angels111]

[quote name='Aloysius' date='Oct 5 2003, 11:29 PM']freaky chick, i said random theory-- that means i was just rambling about something that could be why.  not callin u skitzofrenic.  it's like the discovery channel, u COULD HAVE been skitzofrenic, or maybe not,

anyway, read my thread b4 that.  if it really was God's voice, then great He stopped u from killin urself and brought u deeper into relationship with Him, if not, then great it stopped u from killin urself and brought u deeper into relationship with Him.  i don't beleive, however, that if it was Him He meant for you to talk about it and tell everyone about it.  i think that it was supposed to be a seal on your faith, for if u were to go try to convince everyone it's not gonna convert any1, id just make unbelievers laugh and call u crazy.  Instead, i believe u are supposed to seal you're faith armor with it and go off and tell ppl the Gospel, not tell ppl that God told u audibly to tell ppl the Gospel. the miracles i have experienced i follow the example of the blessed virgin on when she witnessed the very incarnation, i keep it all in my heart.

and with the Virgin Mary eye thing, yeah God sent Mary to Guadeloupe right about the time of the reformation where we lost a whole bunch o ppl out of the Church, and because of the message Mary brought about God we gained about as many as we had lost in the reformation, and it avoided a major conflict between the spanish and the indians.  i can believe that there is a reflection in her eyes (especially cause all these scientific tools and experts have found it  )  and i can also believe the message of Mary, that God wants to have a relationship with us all.
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[FONT=Impact]

God does want a relationship with us. He, through Christ and the Holy Spirit, tells us to pray. The Virgin Mary tells us to pray to her son. Has anyone heard her? I have and would like to sepak to anyone who has...

[Maria]

I said 'Either they have listened to their conscience, (that Still, Small Voice within their heart) or they may have an active imagination', but just because the people who go around saying 'God told me...' tend to have over-active imaginations or worse. I was debating between that and 'I can't say. (As in, I can't say.)', though.
But I'll agree with those here who've said that in some way God talks to us. I've had it happen. About more serious stuff, telling me about myself or what not (which tends to be a bit like working things out with myself, but not quite), but also rather trivial stuff. I think the first time it happened was in the kitchen. I was washing dishes and He reminded me about the cake in the oven. It was just done and I had totally forgotten about it. He also helped me find a potato peeler. Made me realize the incredible, mind-boggling humility of our God. (I was maybe as old as ten at the time.) The times that I'm more convinced that it's God instead of me is when the thought that comes to my head has nothing to do with my thoughts -- often, in my 'conversations' or working things through with myself, I kind of know what's going to come after what I'm currently formulating, but sometimes what comes next is totally unexpected and very different from what I did expect, yet makes perfect sense and works. Obviously, I distrust this stuff and tend to assume it's imagination. There are things that I'd more call guided imagination, and then there are things that I can't see being me at all.
Someone once compared this kind of stuff to hugs from God. They don't add anything to revelation, but they can be important.

[infinitelord1]

[quote name='Maria' date='Sep 17 2005, 11:43 PM']I said 'Either they have listened to their conscience, (that Still, Small Voice within their heart) or they may have an active imagination', but just because the people who go around saying 'God told me...' tend to have over-active imaginations or worse. I was debating between that and 'I can't say. (As in, I can't say.)', though.
But I'll agree with those here who've said that in some way God talks to us. I've had it happen. About more serious stuff, telling me about myself or what not (which tends to be a bit like working things out with myself, but not quite), but also rather trivial stuff. I think the first time it happened was in the kitchen. I was washing dishes and He reminded me about the cake in the oven. It was just done and I had totally forgotten about it. He also helped me find a potato peeler. Made me realize the incredible, mind-boggling humility of our God. (I was maybe as old as ten at the time.) The times that I'm more convinced that it's God instead of me is when the thought that comes to my head has nothing to do with my thoughts -- often, in my 'conversations' or working things through with myself, I kind of know what's going to come after what I'm currently formulating, but sometimes what comes next is totally unexpected and very different from what I did expect, yet makes perfect sense and works. Obviously, I distrust this stuff and tend to assume it's imagination. There are things that I'd more call guided imagination, and then there are things that I can't see being me at all.
Someone once compared this kind of stuff to hugs from God. They don't add anything to revelation, but they can be important.
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i certainly didnt imagine my co worker telling me that god told him to tell me to move to texas.....lol.....but at the same time his reasoning behind this hasnt happened.........so i dont know what to think about "god told me" either.

[Anna]

Wow, I began this thread nearly two years ago, and my opinion hasn't changed.
I realize that God works through us, guides us, and on occasion actually speaks to us.
However, I still believe many people's claims hinge on overactive imaginations.
Pax Christi,
Anna <><

[jezic]

if God is talking to you, i would think he would not tell your friend to tell you to move to texas. That sounds just a bit strange.

[ofpheritup]

YIKES.....what have I wandered in to? I thought the Halloween topic was something.

Okay I have not read every post. I tried, didn't work out.

DOES GOD TALK TO ME? Yes, yes, yes, yes why wouldn't He?
He likes me.

