Does Christ speak and how?

[tam]

May you have peace!

A question that continues to be posed to me is with regard to my bearing witness to a living and speaking Christ. How does He speak? What does that mean? How can we test that?

I imagine that one reason the questions are continually posed to me is because I cannot provide the proof that some are asking me to provide. I can only provide evidence in the form of:

a) Personal testimony from having heard Christ
b) The written testimony of or about others who have heard Christ
c) What Christ Himself is written to have said on the matter


If none of the above are acceptable to someone, then I am not sure what more that person and I would have to talk about on this particular matter. We could hopefully discuss respectfully from a point of love, reason, logic. For those who are interested...


Christ said that His sheep would hear His voice.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27

"I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.…" John 10:14-16



Written testimony about/from others who heard His voice, confirming the truth of what He said:

The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." Acts 8:29

**
In Damascus, there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"

"Yes Lord," he answered.

The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." (Acts 9:10,11... and it continues)

**
There is Peter's vision telling him that he should eat foods that he considered unclean, and then after his vision:

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit (Christ) said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." (Acts 10: 9-20)

**
There are of course multiple examples from Paul. The entire book of Revelation is from Christ to John. There is a warning against hardening our hearts if we hear His voice.

As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." Hebrews 3:15

Then of course there are the examples of Abraham, who heard, Noah, who heard, the prophets, who heard, Joseph, who heard, Daniel, who heard, etc, etc. Their faith is based upon the evidence of what they heard.



My own personal testimony


I did not always know that Christ spoke, and I did not always recognize that voice within me as being His. But someone else bore witness to a living speaking Christ, and it bothered me, lol. I had just ended a two year bible study with a certain denomination, and I did not want to get misled by man ever gain. But here was this person claiming that Christ spoke. If I believed this person, that they were from God, then what was wrong with me that I allowed myself to get misled yet again. On the other hand, what was wrong with me if this person did hear Christ, and I rejected them?

But soon into my dilemma (and my asking how I might know, even though I thought I was just asking myself) I heard:

Test WHAT this person is saying. Test the message. Do not pay attention to the person. Test to see if what this person is saying is true, or not. Then you will know who this person is from.


I still did not know this was Christ speaking to me. I just thought, "Oh, of course... that is what I will do."

So that is what I did. Along the way, I saw all these verses and examples and testimony that Christ does indeed speak, that God spoke also, though now speaks through Christ. In dreams, in visions, in direct words, in reminders, in opening eyes and ears to a truth that one might read, see, or hear. Once I realized that Christ is supposed to speak, I asked for ears to hear as well. Even though I did hear Him; I just did not know I heard Him. I needed to learn His voice and recognize Him.

**

I was asked how does He speak

He speaks in words. He speaks in visions (I have never had a vision that I am aware of). He speaks in dreams. He can also bring to mind something learned, read, or experienced in the past to help me see the truth in something He is teaching me. He has opened my eyes to something that is written, if I am reading the bible. He can and has read to me something that He is written to have said, so that I hear it in His voice. That was enlightening.

Sometimes when I am responding to something that someone else has asked, He will give me the words to say, or reveal something to me (as in open my heart and ears to understanding something) that I had not previously understood.


The language that He speaks is truth. He has never spoken anything to me that was not true, and that was not from love. And everything He teaches me deepens my understanding of love: His love and the love of His Father.



(As for testing the inspired expression... anything that is in conflict with what Christ teaches cannot be true. Also Christ (truth) comes from love (God), so nothing that He says will be in conflict with love. Especially since the law that is written upon our hearts in the new covenant is the law of love.)


**

I do not expect anyone to take my word for these things. I do not take the word of others for what they claim came from Christ. I explained above what I did, what I heard from Christ TO do.

If I have shared anything that helps anyone, then great. If not, then no problem. I am not the one people should be listening to if they are following or desiring to follow Christ... I can only point TO that One: Christ Jaheshua, the Holy One of Israel and Holy Spirit, the Chosen One of Jah. Christ, who is Himself, the faithful and true witness of His Father, Jah.



