Heard a comedian say that our wives want to hear us say we love them all the time.
Seems that can't remember us saying that when we were wed.
I only told my wife once that I love shrimp. She never forgot.
What's up with that?
Lily Tomlin said, "When we talk to God, we are praying. When God talks to us, we are schizophrenic." - LOL
Very interesting comments = both of which tells us something about how we are verses how the Lord is.
Relationships take some time to develop. That also includes are relationship with the Lord. The first words I heard Him speak to me were, "Read Your Bible", and I didn't hear another word from Him that I know of until after I finished reading the Bible, and even then I wasn't sure, until the day I figured out that He was always there to be heard from. It did say that in the Bible, but there was a day I figured it out while driving to work one day. I started asking Him what lane of the freeway to be in, and as I asked Him over and over it became clear that He was there and answering me each time I asked. Then I started asking Him other things regularly, and He kept giving me instructions that I could pick up inside me. And the more I talked to Him the more I developed a relationship with Him.
One day I told Him that "My friends call me Karl." and since them He has being calling me by my name. And we talk back and forth more and more. Then one while driving my a church not far from my house He suddenly told me, "Karl, I love you, and those words from Him instantly brought tears to my eyes, making it hard to see the upcoming stop sign.
Then He started telling me those words more and more. He seems to choose His timing carefully, but there are days when He has told me those words so often that I wonder why. I mean there are days when He has told me "I love you" several dozen times. Yet there are days when I don't hear them. Though most days I will hear Him tell me "Karl, I love you" a time or two.
Because of Him telling me "I love you", I tell my wife "I love you" everyday. Sometimes I tell her a lot and sometimes perhaps I get busy and forget to tell her. Though most days I at least tell her that a time or two, just like the Lord tells me. I put His practices into effect in my life! And it makes my marriage and relationship with my wife really good! Which is just another reason to advice people to actually seek Him and get to know Him!
And I loved the comment about Lily Tomlin - we can see that idea posted over and over even on this Christian forum. Even on this thread. So often people believe that they can talk to God but fail to understand that He will talk to us. Indeed that concept Lily Tomlin put forward that "When we talk to God, we are praying. When God talks to us, we are schizophrenic.", is all too often the basic concept you find being preached at most Chrisian churches, but they don't understand that about themselves.
We see that when we put out "prayer books", and make traditions of talking to God but not listen for God! Even at my church, which is not the very one that I was driving by when the Lord told me He loved me for the first time, has several times ask people to write down there prayer and request to God and then they posted them, so that the church could check back some months later to see if God answered them. It turns out that God is faithful to answer them in some way, but is it not by speaking to you? Won't He just tell you things with His words?
Jer 3:33 ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'
So we say that He will answer you but not by actually speaking to you, which is not what is written in the Bible!!
And this is why I so often tell people (Christians) about Him talking to me and the first thing they think is that I am hearing from demons. Well, evil spirits are there but they themselves don't know who is talking to them or they would not have the Lily Tomlin attitude, which is also seen in the Jews when Jesus was on earth! So Jesus had to correct them.
John 8:48,49 The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
So St. SteVen, you brought up two very important points which needs to be brought up and expanded on in our churches!
And they also go very well with the OP. Our theology is far too often not conncect with saying "I love you" or hearing "I love you from our Lord". Our Theology (our study and understanding of God) presents Him as an impersonal Lord who is far off in heaven so that He listens to us but does not speak to us in words. But that is not the Word of God we are to be preaching!!
Rom 10: 6-8 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
The prayer books, our traditions, even our having people write down what they ask of God and check on it later all present Him as if He is dead or far off in heaven so that He will not answer us in words found in our heart Today!! Therefore our Theology is wrong if we don't actually seek Him and what He has to say to us "Today"!