Journey into Forever

      Before we get started on what the learned people say, I just have to tell you this. I know many if not all of you have had this same experience in your lives, but I thought it was just like God to let me experience it again today when He knew I was going to be writing. I am knee deep in fireworks at our family stand in Republic. Living in such close quarters can be challenging to say the least. At home, my husband and I have given each other plenty of space since retiring, and that works pretty well. He does his thing, I do mine, then we do OURS. Up here though we're together 24-7 and besides that it is bloomin' hot! Needless to say, we are not on our best behavior. My husband is a very talented man, and can fix or make almost anything we want or need. He even maneuvered a way for us to be able to sit in the air conditioning and hear a beeper when someone walks into the tent so we can go out then,staying cool most of the time. Anyway, along with all these talents

      So who is your BFF?  Lots of times we talk about God being our closest friend, but is He? In the last blog we talked about the importance of a close relationship with God when wanting to interact with Him.  It's the only thing.  Nothing else anyone says will matter without it.  All the Christian "self-help" books in the world will gain you nothing without it.  The quality of our relationship with God is truly the bedrock for everything else.  That being said, if God does speak to His children, how is that accomplished?       Some of my favorite passages in scripture deal with God actually speaking to people in the both the Old and New Testaments.  I mean a real audible voice.  Honestly, it kind of makes me jealous.  Can you imagine?  Hearing God's voice this side of heaven?  Wow.  I don't know what I would do short of passing out. I understand why that doesn't seem to happen much now, though.  I mean, if you could hear the audible voice of God, the fait

So the question is, does God speak to us today? Can we get specific direction for our lives? Is it a waste of time to look for answers to the issues in one seemingly insignificant life? I believe the answers to those questions are a resounding yes,yes, and ABSOLUTELY NOT! In the Blackaby study mentioned earlier, the authors are clear about God's response to his children. They talk throughout the study about watching for God's invitation to join Him in His work. Their belief, and mine, is that communication with God must start with relationship first. Here's an example. Suppose you are hit with a major personal crisis. Let's say you suspect your daughter or son is experimenting with drugs. You desperately need someone to talk with. Not wanting to risk the word getting out, you decide to stop a stranger in Wal-Mart and ask that person what to do. You start explaining your problem while the startled person just looks at you. He doesn't know you.

      We all want to know what God's will is. There are all sorts of subjects we ask Him to provide input on, then we sit back and wait on a lightning bolt to provide all the answers we need for our present circumstance. But how do we really know IF God is answering, WHEN He will answer and HOW He will answer? The First Baptist Chirch here in Aurora is just finishing up on a study by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King entitled "Experiencing God". I had done this study many years ago, but really wanted to work through it again. Although I never made it to any of the sessions with them, I have been working through the book on my own. I have also had a recent struggle with understanding His will on something I was asked to do. I'd like to share a few observations from both of these experiences with you.       God has always "spoken" to His people throughout the course of history. Blackaby et.al remind us of the ways God spoke to His