If one wants to know the truth of this matter themselves... then ask Christ. That is how one can confirm for themselves. Ask for ears to hear, and in the meantime DO what He has said to do, so that you prove yourself to Him. He does not have to prove Himself to us.

"If anyone loves me, they will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with (in) them."


(Please note that He says that they will obey HIS teaching. Not man's teaching. Not religion or religious leaders, not Paul, not the law, or anyone or anything else over Him. If we love HIM... we will obey HIM. If we love someone or something else more, then we will listen to and obey that one/thing. Including if we love our religion more than Him, although we might not realize it at the time. Including if we think the bible is the Word of God, especially when even that book states that Christ is the Word of God; and Christ himself said, "You diligently search the scriptures because you think that by them you have eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about ME, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.")



May anyone who wishes them be given ears to hear, to get a sense of these things, and to hear as the Spirit (Christ) and the bride SAY to you, "Come... take the free gift of the water of life."


Peace again to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

[ttruscott]

Looking back, even though we claimed to not belong to religion (like you now do), calling me 'Full Gospel' or 'Pentecostal' would probably be the closest to reality. Now you can claim how different we were because you don't have a religion (like I use to say) because you have a faith (like I did, but I called it a relationship). Seems like a futile argument for you to undertake though.

The full gospel Pentecostalism I had to reject in the 70s for not having any theology, only emotionalism, would seem to have grown up a bit if they have a more full theology now. Full back then meant they claimed all the gifts of the Spirit, not, for instance, any opinion about the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism.

You seem satisfied with your choices so good luck to you...

[KenRU]

[Replying to post 16 by tam]

Tam,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

It seems to me that what you are saying is: in order to believe that Christ speaks to me, I have to believe that he exists. But in order for me to believe he exists, I would need a reason (a very good one) to believe he exists, such as prayer working or him speaking to me. So, how do I (or anyone for that matter) escape the circular logic?

As Riku said earlier, I'd like the find the truth first.

It makes no sense to me to just believe something because someone says so to. In fact, I'd suggest that doing so is a very bad idea.

all the best

Did I misquote your question then?

I believe it is just a miscommunication on both of our parts : )

I did not realize you were asking how you could believe that Christ speaks to you.

Starting over, in order for me to hear Christ, I have to believe first, correct?

I thought you asked how you could hear Christ.

I am. See above.

That is the question that I answered.

Then the answer is that I have to believe first. Correct?

If true, then you are putting me in a circle, with no way to find a beginning because I do not believe.

**

Quite honestly, and this is not specifically for you Ken, but for anyone: all that I can do is bear witness to Christ, share as I have learned and continue to learn from Him, and so also answer what questions I am able. I can reason with some of you; engage in discussion. You asked how you could hear Christ, I answered that question.

But what any of you do with any of this is entirely up to you; and I am aware that faith is not the possession of every man.


If what some of you are looking for first is a sign of some sort, then I cannot help you with that. I did not look for a sign. I would not have known what to trust as a sign, and what to realize is a coincidence. I just followed the truth, including that which I heard in what Christ taught and spoke and did. I loved Him, I heard truth in Him and in His words, and I wanted to know Him, follow Him, obey Him. Even that love was a shadow of the love I have for Him now that I know Him and have heard His voice.



Peace again to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

Nice sentiments, tam, and I am glad that you found what you are looking for in life.

But it seems to me that perhaps what you describe is (and always will be) a personal experience, one that you cannot verify for anyone else. And, it seems (as you attest) can never be taught to anyone else - unless they believe first.

all the best,

[puddleglum]

[Replying to post 62 by KenRU]

Starting over, in order for me to hear Christ, I have to believe first, correct?

