Category Archives: Spirituality

November 10, 2012 · 10:56 am

Evidence of Our Truths

Our life is evidence of what we believe to be true. If we were to ask a non-Christian to give us a one word description of Christianity in North America many of us would most likely hear the word hypocrisy. For me this is very understandable and it shows that for us who have become born to the spirit have truly taken the first step on our evolutionary journey to becoming daughters and sons of God. Even though Jesus says we shall be known for our love, today most of us are seen in the midst of a struggle as we learn deal with our new citizenship. We Christians have become citizens of two worlds and our struggle with this new reality can at times appear to outsiders as hypocrisy.

As Americans citizens of the material world we hold certain truths to be evident. Also as citizens of the Kingdom of God (KoG) we are beginning to become conscious of spiritual truths. Dual citizenship is always tough because loyalty is required from all the groups we are involved with. North American Christianity as a religion and like other worldly organizations tend to define themselves by who they are not. Thus because of our dual citizenship the charge of hypocrite will always stick and rightly so because we are born out of that world.

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

2 Corinthians 3:16-17  Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

As citizens of God’s Kingdom our journey or pursuit is truly about becoming like Jesus. If Jesus demonstrated one thing it is that it is possible to live free from this world’s distractions, claims and desires and live a life fulfilling the will of His Father. As Americans however we hold these truths self-evident that God created all men to be equal and that we all are endowed with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The question is which system can deliver on its claim?

The American experiment is still wrestling with that question and many Christians in America find themselves caught between two worlds. The advancement of civil liberties to all of its citizens is a beautiful work in progress. We have seen freedom of religion, full citizenship for the African slaves, voting rights for women, equality in the workplace and now our pursuit for equality of people having a differing sexual orientation. This is truly an evolving experiment of bringing to light liberating truths.

The Kingdom of God however starts with the premise that all of creation is good encouraging all of it citizens to relate in a framework of equality and love. We are baptized by one Spirit whether we are Jews or Greek, slave or free or male or female. Our status as children of God and our rights as citizens of the Kingdom has been guaranteed by the work of our first sibling Jesus.  We all have been made joint heirs because of the effort by our Father in heaven.

In some ways hypocrisy is good because it means that the individual is still wrestling with the decision and the reality of dual citizenship. However scripture indicates that a double minded person is unstable and a luke-warm person will be spewed out in the end. We have been given an all or nothing deal between the spiritual Kingdom of God and the earthly kingdom of America. Our choice is simple are we going to be known for love or for our hypocrisy.

As Americans we can focus on our pursuit towards personal happiness and as Christians we can focus on getting in right relationship with our brothers and sisters. Hypocrisy may be our current status but in the end we will be judged by which set of truths our life has evidenced. We cannot afford to live a life solely on the traditions and revelation of those that went before us. Each generation and each individual must make their own choice by pursuing to understand more fully the truths that have been previously revealed.

Hypocrisy and  Love calls to each of us. The pleasures, authority and the will of each kingdom beckons for our heart. I hope my words encourage each of us to examine and take stock of the evidence we have amassed thus far in our lives. Not only will God our Father and Judge review that evidence but the generations that follow us are and will continue to review those truths that we hold to be self-evident. Their acceptance or rejection of that evidence has a lot to do with us who present such spiritual evidence.

James 1:22-25 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 

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October 15, 2012 · 2:50 pm

Holy Spirit Removes the Burden of Proving God’s Existence

Burden of proof is a concept not only found in the legal world but also in our philosophical and scientific worlds. Each has slightly different requirements for proof and their effects are profoundly different.  The scientific burden concerns itself with the method for gathering the evidence, the philosophical burden is concerned about the meaning of the evidence gathered and the legal burden of proof is the obligation to shift the accepted conclusion away from an oppositional opinion to one’s own position.

 I believe one of the main goals of a believer in God is the task of making disciples of Jesus. This to me means to present evidence that will convince any person we meet to also become a disciple of Jesus. But presenting evidence should not be a burden to the believer. This is because the evidence must originate from the spiritual world thus rendering all the human works inadmissible.

 John 3:12-13 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 

The Kingdom of God has come to earth from heaven. Jesus himself came from heaven and if you have experienced the rebirth by being born of the spirit then you are now a resident who is seated in heavenly places. Reliance on material evidence as proof of spiritual truth will never be effective. Moses held up a cross with a snake on it, and Jesus produced bread and fish but to people using only their material senses they could not understand the spiritual proof.

 Aiding in the comprehension of spiritual truth is one of the reasons the Presence of God’s Spirit resides in our earthly human body. By doing this Holy spirit removes the burden from us to communicate spiritual understanding. There is nothing we can physically do to prove the existence of God because it never be accepted by those that are blind to the spirit realm. However when we lay down our human will and allow the will of Holy Spirit to live through us the spiritually blind can have their eyes are opened.

