In an article posted by Jane Harriman of the Catholic News Service last July 20, 2004 entitled "Homilies: What makes for a good one?" there was a reference to a survey done in the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware which showed that the number one way adults get information about their faith is from homilies. Edmund F. Gordon who wrote about this survey added, "Homilies are far and away the single most important source for like 97 percent of our adults."
If this is so homilies are very crucial for the spiritual development of Christians. If they are fed with good spiritual food by the homilies and sermons they hear they will grow spiritually. If they are fed with rubbish their spiritual life will also be rubbish. Since most depend only on the homily for their spiritual growth, it is crucial that life-giving and growth-developing homilies be prepared and given to the church attenders so that they may grow spiritually.
Homilies can be a means for spiritual development if they contain both these two qualities.
Transformative, Not Just Prescriptive
The first quality of a homily that can further spiritual development is that it is transformative, not prescriptive. This means that it is a homily which does not just tell the listeners what to do, but right there and then as they listen the Holy Spirit does something in their lives to change them for the better.
Most of the time the impression given us by homilies and sermons is that the homilist or preacher is trying to enlighten us about something and as a result of this new knowledge we will do something about our life when we leave the church or after the sermon or church service. For example, a sermon about single parenting teaches us about the difficulties of this kind of parenting so that we bear it patiently or help others to bear it patiently.
I like the story of how Giovanni di Pietro, nicknamed Francesco, Bernardone listening to a preaching on Matthew 10:9 was transformed to live a life of poverty proclaiming the kingdom of God. Right there and then as he listened to this sermon he was changed, transformed, determined to become a beggar for Christ and eventually became St. Francis of Assisi.
Another example is that of John Wesley who while listening to a commentary on the Letter to the Romans on May 24, 1738 felt that his heart was strangely warmed and moved on with Christian revivals founding an evangelical movement known as Methodism. There and then John Wesley was transformed from being a good Anglican priest to a saintly preacher of God's Word.
Biblically Oriented, not Just Biblically Based
A homily that can help in spiritual development is one that points the listener to the Word of God. There have been many books and articles which teach us that our sermons or homilies should be based on the Bible. This is essential. But they do not emphasize another important aspect of a homily or sermon. It should move the listeners to pick up their Bible and eat for themselves the Word of God.
The story in Acts 17:10-14 contains a very good example of the profitable effect of a homily. The listeners who were inhabitants of Beroea went to the Scriptures to study more about what Paul preached to them.
Most of the time after listening to a homily the listeners feel satisfied or not satisfied with it. If they feel satisfied they think they know the topic already. If they do not feel satisfied they may express ways how the homily should have been given.
If the homily does not lead the listeners to eat from the Word of God themselves it is like telling people about a tasteful, nourishing food but they are not led where or how to eat this food. An effective homily is one which lets the listeners taste the spiritual food and moves them to eat it by themselves.
Eating is necessary for development. Eating God's word is necessary for spiritual development. Without meditating on the Word of God and relishing its sweetness there is no spiritual development.
These two qualities of a homily, transformative and Biblically-oriented, are the ones needed in order for it to contribute to spiritual development. Otherwise it may be only a speech full of sound and fury signifying nothing, as Shakespeare expressed it.
The Need to Know the Three Stages of Spiritual Development
Spiritual life follows a path of
development. Most church leaders and theologians do not give emphasis to this
truth. While they may know this from their study of spiritual theology or
spirituality, they do not make use of this knowledge in their pastoral care.
Thus they simply classify Christians as church goers or non-church goers, as
practical Catholics or nominal, as genuine Christians or mere cultural
Christians, as laymen and laywomen, religious or priests.
They do not seem to realize that these Christians
have a spiritual life and it would be most helpful for these Christians to be
led safely and fruitfully along the path or stages of the spiritual life. There
are of course some Christians who have a spiritual director to guide them, but
both they and their directors do not seem to appreciate the usefulness of
knowing in what stage of the spiritual life they are. If they did, they would
assiduously teach these stages or path to other Christians, since this would
immensely benefit the life of these Christians.
All things that are alive develop. And
there are stages in the development of life. We know the stages of the
development of a human person: birth, adolescence, adulthood, maturity, old
age. And we have developed sciences to take care of each of these stages. We
even know the stages of the development of a one-celled bacteria. But we do not
know the stages of the development of the spirit in us which is the most
important element in our life.
What is most surprising is that more than
70 years ago a Dominican theologian by the name of Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange,
O.P., wrote a book THE THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
Prelude of Eternal Life. This by agreement
of writers is his best-known book, a two-volume study of the mystical life, the
life that all Christians are supposed to live. It is considered to be a summa
in this field of study. It is also mentioned that many people, whether laymen,
religious or priests, have found this book very valuable.
The question that we ask is, Why is the
teaching of this book by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrance not spread by our church leaders
if this is very valuable for the Christian life? A cynic would answer, Perhaps
it is because these church leaders themselves do not live a spiritual life and
so they do not know these stages and how knowing these stages would help the
Christians entrusted to their care.
If what Karl Rahner said is true that the
devout Christian of the future will either be a ‘mystic,’ one who has
experienced ‘something,’ or he will cease to be anything at all (“Christian
Living Formerly and Today,” in Theological Investigations VII, trans. David
Bourke (New York: Herder and Herder, 1971), then we need to know the stages in
the mystical or spiritual life. This would help the Christian mystic safely reach
his or her full development. Otherwise his or her growth would be stunted or he
or she would be led astray.
To Fully Develop As a Human Being Try Spiritual Development
Our physical development is automatic. As we eat, sleep, play or work, our bodies grow. Our mental development is taken care of first by our parents, brothers and sisters if we have, relatives, neighbors, then by our teachers and classmates in schools. Of course as we grow older we begin to have a more active part in our physical and mental development. How about our spiritual development? This should be the area where the church or religion we belong to has a decisive and effective influence. But sad to say this is not the case. Most of the members of our churches are not developed in their spiritual life.
Signs of Underdevelopment in the Spiritual Life
The most obvious sign of underdevelopment in the spiritual life is the level of unhappiness among most of our fellow church members. They are obviously not satisfied with their life. They want more and better things in life: more money, more time for themselves and their family, more excitement in their activities, more demands on their spouses, more attention from their parents, more appreciation for their work, etc. They always hanker for more.
As a result of this desire for more things, they fall into addictions: addiction to alcohol, to drugs, to sexual pleasure, to nicotine, to work, to religious activities, to gambling, etc. They search for things which they think can satisfy them and they never find complete satisfaction in those things. If they are truly developed in their spiritual life they would exhibit these qualities of a mature, fruitful Christian: love, harmony with others, a joyful spirit, sobriety, benevolence, humility, dependability, patience, kindly disposition, and other attitudes which bring happiness to others. But sad to say this is not the case. Rather the opposite is true. They bring more unhappiness to themselves and others.
Another sign of underdevelopment in the spiritual life is the low level of active literacy in the Bible. In 1965 the Catholic bishops gathered in Rome issued a document on divine revelation, entitled DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON DIVINE REVELATION. In that document they urged the Catholic faithful to read frequently the Bible. After 46 years have the Catholic faithful followed this exhortation? The obvious answer is No. Most of them do not even have a personal Bible. And most of those who do have do not even open it regularly. It is gathering dust in the shelf. Most Catholics do not read the Bible on a regular basis. Ask an ordinary Catholic to open her Bible at the Book of Job and you see her leafing through the book forward and backward wondering where the Book of Job is located; or you see her locating this book in the Table of Content. She could not easily estimate it as somewhere in the middle just before the Psalms.
But this does not apply only to Catholics. Even non-Catholics have a problem also. They have to devise ways and means to encourage their members to read and understand the Bible. In their Sunday schools they have various contests which require reading of the Bible, they have memory cards with Biblical verses, they have conferences on principles based on the Bible, anything that would draw their members to go and read their Bibles. If their members do the reading with a glad and grateful spirit, there would be no need for these techniques and gimmicks to make them read and understand the Bible. Ask an ordinary Protestant what are the unclean foods listed in the Bible, she would not know. She would have to locate the list in Leviticus. If she regularly reads and tries to understand the Bible she would know what these unclean foods are, the ones she should be careful not to eat for the health of her body.
If the church leaders and members are properly developing spiritually they would regularly read the Bible as they regularly eat their meals. Most church leaders and members think that as they read the Bible they would become better Christians. They never realized that the opposite of this process is true. As they genuinely develop spiritually they would have a natural hunger for God's Word and so would read and understand what is written in their Bible. As a consequence they would really grow spiritually.
A third sign that most of us are underdeveloped spiritually is the fact that we do not keep on multiplying ourselves as genuine Christians. People are baptized, yes by the hundreds and thousands, but this baptism does not make them genuine Christians. Instead we have inmates in prisons multiplying in numbers who have been baptized sometime in their life. Many of our jails are over populated.
It is clear then that most of us are not developing spiritually. Spiritual development has not been taught in our schools. True, we have had theology or Bible or religious education or values education classes, but nothing on spiritual development properly so called. There is then a need to learn more about spiritual development. Hopefully as we develop spiritually, we will have an increasing number of genuine Christians in our midst, people who make this world a happier place to live in.
Let Us Learn About Spiritual Development
Spiritual development is the topic of this blog. I discuss ideas here that can help us develop spiritually, grow in our inner life and enjoy life to the fullest. As we go along we shall discover that everything else in life can be related to our spiritual life.
While the spiritual life cannot be separated from our physical, material, and intellectual life, it is governed by principles and processes which are uniquely its own. We will discuss those principles and processes here. We will find that the principles and processes of the spiritual life have analogies with the principles and processes in the physical and material life that enable us to understand better the development of the spiritual life.
I welcome your contributions to this blog on spiritual development. Together we shall understand better the workings of our inner life and hopefully achieve that inner peace and harmony which is beyond our understanding. I also welcome your questions on this topic, spiritual development.
There is a brief primer here on spiritual development. There are also posts or articles which discuss the seven stages of spiritual development. Feel your way around and write your comments when you feel writing them. Your participation in the discussion and contribution to the ideas presented here will certainly help me and others who are reading the posts or articles in this blog.
Click Here!
I have other blogs which may be of help to you:
Signs of Underdevelopment in the Spiritual Life
The most obvious sign of underdevelopment in the spiritual life is the level of unhappiness among most of our fellow church members. They are obviously not satisfied with their life. They want more and better things in life: more money, more time for themselves and their family, more excitement in their activities, more demands on their spouses, more attention from their parents, more appreciation for their work, etc. They always hanker for more.
As a result of this desire for more things, they fall into addictions: addiction to alcohol, to drugs, to sexual pleasure, to nicotine, to work, to religious activities, to gambling, etc. They search for things which they think can satisfy them and they never find complete satisfaction in those things. If they are truly developed in their spiritual life they would exhibit these qualities of a mature, fruitful Christian: love, harmony with others, a joyful spirit, sobriety, benevolence, humility, dependability, patience, kindly disposition, and other attitudes which bring happiness to others. But sad to say this is not the case. Rather the opposite is true. They bring more unhappiness to themselves and others.
Another sign of underdevelopment in the spiritual life is the low level of active literacy in the Bible. In 1965 the Catholic bishops gathered in Rome issued a document on divine revelation, entitled DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON DIVINE REVELATION. In that document they urged the Catholic faithful to read frequently the Bible. After 46 years have the Catholic faithful followed this exhortation? The obvious answer is No. Most of them do not even have a personal Bible. And most of those who do have do not even open it regularly. It is gathering dust in the shelf. Most Catholics do not read the Bible on a regular basis. Ask an ordinary Catholic to open her Bible at the Book of Job and you see her leafing through the book forward and backward wondering where the Book of Job is located; or you see her locating this book in the Table of Content. She could not easily estimate it as somewhere in the middle just before the Psalms.
But this does not apply only to Catholics. Even non-Catholics have a problem also. They have to devise ways and means to encourage their members to read and understand the Bible. In their Sunday schools they have various contests which require reading of the Bible, they have memory cards with Biblical verses, they have conferences on principles based on the Bible, anything that would draw their members to go and read their Bibles. If their members do the reading with a glad and grateful spirit, there would be no need for these techniques and gimmicks to make them read and understand the Bible. Ask an ordinary Protestant what are the unclean foods listed in the Bible, she would not know. She would have to locate the list in Leviticus. If she regularly reads and tries to understand the Bible she would know what these unclean foods are, the ones she should be careful not to eat for the health of her body.