Not necessarily. Acts chapter 9 describes how Christ first spoke to Saul of Tarsus. Saul was persecuting the followers of Christ because he believed that Christ was a false teacher whose teaching was leading people astray. Yet this persecution was the result of a genuine desire to serve God and Jesus promised that anyone who really wants to obey God will know whether or not he is speaking God's words.

If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
(John 7:17 ESV)

[tam]

[Replying to post 62 by KenRU]

Peace to you Ken!

Okay, instead of responding as I tend to do, line by line, I will instead just ask you this:

Which of the three things listed from post 16 can you not do? Not 'which of those things will you not do', but which of those things can you not do?



Peace to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

[Clownboat]

Looking back, even though we claimed to not belong to religion (like you now do), calling me 'Full Gospel' or 'Pentecostal' would probably be the closest to reality. Now you can claim how different we were because you don't have a religion (like I use to say) because you have a faith (like I did, but I called it a relationship). Seems like a futile argument for you to undertake though.

The full gospel Pentecostalism I had to reject in the 70s for not having any theology, only emotionalism, would seem to have grown up a bit if they have a more full theology now. Full back then meant they claimed all the gifts of the Spirit, not, for instance, any opinion about the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism.

You seem satisfied with your choices so good luck to you...

Ttruscott, I let my search for the best answers available guide me. This could lead to a god or no god. I just don't have a dog in this fight any longer.
Also, I did not choose to lose my Christian beliefs. I fought for 2 years to keep them after all. To call what I went through a choice is to not understand. My choice would have been to keep my beliefs, and I sincerely tried.

You would be more accurate to call what happened to me 'being set free of my beliefs'.
- Muslims are not serving the wrong god, they just were brought up to worship a different one then myself.
- Gays are not choosing to be gay, and I don't have to 'hate' them or feel like they deserve everlasting punishment.
- Other Christian denominations are not mistaken, they just got brought up in a different version of the religion then what I did.
- Atheists are not people that hate god and want to sin, they just don't find any of the proposed gods to be credible.
My world outlook and mindset has been vastly improved since losing my god beliefs.
I thought I was Christ like as a Christian but losing my beliefs actually caused me to be even more Christ like. Your mileage may vary.

[KenRU]

[Replying to post 62 by KenRU]

Starting over, in order for me to hear Christ, I have to believe first, correct?

Not necessarily. Acts chapter 9 describes how Christ first spoke to Saul of Tarsus. Saul was persecuting the followers of Christ because he believed that Christ was a false teacher whose teaching was leading people astray. Yet this persecution was the result of a genuine desire to serve God and Jesus promised that anyone who really wants to obey God will know whether or not he is speaking God's words.

If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
(John 7:17 ESV)

This just perpetuates the circle by requiring me now to believe a god exists, correct? In order for one to believe they are truly doing god's work, one needs to believe in a god.

The circle continues.

[KenRU]

[Replying to post 62 by KenRU]

Peace to you Ken!

Okay, instead of responding as I tend to do, line by line, I will instead just ask you this:

Which of the three things listed from post 16 can you not do? Not 'which of those things will you not do', but which of those things can you not do?

Peace to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

Tam, hope all is well.

Your questions:

First, ask.

"No one comes to me unless the Father draws them."

If you truly want to come to Christ, then ask for that. If you truly want ears to hear, then ask that you be given them. That you may hear Christ.

Asking would demonstrate at least some faith. (Unless you are not asking sincerely, such as if you are asking with the desire to prove him false, or to be able to say 'see... I asked, nothing happened, told you so'.)"

Done. I spent 20+ years as a Catholic. I believed Christ was the son of god.

I did ask.

No answer was forthcoming.


"Second, obey and listen to Christ.

If anyone loves me, they will obey my commands. My Father will love them and we will come and make our home with them.

Follow His commands. Keep His word/teachings. The promise is that THEN they will come to you and make their home with(in) you, by means of holy spirit."

Well I can't listen if nobody is talking, but if you mean follow his words and teachings from the bible, yes, I did that as well.


