Whatever your concept of God is, you will not find me disagreeing with you. That’s your world. From the standpoint of denominations alone, you will find so many facets of what is thought about who God is. If you don’t believe in God, I have to wait for the moment you realize you can’t live in the void the mind has. All the evidence of science indicates there is a creator. I’ve studied all these different approaches to philosophical thoughts on life. Everything around us in this life is too precise to not have some design for it by an unseen hand. As I have aged, I’ve come to realize that if I express my thoughts, I find someone who will try to sway me with their opinion. I am a man of my own experience. I believe in God, my Father, my Creator, and yes, I might add my own approach to God as my Dad. If you don’t understand how I can refer to Him as such take note of this.

“Abba, Father” is an intimate, Aramaic-Greek term Jesus used to address God, combining “Abba” (Aramaic for “father” or an affectionate “dad”) with the Greek formal title “Father.” It appears in the New Testament in passages expressing close, personal trust in God (e.g., Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). The phrase emphasizes both intimacy and reverence — a childlike closeness to God together with recognition of His authority.

This term is how close I feel to God. My experiences with Him developed this closeness. It makes Him huggable to me. Someone I can run to, wrap my arms around, and trust totally. He’s real to me. He’s not some philosophical thought. Not some invisible entity. He is as real as someone sitting in the room with me. Each morning in prayer, I have my time of petition, but at some point, I stop and yield the room to Him to speak to me. He has spoken to me so many times in my life, I can tell you, He can converse with me anytime. I concede my spirit to hear Him anytime, anywhere. He will speak to me. He can speak to you.

Libby, my wife, to those who may not know her, asked me way back when if God really does speak to me. I said of course He does. I told her all she had to do was take time to be quiet and listen. A few days later she came back. She told me did what I said and He spoke to her. I asked her what He said and she said it was a quest for her. He said, “Find the key.” This became a conundrum to her for the better part of a year if not more. She kept asking God about that key. Then one day at a funeral, the minister was extolling the life of the deceased uncle when he said “Jesus is the key”. I turned to look at her as she turned to look at me. The light in her head came on. That was her answer. She was amazed that she now knew and didn’t need to search anymore.

If you’ve read this far, just know God does speak. I don’t care about your beliefs. I don’t care about your denomination; I don’t care anything about what your opinion of what I’ve said. God has spoken so many times to me I can’t count. You’ll never convince me otherwise. I could tell story after story.

If you’re wondering, He can and will speak to you. If you want clarity in your life all that is required is to sit quietly and open your spirit and surrender yourself to hear. Then listen. It won’t be a loud sound perhaps. It may be nothing more than a whisper. I’ve known someone that God spoke to audibly. This person could not be contained when I saw them. It was late at night. They had every light in the house turned on and could not stop talking about it. That has not been my case. If only. . . But it’s not necessary.

Believe how you wish. I can’t change you. But God can.