If the church leaders and members are properly developing spiritually they would regularly read the Bible as they regularly eat their meals. Most church leaders and members think that as they read the Bible they would become better Christians. They never realized that the opposite of this process is true. As they genuinely develop spiritually they would have a natural hunger for God's Word and so would read and understand what is written in their Bible. As a consequence they would really grow spiritually.
A third sign that most of us are underdeveloped spiritually is the fact that we do not keep on multiplying ourselves as genuine Christians. People are baptized, yes by the hundreds and thousands, but this baptism does not make them genuine Christians. Instead we have inmates in prisons multiplying in numbers who have been baptized sometime in their life. Many of our jails are over populated.
It is clear then that most of us are not developing spiritually. Spiritual development has not been taught in our schools. True, we have had theology or Bible or religious education or values education classes, but nothing on spiritual development properly so called. There is then a need to learn more about spiritual development. Hopefully as we develop spiritually, we will have an increasing number of genuine Christians in our midst, people who make this world a happier place to live in.
Let Us Learn About Spiritual Development
Spiritual development is the topic of this blog. I discuss ideas here that can help us develop spiritually, grow in our inner life and enjoy life to the fullest. As we go along we shall discover that everything else in life can be related to our spiritual life.
While the spiritual life cannot be separated from our physical, material, and intellectual life, it is governed by principles and processes which are uniquely its own. We will discuss those principles and processes here. We will find that the principles and processes of the spiritual life have analogies with the principles and processes in the physical and material life that enable us to understand better the development of the spiritual life.
I welcome your contributions to this blog on spiritual development. Together we shall understand better the workings of our inner life and hopefully achieve that inner peace and harmony which is beyond our understanding. I also welcome your questions on this topic, spiritual development.
There is a brief primer here on spiritual development. There are also posts or articles which discuss the seven stages of spiritual development. Feel your way around and write your comments when you feel writing them. Your participation in the discussion and contribution to the ideas presented here will certainly help me and others who are reading the posts or articles in this blog.
Click Here!
I have other blogs which may be of help to you:
for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual things
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare
for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends
http://bit.ly/novotrends
for learning about the new trends around you
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline
for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download 2 FREE e-books. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
Your Spiritual Development Plan
No building rises up without a plan. The higher and
bigger the building the more extensive is the plan. No spiritual life
shoots up to the heavens without a plan. There is a plan and this
plan is called spiritual development plan. You may want to ask this
question: What is my spiritual development plan? This article
discusses what this spiritual development plan is about.
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
What a
Spiritual Development Plan Is
A spiritual development plan is a blueprint whereby a
person knows how she is going to develop spiritually. In other words
it is a set of instructions whereby the person would know how she is
going to proceed in spiritual development until she reaches her goal
in this area of her life.
Thus a spiritual development plan is like the plan of a
building. In the plan of a building we see the drawing of that
building telling us where it stands, how deep is the foundation, the
height of the building and the structures around the building. Seeing
this drawing the engineers and the carpenters will be guided on how
to put up the building.
In a spiritual development plan we see the steps in the
unfolding of this development of the spiritual life. We can notice
the foundation of this life, the nature of this spiritual life and
the environment around which it grows. Looking at this vision of the
spiritual life the director or the life coach and the person building
her spiritual life will be guided on what to do to progress in her
spiritual life.
A Building
Greater Than the Temple of Jerusalem
Your spiritual development plan is more extensive than
the plan of the temple of Jerusalem. It is said that this temple
which was destroyed in 70 A.D. was one of the most beautiful
buildings in the ancient world. It was in fact the masterpiece of
Herod the Great who rebuilt it.
That was the plan of a building made of stones and
mortars. It was a place where the Jews offered their sacrifices,
prayed and taught their doctrines. Your spiritual development plan is
a plan of a building, not made of perishable stones and mortar, but
made of eternal spiritual realities. Here in this building made of
spiritual realities God, the Creator and Lord of all, will dwell and
live. He will dwell in you and will be with you to transform, direct
and guide your life to its ultimate destination.
You better make sure that you thoroughly know this plan
and follow its instructions to the minutest detail. The success of
your spiritual development depends upon the correct execution of the
plan in this development. In future articles I am going to discuss
the details of this spiritual development plan. Here I have merely
discussed what this spiritual development plan is about.
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
for
knowing more about spirituality or spiritual things
for your
health
for
learning about the new trends around you
for
earning some income from the Internet
Here
are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy
of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website
http://bit.ly/anewchrist.
To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this
website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth.
I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much
from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
Explanation of the Parables of the Mustard Seed and Yeast
Parables are what they are, parables. They are stories whose meaning is not in the story itself but alongside them. The word “parable” comes from two Greek words, “para” which means “beside, alongside” and “ballein” which means “to throw”. In other words the real meaning of the story is accompanying only the story, thrown or put along with the story.
How to Get the Meaning of a Parable
Who then decides the meaning of the story in a parable? The obvious answer is the one who gives out that story. That is why when the disciples asked Jesus the meaning of a parable, he gladly acceded because he knew what the meaning of his parable was. He did not say, It is up to you to interpret my parable. His answer rather showed that he knew the meaning and he wanted to express this meaning by the explanation of the parable he narrated.
In the same way when we want an explanation of the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven, the only one who knows the real meaning of these parables is Jesus, the one who uttered them.
We cannot ask therefore, What is the explanation of the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven? Jesus did not give any explanation. There is none.
On the other hand there have been many explanations of these parables throughout the centuries. They are not the explanations of Jesus but they are explanations of men and women who profess some kind of relationship to him, a disciple, a minister, a leader in his church.
Two Kinds of Explanation
Basically there are two kinds of explanation of these parables given by these men and women. One set of explanation says that they describe how the church had small, insignificant beginnings symbolized by the smallest seed known to the Jews, the mustard seed, and the indistinguishable leaven of the dough, but which grew to a great organization eclipsing the Roman empire and the governments of the nations.
The other set of explanation sees the parables as pointing to the corruptions that would enter the church later on, the birds on the tree from the mustard seed symbolizing the corrupt church leaders and the leaven symbolizing the corruption which like the leaven could not be easily detected in the church and could not be taken out, since leaven is a symbol of corruption in the other passages of the Bible.
An Explanation According to the Spirit of Jesus
Now a question may be posed: Who can give an explanation of these parables according to the meaning which Jesus intended? The obvious answer is his Spirit who continues to live with us. And when we ask this Spirit, the wonder of it is that he gives different explanations to different people, according to their need.
Here then is my explanation according to the light the Spirit of Jesus gave me. This is not the only valid explanation. You may have your own explanation and it may just be as right as mine.
First of all in explaining something we have to give the context or the circumstances surrounding a passage.
In the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven there are two different contexts. In the Gospels according to Matthew and Mark they are within a group of parables given while Jesus was teaching from a boat. However in Mark's Gospel the parable of the leaven is not given. In Luke's narration these two parables are inserted in a story after Jesus cured a woman in a synagogue during a Sabbath. They are given by Luke after a demonstration of the power of the Kingdom of God by curing the woman who was bound by Satan for 18 years.
The contexts tell us that for Mark and Matthew these two parables are just part of the group of parables. They are therefore to be understood within that group of parables. But for Luke these parables tell us about the operation of the Kingdom of God.
Secondly, here Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God, not about the church. Jesus did not say, The church is like a mustard seed. But he said, The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. The two, the Kingdom and the church, are different realities. So this parable does not refer to the church, its beginnings and spread, but to the Kingdom of God.
Thirdly, Jesus was talking about a seed. And in the preceding explanation he said that the seed is the word of God. So also we can safely say that the mustard seed represents also the word of God which is sown in the hearts of people. It grows there. Then you follow this with the parable of the leaven as the gospel writers arranged it that way. The leaven produces its effects on the three measures of flour.
There are commentators who point to the great quantity of these three measures of flour. How can a small leaven act on these three measures of flour? It is just too much for that small amount of leaven. Why did Jesus not just say, "a measure of flour"? Why did he specify "three"?
Our explanation is that the leaven here still refers to the word of God. This word of God mixes with our total personality, influencing its three components: body, soul, and spirit. We have here an indication that even Jesus knew that we are composed of body, soul and spirit, in contrast to the teaching of Aristotle and his followers who taught that we are composed only of body and soul.
Fourthly, Jesus was not referring to the rise of an organization or Christendom. He said that the kingdom of God is within us. Thus these parables refer to the action of the Kingdom within us. The kingdom grows within us, so that others can find shelter through our love for them.
In summary then we can say that these parables of the mustard seed and the leaven refer to the seed of the Kingdom of God which is the word of God planted in our heart and grows within us and influences our whole personality, transforming our body, soul, and spirit.
The Kingdom of God is like the mustard seed, an ever growing reality making us bigger and bigger in the sight of God and is like an unnoticed, but effective transforming agent, making us like God in our whole being: our body, soul and spirit.
How to Get the Meaning of a Parable
Who then decides the meaning of the story in a parable? The obvious answer is the one who gives out that story. That is why when the disciples asked Jesus the meaning of a parable, he gladly acceded because he knew what the meaning of his parable was. He did not say, It is up to you to interpret my parable. His answer rather showed that he knew the meaning and he wanted to express this meaning by the explanation of the parable he narrated.
In the same way when we want an explanation of the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven, the only one who knows the real meaning of these parables is Jesus, the one who uttered them.
We cannot ask therefore, What is the explanation of the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven? Jesus did not give any explanation. There is none.
On the other hand there have been many explanations of these parables throughout the centuries. They are not the explanations of Jesus but they are explanations of men and women who profess some kind of relationship to him, a disciple, a minister, a leader in his church.
Two Kinds of Explanation
Basically there are two kinds of explanation of these parables given by these men and women. One set of explanation says that they describe how the church had small, insignificant beginnings symbolized by the smallest seed known to the Jews, the mustard seed, and the indistinguishable leaven of the dough, but which grew to a great organization eclipsing the Roman empire and the governments of the nations.
The other set of explanation sees the parables as pointing to the corruptions that would enter the church later on, the birds on the tree from the mustard seed symbolizing the corrupt church leaders and the leaven symbolizing the corruption which like the leaven could not be easily detected in the church and could not be taken out, since leaven is a symbol of corruption in the other passages of the Bible.
An Explanation According to the Spirit of Jesus
Now a question may be posed: Who can give an explanation of these parables according to the meaning which Jesus intended? The obvious answer is his Spirit who continues to live with us. And when we ask this Spirit, the wonder of it is that he gives different explanations to different people, according to their need.
Here then is my explanation according to the light the Spirit of Jesus gave me. This is not the only valid explanation. You may have your own explanation and it may just be as right as mine.
First of all in explaining something we have to give the context or the circumstances surrounding a passage.
In the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven there are two different contexts. In the Gospels according to Matthew and Mark they are within a group of parables given while Jesus was teaching from a boat. However in Mark's Gospel the parable of the leaven is not given. In Luke's narration these two parables are inserted in a story after Jesus cured a woman in a synagogue during a Sabbath. They are given by Luke after a demonstration of the power of the Kingdom of God by curing the woman who was bound by Satan for 18 years.
The contexts tell us that for Mark and Matthew these two parables are just part of the group of parables. They are therefore to be understood within that group of parables. But for Luke these parables tell us about the operation of the Kingdom of God.
Secondly, here Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God, not about the church. Jesus did not say, The church is like a mustard seed. But he said, The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. The two, the Kingdom and the church, are different realities. So this parable does not refer to the church, its beginnings and spread, but to the Kingdom of God.
Thirdly, Jesus was talking about a seed. And in the preceding explanation he said that the seed is the word of God. So also we can safely say that the mustard seed represents also the word of God which is sown in the hearts of people. It grows there. Then you follow this with the parable of the leaven as the gospel writers arranged it that way. The leaven produces its effects on the three measures of flour.
There are commentators who point to the great quantity of these three measures of flour. How can a small leaven act on these three measures of flour? It is just too much for that small amount of leaven. Why did Jesus not just say, "a measure of flour"? Why did he specify "three"?