"Third, learn to speak and hear His language. Because He speaks the language of Truth.

Man is familiar with and too often prefers the lies that he tells himself, or that this world and others tell him. Christ will tell you the truth."

You might have to explain this a bit more. The only way we can do this is via lessons from the bible. Which, as I stated before, I did do.

[tam]

[Replying to post 62 by KenRU]

Peace to you Ken!

Okay, instead of responding as I tend to do, line by line, I will instead just ask you this:

Which of the three things listed from post 16 can you not do? Not 'which of those things will you not do', but which of those things can you not do?

Peace to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

Tam, hope all is well.

Thank you, and I hope also with you.

Your questions:

First, ask.

"No one comes to me unless the Father draws them."

If you truly want to come to Christ, then ask for that. If you truly want ears to hear, then ask that you be given them. That you may hear Christ.

Asking would demonstrate at least some faith. (Unless you are not asking sincerely, such as if you are asking with the desire to prove him false, or to be able to say 'see... I asked, nothing happened, told you so'.)"

Done. I spent 20+ years as a Catholic. I believed Christ was the son of god.

I did ask.

No answer was forthcoming.

My question was actually relating to right now, since your original question was also about right now. But okay. The reason one must ask is because no one comes to the Son unless the Father draws them.

No one.

Now, I need to put something out there for you to consider (if you choose). You being a Catholic meant that you were looking at 'her' for truth, answers, etc - and 'her' voice interferes with His voice. Especially if she is the one you actually love(d). We listen to and obey the one we love, and so we show who it is we truly love by who it is we obey.

Christ has said:

"Come out of her, my people."

Not that the RCC is Babylon the Great (she is not), but she is one of her many, many daughters. Her purpose is not to bring people to Christ; her purpose is to bring people to herself. Same as all the other daughters.

Christ also said:

"Stop touching the unclean thing, and I will take you in."

She is unclean, by means of the lies in her that she speaks, teaches, and that you would also have believed (in at least some of them). She also has a lot of blood on her hands.

You seem to be out of her now. But you may want to consider, again if you choose, that you may not have heard His voice while you were in 'her', because that would have meant that you needed to come OUT of her; and that is not something you would have wanted to hear.

People often dismiss that voice... due to fear that this means they are losing their faith. Religion has instilled and nurtured that fear, for what should be obvious reasons. But Christ does not just call His people to come out of 'her' (and her daughters). He also calls us to come to HIM.

"Second, obey and listen to Christ.

If anyone loves me, they will obey my commands. My Father will love them and we will come and make our home with them.

Follow His commands. Keep His word/teachings. The promise is that THEN they will come to you and make their home with(in) you, by means of holy spirit."

Well I can't listen if nobody is talking, but if you mean follow his words and teachings from the bible, yes, I did that as well.

Did you follow His words (even if just those written)... or did you follow 'her' words, and what she said His words meant?

From the catholic catechism:

"The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity.

No. The faith of all Christians rests upon Christ. He is the foundation cornerstone upon whom we build our 'house' (faith). That is what HE taught. Simple. And He never taught the 'trinity'.

"Third, learn to speak and hear His language. Because He speaks the language of Truth.

Man is familiar with and too often prefers the lies that he tells himself, or that this world and others tell him. Christ will tell you the truth."

You might have to explain this a bit more. The only way we can do this is via lessons from the bible. Which, as I stated before, I did do.

[/quote]


This is not just about spiritual truth, but simply truth. Honesty, including to and about ourselves. That can be something we tend to shy away from, often without even realizing it. Sometimes from pride, sometimes from fear. Unless we know the truth, we cannot bring ourselves in line with the truth. We have a hard time hearing truth... unless the truth is what we already believe and want to be true.

Christ called the Pharisees hypocrites. Because that was true. Hearing truth, they have a choice what they will do with that. Ignore it, justify themselves, blame someone else (few people want to hear that they are doing a bad job)... or take a look in the mirror, correct themselves, ask forgiveness, and do better?


