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Below you will find posts about Talking With God and to your right The Master & The Camel Story but Pelase don't miss my: Interviews With My Book Characters. It is humorous and you get a sneak preview into my novel characters personalities.

Enjoy my site and make comments below each post. It helps me tailor my books to my audience. Clock Jumpers-From Here To Eternity is a free read and you may give me comments as well. Go to this page to download a copy: https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1087772

If you send me an email that is in the front of any of my books I will send you my private blog site. It is for my novel readers. It gives more insight into my books and my life. I share more intimately there. See you soon.. 

thank you and have fun...KJ

"Listening to God"

© KJ Nivin All rights reserved

I have been Listening to God more these days. I sit quietly in the morning and in the evening for about ten minutes, calm my muscles and body...then allow my thoughts to flow. I loosen my mind as well and then write down anything I hear...good, bad, and in between. When the thoughts slow down I stop and look at what I wrote down.

I discern what is directions from God by asking if each one is completely Honest, completely Unselfish, completely Loving, and completely Pure (HULP). It usually turns out in miraculous ways. A name will come up to contact or guidance on a particular situation will be given or a direction in my life I need to look into. This is much better than relying on my own thinking. That guidance has evolved to receiving guidance as I go through my day (Conscious Contact). I still meditate in other ways I have learned as well. These different forms of meditation aren't mutually exclusive but very complementary.

The morning ritual helps me to start my day as the 11th Step advises. The evening helps me to write down guidance about my day (10th Step) and see if there is anything I need to look at but both morning and evening Quiet Time can be guidance for anything in my life - whatever comes up. Isn't recovery wonderful. I don't have to rely on me for all of the answers. I sometimes have to run the guidance by others to get more prospective though...when in doubt (fellowship). :>))

I sort of shy away from some of the Oxford ideas and can see why the 12 Step programs distanced themselves from these groups but I won't throw the baby out with the bathwater either. There was some good ideas and practices that came out of the Oxford Group. Quiet time was one but like Bill W. (AA co-founder) indicated that we need to use good judgment about what we hear or think we hear.

I recommend a book called God Calling and also "How to Listen to God" by Wally P.

Getting Started

© KJ Nivin All rights reserved 

I first got started Listening to God through a friend Lucy...I call it the Lucy Factor. I have had conscious contact with God for a while now but sometimes my emotions and character defects get in the way of receiving the proper answer...God's answer instead of mine. When I say listening I am referring to sitting quietly in the mornings and writing it down. That concept was foreign to me. I wish I could sit quietly in the morning and learn how to spell but that may be asking for too much.

I was instructed to read the book by Wally P called "How to Listen to God". It was great and most instructive. That put me into a research mode and I researched the AA history and some of the Oxford Group past. What I found is that in AA during the 1930's and 40's most members used this technique. Bill W. (Co-founder of AA) practiced this while putting together the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book of AA. I found that in the book "Doctor Bob and the Good Old Timers" Bob S. (Co-founder of AA) stated that AA had lost something when many Ohio members stopped practicing sitting quietly in the morning during what is called Quiet Time. By the 1960's it was all but a lost art. 

I called Wally P. and asked him about his book. He said that he has been giving seminars called Back to the Basics where people are taken through the steps and then taught the art of Listening to God. I was overjoyed. Lucy gave me contact with a man who practices this listening technique...Tom P. I called Tom and he helped me out tremendously. I am going to attempt to write down what I hear...except some of the obviously TMI stuff here on my blog. (I did this but later decided that it was personal between God and me). I ask anyone who wishes to write what they hear and share it with someone you trust that practices Listening.

What I got at first

© KJ Nivin All rights reserved 

What I got at first was something pretty wild. One day when I was practicing listening I got the idea to get my "God Calling" book out. I'm an Author and often I look at the copyright dates and so on. I saw it was from the 1930's and then I read the forward. I hadn't realized that this book was influenced by a book in the 1930's called "For Sinners Only" that came directly from the Oxford Group. Our little "24 Hours a Day" book that AA's used to use to read in our meetings until the AA "Reflections" meditation book came out, was written using the God Calling meditations.. OK, I got off track some...I started reading the God Calling daily meditation book. I read maybe ten pages a day instead of just reading a page a day.

The meditation was written by two women that were being affected by the Great Depression even though they were living in England. Jesus was telling them to not hoard money but to pass on to others as they received it only using what they needed. That was a tall order back in the 1930's I am sure. There was fear and destitution throughout their world. To carry this further I have been reading a small book called The Enlightened Millionaire who used this same technique in the 25 page book. It teaches people how to gain wealth in a Godly way by giving some of their "increase" to the needy. Where am I going with all of this....I'm not sure yet...I'm just letting my fingers think for me at the moment.

I am now beginning to practice the principles that I am learning about Listening to God and Giving Back some of my increase. It feels really good. I am not bragging here but merely letting my readers in on my ideas and what I am practicing presently and of course how I got there. Thank you for listening....KJ