Our explanation is that the leaven here still refers to the word of God. This word of God mixes with our total personality, influencing its three components: body, soul, and spirit. We have here an indication that even Jesus knew that we are composed of body, soul and spirit, in contrast to the teaching of Aristotle and his followers who taught that we are composed only of body and soul.
Fourthly, Jesus was not referring to the rise of an organization or Christendom. He said that the kingdom of God is within us. Thus these parables refer to the action of the Kingdom within us. The kingdom grows within us, so that others can find shelter through our love for them.
In summary then we can say that these parables of the mustard seed and the leaven refer to the seed of the Kingdom of God which is the word of God planted in our heart and grows within us and influences our whole personality, transforming our body, soul, and spirit.
The Kingdom of God is like the mustard seed, an ever growing reality making us bigger and bigger in the sight of God and is like an unnoticed, but effective transforming agent, making us like God in our whole being: our body, soul and spirit.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
What Does It Mean for the Christian to "Die to Self"?
If you are a Christian you might have died already although you do not know it yet. Yes, your death may already be a reality but you are still alive, reading this article. I will prove to you that you have already died by two illustrations. If after reading these two illustrations, you agree that you have died already, then you and I will confirm that indeed you are already dead to self. You are then a Christian who has died to self.
First Illustration: From the Banyan Tree
There is a tree that does not grow out of the soil. It grows out of the branch of another tree. Its seed alights in that branch and germinates there and produces roots that go down to the soil. In a matter of time--many years--this tree which grew out of the branch of another tree kills the host tree and now becomes the only tree that is visible.
The name of such a tree is banyan, sacred to many religions and in many regions of the world. It is believed to be a dwelling place of gods and spirits.
I give this illustration because in a similar way that is what happened to humanity or the human race. Humanity is like the host tree of the banyan tree. When Jesus came and joined himself to this humanity he germinated and grew from that humanity. Like the banyan seed he did not germinate from the soil, like Adam, but from the body of Mary his mother. His body was like our body but it was this body which would be instrumental in transforming the whole of humanity into his image as son of God. This was the body that was transfigured into a glorified son of God.
Eventually like the banyan tree this Jesus so transforms humanity that the old humanity would no longer be visible but only his kind of humanity, one that is completely obedient to God. The transformation has already begun and is continuing in the lives of those who accept this reality. We do not have to list down here the names of those so transformed from all walks of life, in all kinds of denomination or churches. The list of saints is endless.
When Jesus therefore came into the womb of Mary his mother he began as it were to put to death the old humanity, just as the banyan seed begins the process of putting to death the host tree as soon as it has germinated in the branch of that tree. He finally finished putting to death this old humanity during his death when his body which is like that of ours died. In other words the old humanity has already died with the death of Jesus.
Since you and I belong to this old humanity which died already with the death of Jesus, then you and I have already died in our old humanity. And this happened centuries before you and I were born into this world.
Of course I do not expect you to understand this reality immediately. There is someone else, not me, whose work it is to make you understand this reality, the Spirit of Jesus. The banyan tree is only there to help us illustrate this reality.
Second Illustration: From the Structure of the Human Body
The second proof is similar to the first one, but this time it comes from the structure of the human body.
In the language of organizational management we usually refer to the president as the head of an organization. This is only an analogical use of the word "head". What we mean by this is that the president is the one who is in charge of the overall operation of the organization.
It is believed by Christians that Jesus founded a church or gathering of believers and that he is the real head of this church. But this church is not just an organization. It is an organism, a society that grows from within. It has dynamism of its own, unlike that of an organization which depends on some kind of board of directors or trustees. An organization can be dissolved by its board, but an organism cannot be so dissolved. It goes on living.
Since the church is an organism it is like a human body which is also an organism. Now Christians believe that the head of this organism called church is Jesus. So Jesus is an organic head, he is like the head of a body. This is why Paul the Apostle referred to the church as the body of Christ.
And here is where we have a fitting analogy or illustration. When Jesus died he died as the head of this church. If he died as head, then his body also died, for you cannot have a dead head and a living body. When the head dies the body also follows.
Thus when Jesus died, we as members of his church died already with him. This is represented fittingly by baptism which is properly administered by immersion. Going under water signifies our death and burial with Christ.
That is why in the prayer during a funeral, the Catholic minister (priest, deacon or lay person) says, "In baptism he (the deceased) died with Christ, may he share in his resurrection." He already died before his physical death, the first death was signified or represented by baptism.
We Have Already Died
What does all this lead us to? It leads us to the reality that we Christians have died to our self, whether we understand this or not.
For a Christian therefore to "Die to Self" means that he or she has already died to self through the death of Jesus. This is the reality. To appropriate this reality means that he accepts the death of Christ as his own death also. To understand this is another matter. To live it is still another matter. To give witness to others that this has indeed happened already is the result of living out this reality.
Not a Matter of Controlling our Desires
To die to self does not mean that we control our sinful desires, as we read in many books or hear from many sermons. It is acknowledging that we have died with Christ in his death, asking God the Spirit to make us understand this reality, and enabling us to witness to this reality.
To die to self is the work of God himself in us. It is not the result of our effort to kill our sinful or egoistic desires. To die to self is not to kill our ego by our own efforts. We cannot do it.
Dead to Self You Now Live a New Life
If you agree that this is the meaning of "to die to self", then you agree that you have died already. You and I confirm that indeed you are already dead to self. You are then a Christian who have died to self. Slowly but surely you are being transformed into the image of the resurrected Christ by the power of the Spirit, not by your will power. Your old self has died with Christ and a new self, the self of Jesus himself, is given to you and grows in and through you.
What Paul said to the Colossian Christians will be applied to you, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
First Illustration: From the Banyan Tree
There is a tree that does not grow out of the soil. It grows out of the branch of another tree. Its seed alights in that branch and germinates there and produces roots that go down to the soil. In a matter of time--many years--this tree which grew out of the branch of another tree kills the host tree and now becomes the only tree that is visible.
The name of such a tree is banyan, sacred to many religions and in many regions of the world. It is believed to be a dwelling place of gods and spirits.
I give this illustration because in a similar way that is what happened to humanity or the human race. Humanity is like the host tree of the banyan tree. When Jesus came and joined himself to this humanity he germinated and grew from that humanity. Like the banyan seed he did not germinate from the soil, like Adam, but from the body of Mary his mother. His body was like our body but it was this body which would be instrumental in transforming the whole of humanity into his image as son of God. This was the body that was transfigured into a glorified son of God.
Eventually like the banyan tree this Jesus so transforms humanity that the old humanity would no longer be visible but only his kind of humanity, one that is completely obedient to God. The transformation has already begun and is continuing in the lives of those who accept this reality. We do not have to list down here the names of those so transformed from all walks of life, in all kinds of denomination or churches. The list of saints is endless.
When Jesus therefore came into the womb of Mary his mother he began as it were to put to death the old humanity, just as the banyan seed begins the process of putting to death the host tree as soon as it has germinated in the branch of that tree. He finally finished putting to death this old humanity during his death when his body which is like that of ours died. In other words the old humanity has already died with the death of Jesus.
Since you and I belong to this old humanity which died already with the death of Jesus, then you and I have already died in our old humanity. And this happened centuries before you and I were born into this world.
Of course I do not expect you to understand this reality immediately. There is someone else, not me, whose work it is to make you understand this reality, the Spirit of Jesus. The banyan tree is only there to help us illustrate this reality.
Second Illustration: From the Structure of the Human Body
The second proof is similar to the first one, but this time it comes from the structure of the human body.
In the language of organizational management we usually refer to the president as the head of an organization. This is only an analogical use of the word "head". What we mean by this is that the president is the one who is in charge of the overall operation of the organization.
It is believed by Christians that Jesus founded a church or gathering of believers and that he is the real head of this church. But this church is not just an organization. It is an organism, a society that grows from within. It has dynamism of its own, unlike that of an organization which depends on some kind of board of directors or trustees. An organization can be dissolved by its board, but an organism cannot be so dissolved. It goes on living.
Since the church is an organism it is like a human body which is also an organism. Now Christians believe that the head of this organism called church is Jesus. So Jesus is an organic head, he is like the head of a body. This is why Paul the Apostle referred to the church as the body of Christ.
And here is where we have a fitting analogy or illustration. When Jesus died he died as the head of this church. If he died as head, then his body also died, for you cannot have a dead head and a living body. When the head dies the body also follows.
Thus when Jesus died, we as members of his church died already with him. This is represented fittingly by baptism which is properly administered by immersion. Going under water signifies our death and burial with Christ.
That is why in the prayer during a funeral, the Catholic minister (priest, deacon or lay person) says, "In baptism he (the deceased) died with Christ, may he share in his resurrection." He already died before his physical death, the first death was signified or represented by baptism.
We Have Already Died
What does all this lead us to? It leads us to the reality that we Christians have died to our self, whether we understand this or not.
For a Christian therefore to "Die to Self" means that he or she has already died to self through the death of Jesus. This is the reality. To appropriate this reality means that he accepts the death of Christ as his own death also. To understand this is another matter. To live it is still another matter. To give witness to others that this has indeed happened already is the result of living out this reality.
Not a Matter of Controlling our Desires
To die to self does not mean that we control our sinful desires, as we read in many books or hear from many sermons. It is acknowledging that we have died with Christ in his death, asking God the Spirit to make us understand this reality, and enabling us to witness to this reality.
To die to self is the work of God himself in us. It is not the result of our effort to kill our sinful or egoistic desires. To die to self is not to kill our ego by our own efforts. We cannot do it.
Dead to Self You Now Live a New Life
If you agree that this is the meaning of "to die to self", then you agree that you have died already. You and I confirm that indeed you are already dead to self. You are then a Christian who have died to self. Slowly but surely you are being transformed into the image of the resurrected Christ by the power of the Spirit, not by your will power. Your old self has died with Christ and a new self, the self of Jesus himself, is given to you and grows in and through you.
What Paul said to the Colossian Christians will be applied to you, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
3 Tips for Developing Your Personal Spiritual Gifts
If you are a Christian you have one or more personal spiritual gifts. No genuine Christian has an absence of personal spiritual gift. The tragedy in many Christian lives is that most of them do not develop these gifts given to them. They go through life unable to bless themselves and others with the rich benefits attached to these gifts because they have not developed them. Here then are 3 tips for developing your personal spiritual gifts.
Recognize Your Gift or Gifts
The first tip is that you recognize your gift. This is very basic. You cannot develop something that you do not know exist. You cannot develop a piece of property if you do not know its worth. Some lands have been left idle because their owners have not recognized their potential to raise most valuable crops. Some barren areas around cities have been abandoned because their usefulness as subdivisions was not recognized.
Your personal spiritual gift will remain unused, idle, abandoned unless you recognize it. How do you recognize it then?
There are three signs you can use to discern the gift that is given you. The first is that you have an ability to do something which your companions do not have. It may simply be that you have a better voice in singing. Or you can speak clearly to a group of people. Sometimes your gift from the Spirit can combine with your natural talent.
The second sign that you have this gift is that you exercise this ability with ease or great facility. You do not force yourself to do it. It flows, as it were, from your body or mind. It is very natural for you to sing gracefully. It is very natural for you to give clear explanations to people.
And the third sign that you have this gift is that you exercise this gift without any thought of monetary gain. If you exercise your gift to earn something, it becomes a mere talent. If you sing extraordinary well and you join singing contests to win some prize your gift becomes a talent. In a similar way if you explain clearly to people and you use this gift to earn a degree in teaching your gift becomes a talent.
Give Thanks to the Giver of Your Gifts
Once you recognize your gift, give thanks to its giver, the Spirit of God. And this act of gratitude is not something that you do once. It is an abiding attitude in you. Every day you are grateful for this gift and every moment of the day you are in this attitude of gratefulness.
Many of us think as though the gift given to us is something that is ours by right. Therefore we do not give thanks to its giver. Or if we do, we do it occasionally. The really grateful heart is one with an abiding sense of thankfulness to the giver of all gifts. Before and after exercising this gift it is best to explicitly give thanks to the Spirit of all gifts.
Use Them for the Benefit of Others Without Any Compensation
And the third tip I can give you to develop your personal spiritual gifts is that you use them for the benefit of others without any compensation, either monetary or honorary.