The truth is that God never instituted another religion after Christ. He put His spirit in His Son, and told us to listen to that Son. There are very, very few people able or willing to hear that. Some due to fear that their religion has instilled in them to begin with.


**


So what I think you have said is that your past experience in this particular daughter, and the silence that you received while in her, is the reason that you cannot ask now? I can understand this being a reason you will not ask now. Just not the reason you cannot ask now.


I am not judging you or your decision, or your experiences or your choices. I truly am not, and I hope that you can receive what I have shared in the spirit of truth that it is given. But this... this is the reason that 'she' exists. To cost people their faith. To trap people in her (and so never coming to Christ, Himself)... or to keep them from coming to Him after they leave 'her' (or any other daughter they might turn to before they finally decide enough is enough). To make people so exhausted that just the thought of asking is... well... painful and exhausting.

Around the time I was ending a bible study with a particular religion (due to something my Lord showed me they taught that I had missed), and I could not figure out what was true, or which religion was the true religion (there is no true religion) - and I was so frustrated. I paced the floor, I was angry that God would not just come down and tell me what to do. I was 'figuratively' shaking my fist at Him. But it was not until I let go of all that, and just surrendered, putting myself in His hands, and said... whatever You will. No matter how long it takes, please just lead me where You want me to be.

He led me to His Son.





May you and/or anyone who truly wants to know that One, be given the strength to keep asking, keep knocking, keep seeking.

And may you be given ears to hear if you wish them, so as to get a sense of these things, and to hear the Spirit and the Bride saying to you, "Come! Take the free gift of the water of life."


Peace to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

[Divine Insight]

May you and/or anyone who truly wants to know that One, be given the strength to keep asking, keep knocking, keep seeking.

IMHO this is not only absurd, but the very suggestion should be a grave insult to any intelligent person.

Why?

Well, if there exists a truly benevolent loving God a sincere person should only need to ask ONCE.

This idea that we need to continually beg a fabled demigod to come into our lives over and over again, relentlessly, never giving up even in the face of absolutely no sign of any response is utterly absurd.

To begin with what kind of a God would be so cruel and mean as to treat a sincere person in such an ignorant and hateful way? Continually ignoring their request for God to come into their life would be a mean and hateful thing to do. Moreover, if they actually gave up figuring the the God must be nothing more than an empty fable who could blame them? Certainly not the mean and cruel God.

As far as I'm concerned I should only need to ask Jesus to come into my life ONCE.

If he fails to respond to that request then he is in no position to blame me for assuming he must then not exist.

Moreover, come judgment day he could hardly accuse me of failing to ask him to come into my life when it was him who refused to respond to my request.

So sorry Tam. But any God who need to be begged continually and repeatedly for years on end is no God at all. If such an entity existed it would be a mean and hateful demon. But it would be far more intellectually rational for a person to simply conclude that there is nothing to the superstitious fables to begin with.

Especially considering that there are so many conflicting fables and even the people who claim to "Know" this God all have a totally different experience and make totally different claims about the God.

If anything is crystal clear it's certain that all these people who claim to "Know Christ" can't possible all be telling the truth. And the vast majority of them are clearly making things up or fooling themselves.

There is absolutely no rational or intelligent reason for anyone to be standing around, or sitting, or kneeling and continually asking an invisible demigod to come into the lives if they haven't gotten and answer the very first time they made the request sincerely.

As far as I'm concerned, Jesus is more than welcome to come into my life this very moment. My door has been WIDE OPEN to him. The red carpet has been rolled out and the invitation has been proclaimed repeated. Even today the invitation is still valid.

Just because I no longer believe there is anything to it doesn't negate the invitation or the request.

If there is any benevolent loving God out there He, She, or It, is more than welcome to come into my life anytime He, She, or It chooses to do so. The door is wide open and the welcome mat has been laying out for decades.