Now how does He do it? Thru prayer, reading the bible, my meditating during the rosary, thru spending time with my friends, thru listening to people.

He speaks to me in as many ways as I open myself to hear Him.

The most "consistent" way He speaks to me is that He NUDGES me.
Ya'll know what I am talking about. The small whisper, the nudge, the suggestion. Sometimes I miss them.

I have explained to God I am not the "whisper type" I am more the 2X4 type. Baseball bats are more my style. My brain is Swedish. Info gets there it just needs a little encouragement.

[tojo]

In many ways I agree with the previous post. I don't believe that we should limit God. He loves us, we're in relationship with Him, I believe He wants to communicate with us.

God's most clearly communicates to us today through the Church: her Scriptures, teachings, traditions, etc. We can completely trust the authoritative messages of the Church to communicate to us from God.

Since we know from the Scriptures that God canot lie, we know that anything He tells us must agree with everything He has told us. Anything we think God has told us personally must agree with all public reveleation, if it doesn't either you misunderstood God, or it wasn't from Him.

Furthermore, only public revelation is binding upon us, no private revelations are, especially from other people. I believe that any privately revealed directives from God would almost always be His pointing out what you should be doing according to public revelation, if it isn't, be very cautious.

Keeping those sorts of things in mind, I do believe God "speaks" to me, not audibly, but undoubtably nonetheless. During some seasons he does frequently, others seldomly. He touches scripture or a song to my heart, the Holy Spirit will lead me to pray a certain way, or my heart will be spoken to.

Here's one story about a time God spoke to me I think you'll like:

A few days after I decided to become Catholic, I went with my sponsor to our church meet with the pre-RCIA director, to see if he would get me into the class even though it was late in the year (he did). Afterwards, we slipped into the Lifeteen prayer meeting (not Mass). We were singing worship songs when God the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart more clearly than He ever had before. I don't know how, but I knew that it was specifically the Holy Spirit and not the Father or the Son.

"Thomas," He said, "Ever since you became a Christian, I have led you to pray that you could lay at the feet of Jesus and gaze up at His face. You always thought this was simply a spiritual metaphor. It wasn't. There He is." The Holy Spirit then gestures to the tabernacle, where the Blessed Sacrament was. Don't ask me how, but yes, He gestured.

I was blown away. After a few minutes I managed to croak to my friend/sponsor, "The Holy Spirit told me Jesus is there." Since it wasn't mass, my friend asked me if I'd like to approach the altar and be closer to Jesus. I was floored, we could approach Him?
So we prostrated oursleves at the foot of the tabernacle and I was overwhelmed by the presence of Jesus in a way I never had been before. I was deeply conscious of my sin and begged His forgiveness, and then was filled with great joy, awe, and wonder that i was physically with Jesus, as if I were in Heaven. I sobbed and sobbed tears of unimaginable joy, pressing my face to the floor, so great was the power of His presence in the Blessed Sacrament, that I couldn't look up. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had.
...........................................................................................................

So notice some details of my story. It doesn't contradict any Church teaching, rather affirms them. It was truly edifying to me. As a convert-in-my-heart then, I knew that the Blessed Sacrament is the real presence of Jesus, but God wanted it to be real to me, in my heart, so that I could unhesitantly worship the Host.

I should also mention that it was th efirst time God ever spoke to me "supernaturally" about Catholicism, after I had decided to convert. He knew that I knew it isn't fitting to make such significant decisions based upon private revelations, so He led me to the Church through Scripture, books, and testimony. After I knew "objectively" that I should be Catholic, only then did He affirm that supernaturally.

Edited September 19, 2005 by tomasio127

[StatingTheObvious]

My choice would be that they are idiots that want you to think they somehow know better then you or others and are not open to discussion on the subject. Or they are just regular plain idiots without close-minded motives.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Anna' date='Sep 18 2005, 04:42 PM']Wow, I began this thread nearly two years ago, and my opinion hasn't changed. 
I realize that God works through us, guides us, and on occasion actually speaks to us.
However, I still believe many people's claims hinge on overactive imaginations.
Pax Christi,
Anna <><
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Hi Anna!

Inner locutions have changed the lives of at least two people on this phorum.

[ofpheritup]

[quote name='StatingTheObvious' date='Sep 21 2005, 10:04 AM']My choice would be that they are idiots that want you to think they somehow know better then you or others and are not open to discussion on the subject.  Or they are just regular plain idiots with close-minded motives.
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YUP I THINK SO.

I believe God talks to me, I also believe God talks to everyone else.

I am very wary of people who are constantly saying "God has told me to tell you." Why? God knows where I am. If He has something to say to me He knows where to find me.

Now that isn't to say it can't or won't or hasn't happened. But when someone says that to me I tend to look at their life and see if He may have (in other words test the spirits) or are they seeking attention or trying to manipulate.

I would just be careful of the people who seem to "do it for a living."
I get alot of it down here. The reaction has been when I don't jump and do whatever "God told them to tell me to do" they get offended.

If the message is from God why should they care if I do or I don't.