Many gifts in the church have degenerated into talents because their possessors use them to gain some monetary gain. A gifted singer becomes a concert performer and gets monetary reward. A gifted author writes a best seller and becomes rich with the royalties from the sale of his book. A gifted healer charges his patients with “donations”.
The principle to be observed here is that freely you have been given this gift, freely give it to others.
If you observe these three tips, the giver of all gifts will develop further your gift or gifts and may even give you more gifts. The principle that operates here is that he who has something and can be trusted with more will have more.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
Recognize Your Gift or Gifts
The first tip is that you recognize your gift. This is very basic. You cannot develop something that you do not know exist. You cannot develop a piece of property if you do not know its worth. Some lands have been left idle because their owners have not recognized their potential to raise most valuable crops. Some barren areas around cities have been abandoned because their usefulness as subdivisions was not recognized.
Your personal spiritual gift will remain unused, idle, abandoned unless you recognize it. How do you recognize it then?
There are three signs you can use to discern the gift that is given you. The first is that you have an ability to do something which your companions do not have. It may simply be that you have a better voice in singing. Or you can speak clearly to a group of people. Sometimes your gift from the Spirit can combine with your natural talent.
The second sign that you have this gift is that you exercise this ability with ease or great facility. You do not force yourself to do it. It flows, as it were, from your body or mind. It is very natural for you to sing gracefully. It is very natural for you to give clear explanations to people.
And the third sign that you have this gift is that you exercise this gift without any thought of monetary gain. If you exercise your gift to earn something, it becomes a mere talent. If you sing extraordinary well and you join singing contests to win some prize your gift becomes a talent. In a similar way if you explain clearly to people and you use this gift to earn a degree in teaching your gift becomes a talent.
Give Thanks to the Giver of Your Gifts
Once you recognize your gift, give thanks to its giver, the Spirit of God. And this act of gratitude is not something that you do once. It is an abiding attitude in you. Every day you are grateful for this gift and every moment of the day you are in this attitude of gratefulness.
Many of us think as though the gift given to us is something that is ours by right. Therefore we do not give thanks to its giver. Or if we do, we do it occasionally. The really grateful heart is one with an abiding sense of thankfulness to the giver of all gifts. Before and after exercising this gift it is best to explicitly give thanks to the Spirit of all gifts.
Use Them for the Benefit of Others Without Any Compensation
And the third tip I can give you to develop your personal spiritual gifts is that you use them for the benefit of others without any compensation, either monetary or honorary.
Many gifts in the church have degenerated into talents because their possessors use them to gain some monetary gain. A gifted singer becomes a concert performer and gets monetary reward. A gifted author writes a best seller and becomes rich with the royalties from the sale of his book. A gifted healer charges his patients with “donations”.
The principle to be observed here is that freely you have been given this gift, freely give it to others.
If you observe these three tips, the giver of all gifts will develop further your gift or gifts and may even give you more gifts. The principle that operates here is that he who has something and can be trusted with more will have more.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
A More Beneficial Use of the Word of God
A healer writes words from the Bible on a small piece of paper. Then he burns this piece of paper. He pulverizes the ash. He mixes the pulverized ash with water in a glass. Then he gives the glass to his patient. The patient drinks the water mixed with pulverized ash. The healer tells his patient that he would get cured from his sickness.
Here is another instance. A faith healer holds the Bible over the body of his patient lying on a bed. He prays. Then he opens the Bible. A medicinal capsule is found on the fold where he opens the Bible. He gives the capsule to his patient to drink. The patient drinks it and almost instantaneously she is cured of her sickness.
These are just two instances of using the Word of God in a rather strange way. In the first instance I was the patient. I had complained of skin eruptions. I was not cured by drinking the water mixed with ash from a paper with words written from the Bible. In the second instance my wife was the patient. She had an inflammation in her stomach and she had gone to many conventional doctors but she was not cured. Finally she was cured almost instantaneously by the faith healer who gave her a capsule from the fold of the Bible.
Present Uses of the Bible
The Bible can be used in many ways. Here are some of the ways people use the Bible.
1. We read it and learn some lessons from it. We consider it like any other book. The Bible contains stories, and these stories can entertain us and give us lessons for living. The Bible contains moral exhortations and following these exhortations make us live morally right in the eyes of human beings. A reverential way of doing this is called spiritual reading.
2. Some people use the Bible to guide them in their daily activities, even in minor ones. They have a decision to make. It may be a very minor decision, like drinking water or not. They open the Bible and read the first verse their eyes alight on. Then they interpret the verse whether it is alright for them to make the decision or not. This was called sortes biblicae (biblical lots) in the Middle Ages. Some people still use the Bible in this way today.
3. Other people use the Bible to defend their doctrines against those who criticize these doctrines. This is called apology. In this way they prove that their doctrines are the right ones and their church is the true church.
4. Still others use the words in the Bible to attack the doctrines of other churches and the practices of people. Almost every night in the Philippines beginning at 12 midnight there is a radio program called The Old Path lasting for an hour. This radio program primarily attacks the doctrines and practices of churches. This is the way the Bible is used in debates.
5. Theologians use the Bible in order to advance their knowledge of theology.
6. Speakers use the Bible to spice their talks and make their ideas more credible.
7. The Bible is used in worship and the administration of the sacraments.
A More Beneficial Way of Using the Word of God
But there is a way of using the Bible that is more beneficial to us. Here is the process.
We read it through from the start to the end. But instead of looking for the stories or for the moral lessons or theological truths we look for descriptions of God. Upon coming on a description of God we pause and talk with God. Let me give an example.
We begin reading the Bible with Genesis 1. The first verse says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” God is described here as creator of the heaven and earth. Then we pause to pray with words like ‘God, you created the heaven and the earth and that includes me. Thank you for creating me.’
Here is another example. In Isaiah 24:21 we read “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones.” God is described here as a punisher of armies. We pause and pray with words like ‘God, you punish the violent people on earth. Spare us from your punishment.’
What is the benefit we get from this way of reading the Bible? The main benefit is that we come to know more of God. And knowing him we come to love him more and being united with him we become like him. We become godly. We become divine. Then we can do what God can do because we will have his knowledge, goodness and power.
I used this way of reading the Bible, but instead of beginning in Genesis, I began with Matthew. After I finished the New Testament I went to Genesis. When I reached the Psalms a definite transformation in my life occurred. You can have this transformation too.
Here is another instance. A faith healer holds the Bible over the body of his patient lying on a bed. He prays. Then he opens the Bible. A medicinal capsule is found on the fold where he opens the Bible. He gives the capsule to his patient to drink. The patient drinks it and almost instantaneously she is cured of her sickness.
These are just two instances of using the Word of God in a rather strange way. In the first instance I was the patient. I had complained of skin eruptions. I was not cured by drinking the water mixed with ash from a paper with words written from the Bible. In the second instance my wife was the patient. She had an inflammation in her stomach and she had gone to many conventional doctors but she was not cured. Finally she was cured almost instantaneously by the faith healer who gave her a capsule from the fold of the Bible.
Present Uses of the Bible
The Bible can be used in many ways. Here are some of the ways people use the Bible.
1. We read it and learn some lessons from it. We consider it like any other book. The Bible contains stories, and these stories can entertain us and give us lessons for living. The Bible contains moral exhortations and following these exhortations make us live morally right in the eyes of human beings. A reverential way of doing this is called spiritual reading.
2. Some people use the Bible to guide them in their daily activities, even in minor ones. They have a decision to make. It may be a very minor decision, like drinking water or not. They open the Bible and read the first verse their eyes alight on. Then they interpret the verse whether it is alright for them to make the decision or not. This was called sortes biblicae (biblical lots) in the Middle Ages. Some people still use the Bible in this way today.
3. Other people use the Bible to defend their doctrines against those who criticize these doctrines. This is called apology. In this way they prove that their doctrines are the right ones and their church is the true church.
4. Still others use the words in the Bible to attack the doctrines of other churches and the practices of people. Almost every night in the Philippines beginning at 12 midnight there is a radio program called The Old Path lasting for an hour. This radio program primarily attacks the doctrines and practices of churches. This is the way the Bible is used in debates.
5. Theologians use the Bible in order to advance their knowledge of theology.
6. Speakers use the Bible to spice their talks and make their ideas more credible.
7. The Bible is used in worship and the administration of the sacraments.
A More Beneficial Way of Using the Word of God
But there is a way of using the Bible that is more beneficial to us. Here is the process.
We read it through from the start to the end. But instead of looking for the stories or for the moral lessons or theological truths we look for descriptions of God. Upon coming on a description of God we pause and talk with God. Let me give an example.
We begin reading the Bible with Genesis 1. The first verse says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” God is described here as creator of the heaven and earth. Then we pause to pray with words like ‘God, you created the heaven and the earth and that includes me. Thank you for creating me.’
Here is another example. In Isaiah 24:21 we read “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones.” God is described here as a punisher of armies. We pause and pray with words like ‘God, you punish the violent people on earth. Spare us from your punishment.’
What is the benefit we get from this way of reading the Bible? The main benefit is that we come to know more of God. And knowing him we come to love him more and being united with him we become like him. We become godly. We become divine. Then we can do what God can do because we will have his knowledge, goodness and power.
I used this way of reading the Bible, but instead of beginning in Genesis, I began with Matthew. After I finished the New Testament I went to Genesis. When I reached the Psalms a definite transformation in my life occurred. You can have this transformation too.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
How to Use the Name of God with Reverence
Most probably you have seen a scene like this. A Christian minister stands before a sick person and says in a loud voice, “In the name of Jesus, rise up” or words similar to these, but always with “In the name of Jesus.” The sentence is repeated again and again. But the sick person who cannot stand does not rise up.
Most probably also you have read this passage in the Acts of the Apostles 3:6-8 where it is recorded that Peter said to the sick man, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” And the sick man rose up and walked.
The Difference
The difference is obvious. In the first case cited above, the sick man does not rise up and walk. In the preceding case, the sick man rose up and walked.
Both the minister and Peter used the name of Jesus. But the effect was different in each case. So we ask: How was the name of Jesus used in each instance? Why is it that in one instance it produced a cure and in the other instance it did not?
The answer is not that in the first instance the minister lacked faith, while Peter had faith. Both presumably had faith. The answer is that in the first instance the minister did not know how to use the name of Jesus, for if he knew the sick man would have stood up, while in the account of the Acts of the Apostles Peter knew how to use the name of Jesus.
Peter used that name with reverence. He knew the power that was in that name. The minister may have known the power of that name from his study but he did not experience it, because he did not know how to use the name of Jesus with reverence.
So the question now is: How do we use the name of God with reverence so that what we expect to be done by that name is indeed really done?
The Steps
First, recognize that the name of God is the written or spoken expression of God himself. In a sense this name is God himself. It is not a mere combination of letters of the alphabet or sounds.
The Jews are so respectful of the name of God YHWH that they never pronounce it as such. Instead they pronounce it adonai, meaning Lord.
Among Christians I have not found a man who gave such great respect to the name of God than Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone who would cut the word “God” and “Jesus” from papers lying around lest these words be desecrated.
The proof that the name is the being itself that has that name is in our ordinary use of a person’s name. When your name is called, your whole being—body, soul and spirit—responds. This is because you are that name. Your name is the spoken or written expression of you. It signifies you.
Unfortunately we do not apply this to the name of God. Most of us think that it is only a name, a sound, a combination of letters. We have succumbed without our knowing it to a brand of nominalism which says that names, because they are universals, do not really exist. They are only signs to refer to concepts or ideas. Thus the word “God” has become an idea only.
If we recognize that the person is in the name, we become careful with the use of his name. If we recognize that God is in his name, whether this name be generic like “God” or specific like “Jesus”, “Abba”, “Paraclete”, etc., then we will also be careful and reverent with the use of that name.
Because this is so, that the name of God signifies God himself, is God himself as expressed in letters or sound, it contains all the power that is in God himself. Before this power we stand in awe.
Second, realize that God is greater than anything you can think of or imagine and nearer to you that anything you can feel. He is indeed greater than all this universe and all the other universes you can imagine or think of. And he is nearer to you than yourself. He knows your inmost thoughts and feelings, even the very forces working in the deepest level of your subconscious.