The fact that no deities or demigods have ever shown up only provides profound evidence that no such entities exist.

Moreover, I don't even care anymore. If they want to behave so ignorantly I'm not so sure I would want to have anything to do with them anyway. I would never treat anyone as mean and hateful as they have treated me for over a century.

And I'm sure as heck not going to PRETEND that some demigod came into my life when it never actually happened. That would be an extremely dishonest thing to do.

If I have to pretend that Jesus, God or any deity came into my life when no such thing ever truly happened, then I'm not even being honest with myself at that point.

Having said that, I do have "Shamanic Journeys" in my imagination where I meet imagined dieties, fairies and all manner of imagined character, not excluding Jesus. However, all of those experiences are nothing more than my own imagination, and Jesus hasn't proven to be any different from an imagined fairy.

In fact, thus far, many of the fairies I have imagined have seemed far more real to me than Jesus ever has. But even so I wouldn't claim that any of them were anything more than the product of my own imagination.

To be perfectly honest with you Tam I don't think very highly of people who claim to have actually experienced a real Jesus. They don't exhibit any special knowledge or wisdom from anyone else. And as I have already pointed out, there are far too many of them who are in extreme disagreement with each others experiences even.

Just as I feel that it's rational to conclude that a demigod who doesn't show up is nothing more than a superstitious myth, I also feel that it's rational to conclude that people who claim to have met this demigod are most likely deluding themselves.

It's simply the most rational explanation. Especially when all the dogma associated with the Jesus myths is so utterly absurd and self-contradictory. The idea that here could be anything to is is truly futile hope. Assuming a person would even hope that it's true.

If you've read many of my posts, you surely know by now that I don't even see any reason to hope that the Jesus stories are true. On the contrary, based on what the stories claim we would all be far better off if they are nothing more than made up folklore.

What's Jesus going to save us from anyway? A wrathful Father God? Does that truly make any sense at all?

We'd first need a God who is out to condemn us before we would need a demigod to save us from that condemnation. The religion is an oxymoron from the word GO.

[rikuoamero]

[Replying to post 68 by tam]

I'm going to respond to that post, since I, like KenRU, was once Roman Catholic.
My response is...to ask how dare you? How dare you imply (I know you didn't say the words, but this is the general thrust of what was said) that I and Ken weren't 'true' Christians?
It is idiotic to me to suggest that the all powerful creator god of this universe would want to come into contact with people like myself but is somehow stopped or incapable of doing so because I and Ken were in the 'wrong' denomination.

She is unclean, by means of the lies in her that she speaks, teaches, and that you would also have believed (in at least some of them). She also has a lot of blood on her hands.

I'm not going to disagree with this point, but then, is any denomination of Christianity free from this? Nope, not in my opinion (unless they're very recently formed).

Her purpose is not to bring people to Christ; her purpose is to bring people to herself. Same as all the other daughters.

And I cannot fault the RCC's teaching on this. They believe that Christ appointed Peter to be his vicar on Earth, with Peter's successors being the head of the 'one true Church'. Anyone who disagrees would thus logically speaking, be going against what Christ commanded (coughs and looks in your direction)

No. The faith of all Christians rests upon Christ. He is the foundation cornerstone upon whom we build our 'house' (faith). That is what HE taught. Simple. And He never taught the 'trinity'.

Jesus never taught the Trinity? Is this another thing that the Christ that only you seem able to hear taught you? Cause, going by the following verses from the King James Bible (I know, not a Catholic endorsed version but still...)

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Bi ... e-Trinity/

Matthew 28:19 - Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
2 Corinthians 13:14 - The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, [be] with you all. Amen.
Matthew 3:16-17 - And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
John 14:26 - But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
1 John 5:7-8 - For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

You've got a massive problem here. You seem to be suggesting now that Jesus never said certain things, yet the Bible records him as saying just that. Which am I supposed to trust? You, who say you hear Jesus Christ, yet cannot and will not offer evidence of such? Or the Bible, which you yourself have referenced in the past as justification for (at least some) of your beliefs?