 No  person using material wisdom can love his enemy. No person in material body can walk on water, heal the sick, love, touch and associate with those who have been designated as social outcast. Even in American culture there are social reasons like clothing, job status, housing status, sexual orientations that put people on the fringe of society. It was not long ago when skin color and slavery kept people from full participation in society and if you are female there was a time when you were not allowed to vote having a full say in society.

 Even today some corporate and religious organizations still have a glass ceilings for women limiting their organizational influence and authority. Divorce was and is an event that separated people from their prior social standing thus allowing issues like physical abuse, incest and other social dysfunctions to enter the next generation instead of being dealt with. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom from all these things. Jesus was sent and now we are sent to carry God’s Holy Spirit into a world blind to His existence.

As we become more enlighten by spiritual truth our natural behavior will change. The cause of this change in our hearts is not from fear of failing to keep laws, but it comes as a result of the love and security we find in our relationship with our Father in heaven. We become enveloped with an understanding and a philosophy that puts others before self.  We begin to see evidence that we are all sisters and brothers equal in social status, but unique in so many wonderful ways that allows us to appreciate the diversity and beauty of every person we meet.

 More important is our understanding and belief that as we allow God’s Holy Spirit to live through us we become a personal body for Christ. Our body, design by God can do some really miraculous things that can only be described as supernatural. Jesus was born without a human father and He injected a spiritual DNA into humankind. When we eat His flesh and drink His blood our conscience beholds the true reality of our being.

 I encourage us to remain aware of our citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Not only are we yielding to the function as transport mechanism for Holy Spirit but we are yielding our members to touch, listen and see the same Spirit, wish is also resident inside those that are blind to the truth. As we respond to the Christ in others, even before they see it, we provide spiritual evidence.

 It is impossible to see Jesus with material eyes in a homeless person, a presidential candidate, a supervisor, or co-worker much less our spouse and children. But as we yield to His will our spiritual senses begin to see all of mankind as daughters and sons of God. When we yield to Holy Spirit’s will we are released from the burden of having to provide proof, and we can rest in the work of Holy Spirit who lives in and through us.

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy[a] Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

 

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October 6, 2012 · 12:42 pm

Relevance of Our Evidence

One of the tests for the admissibility of evidence in a court of law is that it must be relevant to a point of fact in the case. For evidence to be relevant, it must tend to prove or disprove some fact that is at issue in the proceeding. As a believer in God what is at center of everything is the relationship we have with God. Our very identity is at the heart of all our spiritual evidence. Therefore any spiritual evidence will tend to prove our relationship with God and confirm this possibility for all humans.

Mark 3:24  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

Mark 3:28-29 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”

There are many facts concerning the authority and operations of God’s Kingdom. In order to be a member or even see this Kingdom in operation one must be born of the Spirit. This second birth or awakening opens us up to possibilities and understanding that is not seen by those who have only experienced the natural birth, which is common to all humans.

When we are slapped on the bottom and we are naturally awakened at birth and we breathed and experienced separation from our mothers. Our conscious was activated and the little “I am” began to exist. Prior to that birth we were one with our mother; a growth of her physical body. We evolved for nine months prior to that separation and then we continued to develop as a physical and separate entity. Everything we do after that natural birth is therefore evidence of our physical existence.

Now that we have experienced the quickening of the spiritual birth our lives likewise begin to show forth evidence of this understanding. Instead of a life of separation, Jesus (the second Adam) established a process within us that makes us one with God. Our development is no longer in the direction of separation but now it is in the direction of unity in God as with the rest of all of His creation. We now have become an agent of reconciliation towards God in the earth realm.

To deny that operation and its evidence is blasphemy. In the very way that our finger prints, social security number and credit card activity provides evidence of our physical existence our awaken conscience provides evidence of our spiritual relationship with God. However that is just the state of infancy. As we develop spiritually we come to understand that we can host or carry the very Presence of God within ourselves even to the point of perfect unity, as demonstrated by Jesus the master example.

The point at which our evidence becomes the work of God’s Holy Spirit is the point at which denial of our spiritual evidence becomes blasphemous. When we consciously understand that the little “I am” no longer lives in this house, but the big “I am” now resides here is the moment our lives shift from material living to spiritual living. When laying down our lives daily, dying to self, taking up the cross, becoming a living sacrifice and not my will but your will be done, becomes more than Christian clichés is when we become active citizens of God’s spiritual Kingdom.

The simplicity of breathing and smiling is very relevant evidence because it is God that is living through our lives. Healing the sick, cleansing the untouchables and making alive those that are dead are big and sensational presentations to the jury of our peers. Never the less is the ordinary light we so shine before men that remains as the preserving and reconciling agency in the material world.

Everything is relevant to a conscious that is awake to the realities of God’s Kingdom operating within. We have been made daughters and sons of the living God with the sovereignty to allow His will be done through our lives. As we develop and learn to host His Holy Presence we make relevant spiritual evidence of a unique relationship that is available to every person on earth.

Matthew 5:12-16 You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

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