This realization will drive you to stand or kneel in awe before God and bow with deep respect to the one who inhabits your deepest center.
Thirdly, acknowledge your complete and constant dependence on God. Most people have a false sense of independence. They think that they are mature enough to do things on their own, that they can think, speak and do what they want. They forget what Jesus said, “without me you can do nothing.”
Fourthly, express the formula you use with God’s name in a different way so that you become extra conscious and extra cautious of what you are saying or writing.
If you are a Catholic, instead of just saying “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” when you are making the sign of the Cross, say something like “By the power of God the origin, God the Word, and of God the Spirit”. Later vary the expression but always with the same meaning.
In you are a non-Catholic and you are accustomed to ending your prayer with “In the name of Jesus” you can vary this by saying something like “For the sake of Jesus” or “By the request of Jesus”.
If you do these steps habitually every time you hear the word God mentioned or see it written before you, these steps will become a part of your consciousness and using the name of God with deep, prayerful reverence will become second nature to you.
Most probably also you have read this passage in the Acts of the Apostles 3:6-8 where it is recorded that Peter said to the sick man, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” And the sick man rose up and walked.
The Difference
The difference is obvious. In the first case cited above, the sick man does not rise up and walk. In the preceding case, the sick man rose up and walked.
Both the minister and Peter used the name of Jesus. But the effect was different in each case. So we ask: How was the name of Jesus used in each instance? Why is it that in one instance it produced a cure and in the other instance it did not?
The answer is not that in the first instance the minister lacked faith, while Peter had faith. Both presumably had faith. The answer is that in the first instance the minister did not know how to use the name of Jesus, for if he knew the sick man would have stood up, while in the account of the Acts of the Apostles Peter knew how to use the name of Jesus.
Peter used that name with reverence. He knew the power that was in that name. The minister may have known the power of that name from his study but he did not experience it, because he did not know how to use the name of Jesus with reverence.
So the question now is: How do we use the name of God with reverence so that what we expect to be done by that name is indeed really done?
The Steps
First, recognize that the name of God is the written or spoken expression of God himself. In a sense this name is God himself. It is not a mere combination of letters of the alphabet or sounds.
The Jews are so respectful of the name of God YHWH that they never pronounce it as such. Instead they pronounce it adonai, meaning Lord.
Among Christians I have not found a man who gave such great respect to the name of God than Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone who would cut the word “God” and “Jesus” from papers lying around lest these words be desecrated.
The proof that the name is the being itself that has that name is in our ordinary use of a person’s name. When your name is called, your whole being—body, soul and spirit—responds. This is because you are that name. Your name is the spoken or written expression of you. It signifies you.
Unfortunately we do not apply this to the name of God. Most of us think that it is only a name, a sound, a combination of letters. We have succumbed without our knowing it to a brand of nominalism which says that names, because they are universals, do not really exist. They are only signs to refer to concepts or ideas. Thus the word “God” has become an idea only.
If we recognize that the person is in the name, we become careful with the use of his name. If we recognize that God is in his name, whether this name be generic like “God” or specific like “Jesus”, “Abba”, “Paraclete”, etc., then we will also be careful and reverent with the use of that name.
Because this is so, that the name of God signifies God himself, is God himself as expressed in letters or sound, it contains all the power that is in God himself. Before this power we stand in awe.
Second, realize that God is greater than anything you can think of or imagine and nearer to you that anything you can feel. He is indeed greater than all this universe and all the other universes you can imagine or think of. And he is nearer to you than yourself. He knows your inmost thoughts and feelings, even the very forces working in the deepest level of your subconscious.
This realization will drive you to stand or kneel in awe before God and bow with deep respect to the one who inhabits your deepest center.
Thirdly, acknowledge your complete and constant dependence on God. Most people have a false sense of independence. They think that they are mature enough to do things on their own, that they can think, speak and do what they want. They forget what Jesus said, “without me you can do nothing.”
Fourthly, express the formula you use with God’s name in a different way so that you become extra conscious and extra cautious of what you are saying or writing.
If you are a Catholic, instead of just saying “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” when you are making the sign of the Cross, say something like “By the power of God the origin, God the Word, and of God the Spirit”. Later vary the expression but always with the same meaning.
In you are a non-Catholic and you are accustomed to ending your prayer with “In the name of Jesus” you can vary this by saying something like “For the sake of Jesus” or “By the request of Jesus”.
If you do these steps habitually every time you hear the word God mentioned or see it written before you, these steps will become a part of your consciousness and using the name of God with deep, prayerful reverence will become second nature to you.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
How to Avoid Committing the Sin of Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Many are inquiring what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is. Some are even afraid or suspecting that they might have committed this kind of blasphemy, or are in danger of doing so. They are especially afraid since they are told that this sin cannot be forgiven here on earth or in the next life.
What the Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit Is
Actually the idea of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is very simple. It is attributing to the Devil the work of the Holy Spirit. When there is something done that is clearly good, like healing, and you say that this healing or good thing comes from the Devil , then you are blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
How I Could Have Blasphemed the Holy Spirit
Let me give an example from my own life. For 27 years I had suffered from a chronic skin disease called eczema in my hands and feet. I had consulted many physicians about this. I was given many medicines, both ointments and tablets. After taking the medicines the condition of my skin would improve, but after a while the disease would come back. A higher dose of medicine was then necessary to contain the skin irritations and swelling. This was the cycle for those 27 years: skin inflammation with redness, itching, lesions, then taking of medicines, a temporary cure, back to the inflammation again.
The worse part of this disease was that there were so many foods I could not eat if I did not want the eczema to recur. I could not eat pork, shrimps, chicken, and other tasty foods.
In 1986 I went to an old woman in our village who was reputed to cure some diseases that could not be cured by the doctors of conventional medicine. What she did was she just brushed my body with a shrub that she pulled out from her backyard. Then she told me not to take a bath for three days. She uttered some words as she brushed the shrub on my body. But I could not understand the words she uttered.
That was all. I got cured of eczema forever. From that time I could eat any of the food which was forbidden for me to eat before lest my skin would get inflamed again.
This woman was not particularly religious. She was poor. Her house was very simple. Her manners were very ordinary.
If I say that she performed her cures by the power of the Devil I would be committing the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
In general, then, to attribute any good thing to the Devil as the source of that good thing is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
You need not mention or think explicitly of the Holy Spirit to commit this kind of blasphemy. It is enough that you attribute to the Devil any good thing that you see, perceive or that happens before you.
For example, you say, “By the power of the Devil I won in the lottery.” This is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit although you did not mention the Holy Spirit and although winning the lottery is only a relative good because lottery itself is morally objectionable.
The Pharisees did not mention the Holy Spirit when they blasphemed him, as recorded in Matthew 12. They just said that Jesus did a good thing, the curing of the blind and dumb man, by the power of the Devil.
How To Avoid Blaspheming the Holy Spirit
To avoid committing the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit never attribute any good thing to the Devil, even if the one doing it is a shaman or a witch doctor.
Concerning why this sin is unforgivable, it is because by this sin you deny the mercy of God. When you deny that God is merciful how can God show his mercy to you? You deny God’s mercy by virtually calling the Devil good, since you take him as the source of that particular good thing. You deny that God is the source of goodness, of mercy.
Now that you know what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is, I hope that you will never commit this in your life. Because it is an unforgivable sin.
What the Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit Is
Actually the idea of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is very simple. It is attributing to the Devil the work of the Holy Spirit. When there is something done that is clearly good, like healing, and you say that this healing or good thing comes from the Devil , then you are blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
How I Could Have Blasphemed the Holy Spirit
Let me give an example from my own life. For 27 years I had suffered from a chronic skin disease called eczema in my hands and feet. I had consulted many physicians about this. I was given many medicines, both ointments and tablets. After taking the medicines the condition of my skin would improve, but after a while the disease would come back. A higher dose of medicine was then necessary to contain the skin irritations and swelling. This was the cycle for those 27 years: skin inflammation with redness, itching, lesions, then taking of medicines, a temporary cure, back to the inflammation again.
The worse part of this disease was that there were so many foods I could not eat if I did not want the eczema to recur. I could not eat pork, shrimps, chicken, and other tasty foods.
In 1986 I went to an old woman in our village who was reputed to cure some diseases that could not be cured by the doctors of conventional medicine. What she did was she just brushed my body with a shrub that she pulled out from her backyard. Then she told me not to take a bath for three days. She uttered some words as she brushed the shrub on my body. But I could not understand the words she uttered.
That was all. I got cured of eczema forever. From that time I could eat any of the food which was forbidden for me to eat before lest my skin would get inflamed again.
This woman was not particularly religious. She was poor. Her house was very simple. Her manners were very ordinary.
If I say that she performed her cures by the power of the Devil I would be committing the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
In general, then, to attribute any good thing to the Devil as the source of that good thing is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
You need not mention or think explicitly of the Holy Spirit to commit this kind of blasphemy. It is enough that you attribute to the Devil any good thing that you see, perceive or that happens before you.
For example, you say, “By the power of the Devil I won in the lottery.” This is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit although you did not mention the Holy Spirit and although winning the lottery is only a relative good because lottery itself is morally objectionable.
The Pharisees did not mention the Holy Spirit when they blasphemed him, as recorded in Matthew 12. They just said that Jesus did a good thing, the curing of the blind and dumb man, by the power of the Devil.
How To Avoid Blaspheming the Holy Spirit
To avoid committing the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit never attribute any good thing to the Devil, even if the one doing it is a shaman or a witch doctor.
Concerning why this sin is unforgivable, it is because by this sin you deny the mercy of God. When you deny that God is merciful how can God show his mercy to you? You deny God’s mercy by virtually calling the Devil good, since you take him as the source of that particular good thing. You deny that God is the source of goodness, of mercy.
Now that you know what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is, I hope that you will never commit this in your life. Because it is an unforgivable sin.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
How to Avoid Committing the Unnoticed Blasphemy
Murder and rape are heinous crimes. But do you know that there is a more heinous crime committed in classrooms, in ordinary conversations and even in sending SMS (Short Message Service) or what some refer to as text messages?
It is the crime of blasphemy. It is a crime not against a human being but a crime against God himself.
Most people, even professed Christians, do not realize this, and ignorance of this fact is a major obstacle in spiritual development. It may even be the primary reason why in most of our churches of whatever denomination the spiritual life of their members is at a very low level. That is why I said it is an unnoticed blasphemy.
Blasphemy in the Classroom
A teacher scolds her student and says, “My God! Is that all you have learned today? Can you not do better?” This teacher may not realize she has blasphemed the name of God himself. If anyone reproves her for using the name of God in vain she may simply reply, “I did not mean to blaspheme God. I was just using an expression, used by almost anybody.”
That is the trouble, using the name of God in vain is done by almost anybody and so it has become so familiar that nobody thinks it is a crime against God.
Blasphemy in Conversations
In a conversation, we often hear of expressions like “Goddam good”, “O God, what did you do?”, “God damn you”, and so forth. Our ordinary conversation is seasoned with such expressions. And we don’t care. We think it is just a matter of words or sounds.
Blasphemy in SMS
I often receive SMS or text messages saying, “God bless you”. The intention is good. The sender of the text message is invoking God’s blessing upon me. But the way it is done, it is done in so ordinary a manner that I suspect it is merely a decoration in the text messages. It is not done in a reverential way, with fear of the name of God. The sender just presses some keys and off the message with the word “God” goes out of the cell phone to another cell phone.
If the enormity of the crime depends on the dignity of the person we wronged, then blaspheming God in these ways is indeed a very great crime, greater than murder and rape which are inflicted only on human beings.
So the question comes: How do we avoid committing this unnoticed blasphemy? Here are the steps.
Steps to Avoid Blaspheming God
First, do not localize your God. Do not think that he is up there in the clouds. Do not think that he is inside the church building. The Spirit of God is everywhere. I know some will object to this statement. But what I just want to emphasize is that you do not localize your God, you do not pin him down to a certain place. God is greater than all the worlds, all the universes, galaxies that we know or can ever discover.
Secondly, do not materialize your God. Do not think of him as a bearded father up there somewhere. He is father but not in the manner of our human fathers. He is father because he is the source of all, just as our father is our human source. But he does not look like us, with a physical body.