I also have to remind you about the times I mentioned here on this site how I would pray to Jesus, while looking at or holding a framed portrait of him. I would often end up in tears over it

The truth is that God never instituted another religion after Christ.

Really? And I'm supposed to just go along with this? From my perspective, the RCC seems to have their 'credentials' in order, when it comes to their Bible verses pointing to the successors of Peter being the head of the church that Jesus founded.
You say 'this is the truth' but offer us NOTHING at all to check against, other than to insist that it is.

He put His spirit in His Son, and told us to listen to that Son.

Which Roman Catholics can insist to both you and I that they are doing just that, by being loyal to Christ's chosen vicars, the Popes. Are you starting to see the problem yet?

So what I think you have said is that your past experience in this particular daughter, and the silence that you received while in her, is the reason that you cannot ask now?

I don't know about Ken, but I stopped believing when I was 12. I'm almost to my thirties now. Between then and now (over 15 years) I prayed and searched and knocked and asked (and all other synonyms). What makes you think that ex-Catholics who nonetheless still search for the truth are somehow 'not asking now'? Are you blaming US for the silence that we report? If I've gotten the equivalent of Christ's 'phone number' wrong, why insinuate or imply that it is our fault? As far as I'm concerned, and as far as I'm able to determine, I've got the 'phone number' correct, but I never once got an answer when I 'dialled'. If no-one 'picks up the phone' on the other end, then it is not my problem or fault when no-body answers . Would you insinuate I am at fault or blame me if I rang your phone number and you never answered?
Are you going to suggest that my past affiliation with the RCC somehow prevents Christ from speaking? I can point to any number of prominent RCC people who say they hear Christ/Jesus/God/Holy Spirit/whatever just fine.
For your statements here about the RCC to be 'true', this would mean that every RCC person throughout history who reported hearing God or being in communion with God (or other similar words and phrases) is lying and/or mistaken. Every single one of them, and that you yourself are not.
Notice that you offer no way of seeing which is which. Oh I know, you've offered that 'test against love' 'test against Christ' thing before (and have explained it). But I reject it because either what you say cannot be done, or one is able to see that you are speaking falsehood (such as when up above you said Christ never taught the trinity, yet there are plenty of NT verses showing that the gospel writers suggest he did).

So...your credibility has been shot in the foot, by none other than you yourself. What can you do to repair it?

But it was not until I let go of all that, and just surrendered, putting myself in His hands, and said... whatever You will. No matter how long it takes, please just lead me where You want me to be.

He led me to His Son.

I did literally the exact same thing. I remember it clear as day. I'm walking to school and in my head I pray to God, offering myself to him, saying use me as you see fit. Do what you want with me.
To this day, nothing has happened. At all.
You say you offered yourself to God, to be his tool, and that God responded. I say I did the exact same thing, and I never got a response. Which do you think I might put more stock in?

May you and/or anyone who truly wants to know that One, be given the strength to keep asking, keep knocking, keep seeking.

I said in an earlier post a week or two ago, that I'm no longer going to keep praying. I've been doing it off and on my whole life, and not once have I ever gotten a response. In my view, to keep doing so is pure insanity.

And may you be given ears to hear if you wish them, so as to get a sense of these things, and to hear the Spirit and the Bride saying to you, "Come! Take the free gift of the water of life."

Yeah well...I never did get these 'ears' you speak of, no matter how much or how hard I prayed. So either God/Jesus/Holy Spirit/whatever is there and just doesn't want to talk to me and let me know that they are there...or they are not there.
If it's the former, they have no excuse. If it's the latter, at least they have the excuse of not existing.

I agree completely with every word that Divine Insight wrote in the comment just above this one. If you want, imagine that I said his words right here in this comment.