Thirdly, be aware that God is greater than all that there is, and is present in all that we think, say and do. This awareness ought to give you a sense of reverence for him. By reverence I mean fearsome respect, not servile fear, but an awareness of his immensity.
Fourthly, when you catch yourself blaspheming God by using his name in vain, as in conversations or when you are surprised or excited, say a prayer for pardon. The Spirit will sooner lead you to reverence the name of God in your conversations.
Fifthly, when you hear of others using the name of God in vain, bow your head and quietly say the first petition in the Our Father, “Holy be your name” or “Hallowed be thy name” or “May your name be ever honored,” whatever translation of the Our Father you are using. This is to counteract the blasphemy which you have just heard.
These steps are very simple and very doable. If you want to progress farther in your spiritual journey, you need to honor God’s name.
A word of explanation is in order. You may have noticed that I do not capitalize the pronouns which refer to God. I do this on purpose in full obedience to the Lord. He does not want pronouns referring to him to be capitalized, at least in my usage. For God, every word is sacred, for he is Word. Grammarians have put a rule to capitalize pronouns referring to the divinity. It is merely a human rule. You will not find this rule in the Scriptures.
And now may you be one of those who give due respect to the name of God and because of this may you come closer to him and enjoy him more.
It is the crime of blasphemy. It is a crime not against a human being but a crime against God himself.
Most people, even professed Christians, do not realize this, and ignorance of this fact is a major obstacle in spiritual development. It may even be the primary reason why in most of our churches of whatever denomination the spiritual life of their members is at a very low level. That is why I said it is an unnoticed blasphemy.
Blasphemy in the Classroom
A teacher scolds her student and says, “My God! Is that all you have learned today? Can you not do better?” This teacher may not realize she has blasphemed the name of God himself. If anyone reproves her for using the name of God in vain she may simply reply, “I did not mean to blaspheme God. I was just using an expression, used by almost anybody.”
That is the trouble, using the name of God in vain is done by almost anybody and so it has become so familiar that nobody thinks it is a crime against God.
Blasphemy in Conversations
In a conversation, we often hear of expressions like “Goddam good”, “O God, what did you do?”, “God damn you”, and so forth. Our ordinary conversation is seasoned with such expressions. And we don’t care. We think it is just a matter of words or sounds.
Blasphemy in SMS
I often receive SMS or text messages saying, “God bless you”. The intention is good. The sender of the text message is invoking God’s blessing upon me. But the way it is done, it is done in so ordinary a manner that I suspect it is merely a decoration in the text messages. It is not done in a reverential way, with fear of the name of God. The sender just presses some keys and off the message with the word “God” goes out of the cell phone to another cell phone.
If the enormity of the crime depends on the dignity of the person we wronged, then blaspheming God in these ways is indeed a very great crime, greater than murder and rape which are inflicted only on human beings.
So the question comes: How do we avoid committing this unnoticed blasphemy? Here are the steps.
Steps to Avoid Blaspheming God
First, do not localize your God. Do not think that he is up there in the clouds. Do not think that he is inside the church building. The Spirit of God is everywhere. I know some will object to this statement. But what I just want to emphasize is that you do not localize your God, you do not pin him down to a certain place. God is greater than all the worlds, all the universes, galaxies that we know or can ever discover.
Secondly, do not materialize your God. Do not think of him as a bearded father up there somewhere. He is father but not in the manner of our human fathers. He is father because he is the source of all, just as our father is our human source. But he does not look like us, with a physical body.
Thirdly, be aware that God is greater than all that there is, and is present in all that we think, say and do. This awareness ought to give you a sense of reverence for him. By reverence I mean fearsome respect, not servile fear, but an awareness of his immensity.
Fourthly, when you catch yourself blaspheming God by using his name in vain, as in conversations or when you are surprised or excited, say a prayer for pardon. The Spirit will sooner lead you to reverence the name of God in your conversations.
Fifthly, when you hear of others using the name of God in vain, bow your head and quietly say the first petition in the Our Father, “Holy be your name” or “Hallowed be thy name” or “May your name be ever honored,” whatever translation of the Our Father you are using. This is to counteract the blasphemy which you have just heard.
These steps are very simple and very doable. If you want to progress farther in your spiritual journey, you need to honor God’s name.
A word of explanation is in order. You may have noticed that I do not capitalize the pronouns which refer to God. I do this on purpose in full obedience to the Lord. He does not want pronouns referring to him to be capitalized, at least in my usage. For God, every word is sacred, for he is Word. Grammarians have put a rule to capitalize pronouns referring to the divinity. It is merely a human rule. You will not find this rule in the Scriptures.
And now may you be one of those who give due respect to the name of God and because of this may you come closer to him and enjoy him more.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
How to Know If It's Really God Speaking to You - Check Everything Against Scripture
The president of a local college one day came to me and told me that God spoke to him. He said that he asked God to give him a teacher who would teach in his college. According to him God answered by telling him to get me to teach in his college.
Did God Really Speak to Him?
Was it really God who spoke to him in this instance? Or was it just his subconscious mind which suggested my name as a possible teacher in his college?
How do you know that it is really God who spoke to you? Or how do you know that it was not God who spoke to you but only your subconscious mind or other spirits?
Some Clarifications About God Speaking to Us
First of all, let us clarify the idea about God. God is not like us who have bodies and who have mouths to speak. God is spirit and he has no parts like us. He is simple. He is one without parts. All good books on theology tell us about this simplicity and unicity of God.
When we say therefore that God speaks to us, we are using an expression to describe our way of thinking about God, not what God is in himself.
Secondly, we human beings speak in order to communicate with other human beings or sometimes with animals and plants. (There is scientific proof that speaking to plants helps them in their growth.) And in speaking we use words which contain the ideas we want to communicate with others.
God, however, does not need words to communicate with us. He communicates with us all the time. If he stops communicating with us we would go back to non-existence.
Think of it this way. God is the one spirit in whom we live. We know that on earth we are immersed in a sea of air. The oxygen of this air is what we breathe in order to live. If we do not breathe after a few minutes we would be dead.
We can think of God as the spirit in whom everything is: human beings, plants, animals, the stars, the planets, the spaces between these heavenly bodies and beyond, everything that there is. We are all immersed in God, in a similar way that we are immersed in the air around us.
If we therefore live in God he communicates with us all the time and he does not need words to do so.
Thirdly, there are moments in our life when we need guidance from God, like the president of the college I referred to above. When we receive this guidance we term it as “God speaking to us.” It is clear therefore that in this instance when we say that God spoke to us, it is not by means of his mouth that he spoke to us because he has none. Nor does he necessarily use words in speaking to us because he can communicate to us without the use of words, unlike in our case as human beings with other human beings.
When we say that God speaks to us, we are using figurative speech to say that we receive a communication from God moving us to think, speak or do something.
Of course, we have read of cases where God spoke like a human being to certain chosen persons, like Abraham, Moses, Samuel and the other prophets. But again this was done by God so that human beings could easily understand him.
Now the question gets more precise and clear. How do we know that it is God who communicates with us, not some other spirits, and not our subconscious mind?
Be Imbued With the Scriptures
All Christians will answer that question by saying that we need to check everything against the Scriptures or what is contained in the Bible. If the idea is something that is forbidden by the Bible, we conclude that God cannot be the source of this idea. An example would be if we get a communication from a source we think is of God but it tells us to kill our neighbor, that idea cannot be from God because it is clear from the Bible that we should not kill.
But there are thousands of cases where the Bible does not specifically prescribe. For example, a young man may ask God what course he should take up in college. How would this young man know that the answer is not from another spirit or just from his subconscious? What does it mean to check this answer with the Scriptures? Does it mean that he opens the Bible at random after sincerely praying to God for guidance and reading the first verse his eyes alight upon and then getting the idea from this verse about what God wants him to take up as his course in college?
As an example, if his eyes alight upon the verse where Jesus calls his disciples, then he concludes that he is called to the ministry and takes up a course in the seminary for the ministry.
There are some Christians who really do this. But I do not do it.
When I say that we should check the Scriptures for the guidance of God what I mean is that everyday, not just when we need a particular guidance, we read a portion of the Scriptures and meditate on it. In so doing the Scriptures become a part of our lives and when we need a specific guidance, the Lord will take, as it were, a passage from the Scriptures and move us to think, speak and act along that passage from the Scriptures.
Going back to our example, if the young man has the habit of daily meditating on some portion of the Scriptures, and he asks God to guide him on what course to take, God will take a passage from that Scripture without his opening it randomly and impress upon his mind what course to take. How do we know that this idea comes from God? We know because he is constantly in fellowship with God through the Scriptures. The other spirits cannot insert themselves in this fellowship to disturb his mind. And his subconscious will be formed according to the mind of God himself. Therefore even if it comes from his subconscious it ultimately comes from God who is master of his subconscious.
So, let us go back to our original question at the beginning of this article: Was it really God who spoke to the college president to take me as one of his teachers? That depends on the quality of the Christian life of that president. Does he meditate on the Scriptures on a daily basis? If he is in constant fellowship with God, then it was indeed God who spoke to him. If he does not have this constant fellowship with God then the idea that I teach in his college came from his subconscious desire to have a qualified teacher in his college.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
Did God Really Speak to Him?
Was it really God who spoke to him in this instance? Or was it just his subconscious mind which suggested my name as a possible teacher in his college?
How do you know that it is really God who spoke to you? Or how do you know that it was not God who spoke to you but only your subconscious mind or other spirits?
Some Clarifications About God Speaking to Us
First of all, let us clarify the idea about God. God is not like us who have bodies and who have mouths to speak. God is spirit and he has no parts like us. He is simple. He is one without parts. All good books on theology tell us about this simplicity and unicity of God.
When we say therefore that God speaks to us, we are using an expression to describe our way of thinking about God, not what God is in himself.
Secondly, we human beings speak in order to communicate with other human beings or sometimes with animals and plants. (There is scientific proof that speaking to plants helps them in their growth.) And in speaking we use words which contain the ideas we want to communicate with others.
God, however, does not need words to communicate with us. He communicates with us all the time. If he stops communicating with us we would go back to non-existence.
Think of it this way. God is the one spirit in whom we live. We know that on earth we are immersed in a sea of air. The oxygen of this air is what we breathe in order to live. If we do not breathe after a few minutes we would be dead.
We can think of God as the spirit in whom everything is: human beings, plants, animals, the stars, the planets, the spaces between these heavenly bodies and beyond, everything that there is. We are all immersed in God, in a similar way that we are immersed in the air around us.
If we therefore live in God he communicates with us all the time and he does not need words to do so.
Thirdly, there are moments in our life when we need guidance from God, like the president of the college I referred to above. When we receive this guidance we term it as “God speaking to us.” It is clear therefore that in this instance when we say that God spoke to us, it is not by means of his mouth that he spoke to us because he has none. Nor does he necessarily use words in speaking to us because he can communicate to us without the use of words, unlike in our case as human beings with other human beings.
When we say that God speaks to us, we are using figurative speech to say that we receive a communication from God moving us to think, speak or do something.
Of course, we have read of cases where God spoke like a human being to certain chosen persons, like Abraham, Moses, Samuel and the other prophets. But again this was done by God so that human beings could easily understand him.
Now the question gets more precise and clear. How do we know that it is God who communicates with us, not some other spirits, and not our subconscious mind?
Be Imbued With the Scriptures
All Christians will answer that question by saying that we need to check everything against the Scriptures or what is contained in the Bible. If the idea is something that is forbidden by the Bible, we conclude that God cannot be the source of this idea. An example would be if we get a communication from a source we think is of God but it tells us to kill our neighbor, that idea cannot be from God because it is clear from the Bible that we should not kill.
But there are thousands of cases where the Bible does not specifically prescribe. For example, a young man may ask God what course he should take up in college. How would this young man know that the answer is not from another spirit or just from his subconscious? What does it mean to check this answer with the Scriptures? Does it mean that he opens the Bible at random after sincerely praying to God for guidance and reading the first verse his eyes alight upon and then getting the idea from this verse about what God wants him to take up as his course in college?
As an example, if his eyes alight upon the verse where Jesus calls his disciples, then he concludes that he is called to the ministry and takes up a course in the seminary for the ministry.
There are some Christians who really do this. But I do not do it.
When I say that we should check the Scriptures for the guidance of God what I mean is that everyday, not just when we need a particular guidance, we read a portion of the Scriptures and meditate on it. In so doing the Scriptures become a part of our lives and when we need a specific guidance, the Lord will take, as it were, a passage from the Scriptures and move us to think, speak and act along that passage from the Scriptures.
Going back to our example, if the young man has the habit of daily meditating on some portion of the Scriptures, and he asks God to guide him on what course to take, God will take a passage from that Scripture without his opening it randomly and impress upon his mind what course to take. How do we know that this idea comes from God? We know because he is constantly in fellowship with God through the Scriptures. The other spirits cannot insert themselves in this fellowship to disturb his mind. And his subconscious will be formed according to the mind of God himself. Therefore even if it comes from his subconscious it ultimately comes from God who is master of his subconscious.
So, let us go back to our original question at the beginning of this article: Was it really God who spoke to the college president to take me as one of his teachers? That depends on the quality of the Christian life of that president. Does he meditate on the Scriptures on a daily basis? If he is in constant fellowship with God, then it was indeed God who spoke to him. If he does not have this constant fellowship with God then the idea that I teach in his college came from his subconscious desire to have a qualified teacher in his college.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
Two More Reasons Why Jesus Has Not Yet Come Back
For the followers of the three great religions of the world, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, the great event which they are all looking forward to is the physical coming of Jesus. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the book THE LATE, GREAT PLANET EARTH of Hal Lindsey and Carole C. Carlson became a best seller in the 1970s.
Three Great Faiths, One Expectation
Christians have put this second coming of Jesus as one of the articles of their Creed which states: He (Jesus) will come again to judge the living and the dead. Among Catholics in the daily Mass after the so called consecration of the bread and wine, the people acclaim aloud: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Muslims have Qur’an 43:61 to affirm that Jesus will come again for the hour of judgment of all mankind. It is believed by them that Jesus will bring a rule of justice and peace when he comes.
The Jews of course through the centuries since the time of the Prophets have expected the coming of their Messiah who for Christians is Jesus. The modern devout Jew prays for the coming of the messiah, a king like David, 3 times a day. Of course, for the Jews it will not be the second coming of their Messiah but his first coming.
Combining the followers of these great religions we have close to 3.5 billion people who expect, at least in their creedal statements and prayers, for the physical coming of Jesus.
So the question “When is he coming again?” has caught the curiosity of many people. In fact a whole new denomination has been founded on the preparation for this second coming of Jesus, the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
In the book of Hal Lindsey and Carole C. Carlson I cited above there are passages which many have interpreted that these authors really believed that Jesus would come again no later than 1988.
But Jesus has not come again. Why?
Three Reasons Given Why Jesus Has Not Yet Come
In the book BEYOND 2000, written by 8 Seventh Day Adventists, there is a box in one of the articles with the title “Why Has He Not Come Yet?” by Jan Paulsen. He gives three reasons why Jesus has not yet come back: 1) The followers of Jesus are not yet ready for this coming; they are not yet so devout and dedicated that they are worthy already of their Master’s return. 2) God is still waiting for more people to be saved, to get into his kingdom. 3) God must allow rebellion to run its course; by letting Satan, the enemy, do what he wants with humanity, he will lose his credibility and thus when Jesus appears he will be unanimously accepted in place of Satan.
Six Legal Requisites for the Coming Again of Jesus
Tim McHyde has given a list of legal prerequisites to Jesus' return which are: 1) the event of the Great Tribulation; 2) the erection of the image of the beast which is termed as the Abomination of Desolation; 3) the cessation of the Temple Mount Sacrifices which have not yet started; 4) the building of the Third Temple; 5) the fulfillment of the Sixth Seal which is entire populations panicking and running for shelter; 6) the destruction of Damascus. Since these prerequisites have not yet been accomplished, Jesus’ return is not yet imminent, according to McHyde.
Two More Fundamental Reasons Why Jesus Has Not Yet Come Back
To these three reasons and 6 legal prerequisites I add two more which so far have not been mentioned by those who predict Jesus’ second coming.
The first is that nations have not yet been immersed or absorbed into the life of the triune but one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You see, the commission given in Matthew 28:19 is to make disciples of nations, not individual persons. Then as these nations are made disciples of Jesus they are going to be baptized, immersed, absorbed into the name, the life, the power of the Father, the Son and the Spirit. We do not see this happening.
So far what we have been trying to do is go and search for individuals who would want to follow Christ and make those individuals his disciples. But the object of the verb “disciple” is nations, not individuals from among all the nations.
The second is that we have not yet preached the Good News to all of creation as this is stated in Mark 16:15. Instead we have been trying to preach to all human beings. The indirect object of the verb to preach or evangelize is all creation, not just human beings. It seems that it is only Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone who has done this. He is the only one on record who has talked to animals and plants about the good news of God’s love.
And why do I mention these conditions? Because they are conditions which we can do. The 6 legal requirements by Tim McHyde are not in our power to accomplish. The requirements of our Adventist friends are too general. But fulfilling these two commands of Jesus which are termed the Great Commission can be done by us and in doing so we will be following the advice of Peter in his second letter to hasten the coming of the day of God which includes the second coming of Jesus.
Disciple the Nations, Preach to the Animals and Plants
So, let us plan on making whole nations, not just individuals, disciples of Jesus. And let us preach the Good News to animals and plants, planets and stars, the elements of this universe. As we do this the day of Jesus’ physical coming for us Christians and Muslims and Jews will come sooner than what is happening now.
Three Great Faiths, One Expectation
Christians have put this second coming of Jesus as one of the articles of their Creed which states: He (Jesus) will come again to judge the living and the dead. Among Catholics in the daily Mass after the so called consecration of the bread and wine, the people acclaim aloud: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Muslims have Qur’an 43:61 to affirm that Jesus will come again for the hour of judgment of all mankind. It is believed by them that Jesus will bring a rule of justice and peace when he comes.
The Jews of course through the centuries since the time of the Prophets have expected the coming of their Messiah who for Christians is Jesus. The modern devout Jew prays for the coming of the messiah, a king like David, 3 times a day. Of course, for the Jews it will not be the second coming of their Messiah but his first coming.
Combining the followers of these great religions we have close to 3.5 billion people who expect, at least in their creedal statements and prayers, for the physical coming of Jesus.
So the question “When is he coming again?” has caught the curiosity of many people. In fact a whole new denomination has been founded on the preparation for this second coming of Jesus, the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
In the book of Hal Lindsey and Carole C. Carlson I cited above there are passages which many have interpreted that these authors really believed that Jesus would come again no later than 1988.
But Jesus has not come again. Why?
Three Reasons Given Why Jesus Has Not Yet Come
In the book BEYOND 2000, written by 8 Seventh Day Adventists, there is a box in one of the articles with the title “Why Has He Not Come Yet?” by Jan Paulsen. He gives three reasons why Jesus has not yet come back: 1) The followers of Jesus are not yet ready for this coming; they are not yet so devout and dedicated that they are worthy already of their Master’s return. 2) God is still waiting for more people to be saved, to get into his kingdom. 3) God must allow rebellion to run its course; by letting Satan, the enemy, do what he wants with humanity, he will lose his credibility and thus when Jesus appears he will be unanimously accepted in place of Satan.
Six Legal Requisites for the Coming Again of Jesus
Tim McHyde has given a list of legal prerequisites to Jesus' return which are: 1) the event of the Great Tribulation; 2) the erection of the image of the beast which is termed as the Abomination of Desolation; 3) the cessation of the Temple Mount Sacrifices which have not yet started; 4) the building of the Third Temple; 5) the fulfillment of the Sixth Seal which is entire populations panicking and running for shelter; 6) the destruction of Damascus. Since these prerequisites have not yet been accomplished, Jesus’ return is not yet imminent, according to McHyde.
Two More Fundamental Reasons Why Jesus Has Not Yet Come Back
To these three reasons and 6 legal prerequisites I add two more which so far have not been mentioned by those who predict Jesus’ second coming.
The first is that nations have not yet been immersed or absorbed into the life of the triune but one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You see, the commission given in Matthew 28:19 is to make disciples of nations, not individual persons. Then as these nations are made disciples of Jesus they are going to be baptized, immersed, absorbed into the name, the life, the power of the Father, the Son and the Spirit. We do not see this happening.
So far what we have been trying to do is go and search for individuals who would want to follow Christ and make those individuals his disciples. But the object of the verb “disciple” is nations, not individuals from among all the nations.
The second is that we have not yet preached the Good News to all of creation as this is stated in Mark 16:15. Instead we have been trying to preach to all human beings. The indirect object of the verb to preach or evangelize is all creation, not just human beings. It seems that it is only Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone who has done this. He is the only one on record who has talked to animals and plants about the good news of God’s love.
And why do I mention these conditions? Because they are conditions which we can do. The 6 legal requirements by Tim McHyde are not in our power to accomplish. The requirements of our Adventist friends are too general. But fulfilling these two commands of Jesus which are termed the Great Commission can be done by us and in doing so we will be following the advice of Peter in his second letter to hasten the coming of the day of God which includes the second coming of Jesus.
Disciple the Nations, Preach to the Animals and Plants
So, let us plan on making whole nations, not just individuals, disciples of Jesus. And let us preach the Good News to animals and plants, planets and stars, the elements of this universe. As we do this the day of Jesus’ physical coming for us Christians and Muslims and Jews will come sooner than what is happening now.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
How to Prevent the Bombings From a Spiritual Point of View
We were shocked last Tuesday afternoon, January 25, 2011 when we heard the news that a bus was bombed in Makati City, Philippines. Five were killed in that incident and 13 were injured.
Increasing Frequency of Bombings
Bombs are becoming more frequent these days. In the Philippines alone in the space of 11 years 21 bombs have been recorded, the worst one being the bombing on February 27, 2004 of the passenger boat Superferry 14 sinking this vessel and killing 116 people and injuring hundreds more. This was described as the deadliest terrorist attack in the Philippines and the world’s deadliest terrorist attack at sea. The 21 bombs in the space of 11 years killed on record 254 persons and injured hundreds more.
In 2009 there was a report from a military official that within a year 56 bombs had exploded or had been discovered in central Mindanao, the biggest island in southern Philippines. This is only in one part of the country.
If you add to these the bombs that have exploded or have been discovered to nearly explode all over the world, we realize that bomb explosions to hurt people are indeed becoming more common.
In the face of this tragic and very sad phenomenon, what can we do?
How To Prevent These Bombings
The reasonable thing to do is to prevent the explosion of these bombs. But how? Is there a way to prevent the explosion of such bombs.
There are people who say that we cannot prevent such man-made disasters from occurring. They have been prophesied long ago and will continue to do so until the end of this world.
But such a view is too pessimistic. It is like saying, “We are going to die anyway, so let’s die anyway we want, the earlier, the better.”
The realistic view is that while we cannot prevent all such bombings, there are measures which we can take that will prevent some, if not most, of these bombings. The prevention of some of these bombings is reward enough for the effort to prevent their fatal explosions.
3 Practical Suggestions from a Spiritual Point of View
I will give here 3 practical suggestions to prevent these bombs from being made and from exploding. Two of these suggestions can be done by individual persons immediately. The third is done better in institutions of learning and worshipping after the leaders of these institutions realize the efficacy of this method. They are all from a spiritual perspective. They are not from a military or police perspective which is to monitor the activities of suspicious individuals and prevent them from carrying their intended terroristic activities.
The first suggestion is very simple and yet it has been known to do many things, some of them impossible by human standards. This is prayer. “More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of,” said Alfred Lord Tennyson. Prayer can effectively prevent these bombings.
But by prayer here I do not mean the mumbling of prayer formulas from a prayer book or a sheet of paper. There is a parish here which ends the Mass everyday with a prayer using Psalm 91. It is a prayer for protection against harm of all kinds. The people recite this prayer. But this kind of prayer is not effective against bombings. For most of the parishioners it is just a ritualistic mumbling of prayers. It has not prevented the kidnappings and murders in the city.
Nor do I mean prayer here as going to a silent place and thinking about one’s self, about the values he needs to cultivate in his life, how he can overcome his faults, and then making a resolution to overcome these faults. Many are doing this in convents and monasteries, but this kind of prayer only cultivates the ego of the ones who pray.
By prayer I do not mean the loud, spontaneous but formalistic prayers of ministers before their congregation during their services or of prayer leaders before sessions or meetings.
By prayer I simply mean “conversation with God”, not mumbling a set formula of words, not thinking about oneself, not publicly showing religiosity. That is actually how Rosalind Rinker defined prayer, “conversing with God” and that is also the gist of Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada’s definition of mental prayer.
This kind of prayer, a sincere and real conversation with God can prevent the explosion of bombs because God in that conversation can share with the one who prays how to prevent these bombs from exploding or from being made, since many of these bombs have been labeled as improvised explosive device or IED. In other words they were made by improvising some gadgets to make a bomb explode.
The more people do this kind of prayer the more will there be possibility that God will teach us how to prevent these bombs from being made and set to explosion.
The second suggestion I have for the prevention of the making and explosion of these bombs is to avail of the services of the guardian angels. Each one of us has a guardian angel. But let us get a clearer picture of this being because most of us have a rather hazy picture of him.
Most of us think that a guardian angel is a winged human like being who is at our back. This is how artists have depicted the guardian angel. But actually this angel is a spirit. And because he is a spirit he has neither body nor wings. He cannot be seen by our physical eyes but we can feel his presence just as we can feel the blowing of the wind.
Guardian angels are spirits who accompany us from the time we were born. They are assigned to protect us from danger and from untimely death. But we have to follow their instruction. That is where the problem lies. Most of us are not distinctly aware of their presence with us. Maybe we have heard about them in our catechism class or Sunday school, memorized the prayer, “Angels of God, our guardian dear”, but we do not have a personal relationship with them. Because of this we do not talk with them, much less listen to their warnings. And because they are spirits their warnings can only be perceived spiritually. We cannot hear these warnings through our physical ears.
These guardian angels can tell us when we are going to a place where bombs can explode. If those policemen looking for these bombs have a personal relationship with their guardian angels and listen to them, the angels can tell them where those bombs are located.
I myself have availed of the services of these guardian angels. I was saved from a hold-upper by their help. My fellow passengers and I were saved from an explosion in a van by them. No one was hurt even in the least. Miracles still do happen. Persons sent to kill me and my father were dissuaded in their plans by these angels.
Why do we not avail of their help? They are just there for the asking.
And the third suggestion I have for the prevention of the making and exploding of these bombs is to invite more and more people to undergo spiritual development. We do not have this kind of development in our schools and churches. But let it not be another subject, like Religious Education or Theology. Do not call it a course or subject. Maybe the educators and ministers can call it a Journey. Instead of asking the students and parishioners who would like to take a course in Spiritual Development, ask them “Who would like to take a lifetime journey in spiritual development?”
When people are developed spiritually, they are more sensitive to the spiritual forces around them and they can sense the manipulations of these evil spiritual forces behind these bombs. In a newspaper here which published the reaction of the Bishops in the Philippines about the bombing last June 25, one bishop said “We have to examine its roots”. This implied that he does not know yet the root cause of the bombing. Spiritually developed persons know already the root cause: the deep-seated hatred of evil spirits against human beings.
Effective prayer, getting the help of our guardian angels, and leading more and more people on the path of spiritual development are my three suggestions in order to prevent the making and exploding of bombs that kill and hurt human beings.
Increasing Frequency of Bombings
Bombs are becoming more frequent these days. In the Philippines alone in the space of 11 years 21 bombs have been recorded, the worst one being the bombing on February 27, 2004 of the passenger boat Superferry 14 sinking this vessel and killing 116 people and injuring hundreds more. This was described as the deadliest terrorist attack in the Philippines and the world’s deadliest terrorist attack at sea. The 21 bombs in the space of 11 years killed on record 254 persons and injured hundreds more.
In 2009 there was a report from a military official that within a year 56 bombs had exploded or had been discovered in central Mindanao, the biggest island in southern Philippines. This is only in one part of the country.
If you add to these the bombs that have exploded or have been discovered to nearly explode all over the world, we realize that bomb explosions to hurt people are indeed becoming more common.
In the face of this tragic and very sad phenomenon, what can we do?
How To Prevent These Bombings
The reasonable thing to do is to prevent the explosion of these bombs. But how? Is there a way to prevent the explosion of such bombs.
There are people who say that we cannot prevent such man-made disasters from occurring. They have been prophesied long ago and will continue to do so until the end of this world.
But such a view is too pessimistic. It is like saying, “We are going to die anyway, so let’s die anyway we want, the earlier, the better.”
The realistic view is that while we cannot prevent all such bombings, there are measures which we can take that will prevent some, if not most, of these bombings. The prevention of some of these bombings is reward enough for the effort to prevent their fatal explosions.
3 Practical Suggestions from a Spiritual Point of View
I will give here 3 practical suggestions to prevent these bombs from being made and from exploding. Two of these suggestions can be done by individual persons immediately. The third is done better in institutions of learning and worshipping after the leaders of these institutions realize the efficacy of this method. They are all from a spiritual perspective. They are not from a military or police perspective which is to monitor the activities of suspicious individuals and prevent them from carrying their intended terroristic activities.
The first suggestion is very simple and yet it has been known to do many things, some of them impossible by human standards. This is prayer. “More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of,” said Alfred Lord Tennyson. Prayer can effectively prevent these bombings.
But by prayer here I do not mean the mumbling of prayer formulas from a prayer book or a sheet of paper. There is a parish here which ends the Mass everyday with a prayer using Psalm 91. It is a prayer for protection against harm of all kinds. The people recite this prayer. But this kind of prayer is not effective against bombings. For most of the parishioners it is just a ritualistic mumbling of prayers. It has not prevented the kidnappings and murders in the city.
Nor do I mean prayer here as going to a silent place and thinking about one’s self, about the values he needs to cultivate in his life, how he can overcome his faults, and then making a resolution to overcome these faults. Many are doing this in convents and monasteries, but this kind of prayer only cultivates the ego of the ones who pray.
By prayer I do not mean the loud, spontaneous but formalistic prayers of ministers before their congregation during their services or of prayer leaders before sessions or meetings.
By prayer I simply mean “conversation with God”, not mumbling a set formula of words, not thinking about oneself, not publicly showing religiosity. That is actually how Rosalind Rinker defined prayer, “conversing with God” and that is also the gist of Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada’s definition of mental prayer.
This kind of prayer, a sincere and real conversation with God can prevent the explosion of bombs because God in that conversation can share with the one who prays how to prevent these bombs from exploding or from being made, since many of these bombs have been labeled as improvised explosive device or IED. In other words they were made by improvising some gadgets to make a bomb explode.
The more people do this kind of prayer the more will there be possibility that God will teach us how to prevent these bombs from being made and set to explosion.
The second suggestion I have for the prevention of the making and explosion of these bombs is to avail of the services of the guardian angels. Each one of us has a guardian angel. But let us get a clearer picture of this being because most of us have a rather hazy picture of him.
Most of us think that a guardian angel is a winged human like being who is at our back. This is how artists have depicted the guardian angel. But actually this angel is a spirit. And because he is a spirit he has neither body nor wings. He cannot be seen by our physical eyes but we can feel his presence just as we can feel the blowing of the wind.
Guardian angels are spirits who accompany us from the time we were born. They are assigned to protect us from danger and from untimely death. But we have to follow their instruction. That is where the problem lies. Most of us are not distinctly aware of their presence with us. Maybe we have heard about them in our catechism class or Sunday school, memorized the prayer, “Angels of God, our guardian dear”, but we do not have a personal relationship with them. Because of this we do not talk with them, much less listen to their warnings. And because they are spirits their warnings can only be perceived spiritually. We cannot hear these warnings through our physical ears.
These guardian angels can tell us when we are going to a place where bombs can explode. If those policemen looking for these bombs have a personal relationship with their guardian angels and listen to them, the angels can tell them where those bombs are located.
I myself have availed of the services of these guardian angels. I was saved from a hold-upper by their help. My fellow passengers and I were saved from an explosion in a van by them. No one was hurt even in the least. Miracles still do happen. Persons sent to kill me and my father were dissuaded in their plans by these angels.
Why do we not avail of their help? They are just there for the asking.
And the third suggestion I have for the prevention of the making and exploding of these bombs is to invite more and more people to undergo spiritual development. We do not have this kind of development in our schools and churches. But let it not be another subject, like Religious Education or Theology. Do not call it a course or subject. Maybe the educators and ministers can call it a Journey. Instead of asking the students and parishioners who would like to take a course in Spiritual Development, ask them “Who would like to take a lifetime journey in spiritual development?”
When people are developed spiritually, they are more sensitive to the spiritual forces around them and they can sense the manipulations of these evil spiritual forces behind these bombs. In a newspaper here which published the reaction of the Bishops in the Philippines about the bombing last June 25, one bishop said “We have to examine its roots”. This implied that he does not know yet the root cause of the bombing. Spiritually developed persons know already the root cause: the deep-seated hatred of evil spirits against human beings.
Effective prayer, getting the help of our guardian angels, and leading more and more people on the path of spiritual development are my three suggestions in order to prevent the making and exploding of bombs that kill and hurt human beings.
Click Here!
Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
The Cure for Depression
Notice that I did not entitle this article “A Cure for Depression” or “Some Cures for Depression” but “The Cure for Depression.” This is because in my opinion what I am going to discuss here is not just one of the cures for depression, but the definitive cure for it.
Notice also that I did not qualify the word “depression”. I did not qualify it with an adjective like “physical”, “psychosomatic”, “psychological”, or “spiritual”. This is because this cure addresses all forms of depression, whether physical, mental, spiritual or a combination of these forms.
Many Cures and Techniques for Depression
There are many drugs, food supplements and techniques which are described as cures for depression.
There are drugs called anti-depressants which medical doctors prescribe for their patients with depression problems.
There are food supplements which are advertised as natural cures for depression. The advertisements say these are better than antidepressants.
There are also several techniques offered as cures for depression. One that I read of is a combination of simultaneously eating chocolate, listening to music and reading the Bible. Another technique which many have found effective is self-talk. This is talking to oneself using positive, encouraging words, rationalizing over the feeling of depression and its perceived cause.
All the cures I have just referred to do help in the management and control of depression. But they do not get rid of the depression because they do not touch the root cause of all depression: the dislocation of our spiritual equilibrium. What I am saying is that the root cause of all forms of depression, even physical such as extreme physical tiredness, is spiritual. If the root cause is spiritual, then the cure can only be spiritual. Only a spiritual cure can get rid of depression once and for all.
Surprisingly, in my readings on the cures of depression I notice that a spiritual cure for depression is not even mentioned. Reading the Bible is not necessarily a spiritual cure. It can be physical, just giving some exercise to the eyes and lips. It can be mental, just thinking of the ideas therein.
Before I name this spiritual cure for depression I want you to know that although it is spiritual, it does not necessarily involve going to church, saying some prayers, practicing meditation, doing good to one’s neighbor, not even following certain commandments of God.
There has been the idea since the 1960s that the cause of depression is sin and therefore to get rid of this you just have to confess your sin and get reconciled with God and with your fellow human beings. The cure that I will discuss here is not along that line. As I have already shown here http://developspirit.blogspot.com/2011/01/3-main-reasons-why-depression-is.html sometimes depression is a result of our effort to get rid of sin, not of committing a sin.
A World Without Depression
Before I state this cure let us imagine that we are in heaven. Many people believe that when they die they go to heaven if they have done good on earth. I say “many” because not all people believe this. Some Christians think that when we die we just sleep, waiting for our resurrection; we don’t go anywhere after death, either to heaven or to hell. And other Christians think that doing good on earth is not a requirement for getting into heaven.
People of other religions think that after death we exist again in another form of life: as another human being, an animal or a plant.
That is why I say “many”, not “all” believe that when we die we go to heaven.
But for the sake of an illustration let us just imagine we are in heaven. With the definition of heaven as a state or place of complete and lasting happiness it would be impossible for us to see there a depressed person. All would be happy there. Christian theologians say that their happiness there would be according to their capacity to receive happiness. But each one’s happiness would be full. No one would be there only half happy. All would be fully happy.
And what would make them happy? Again Christian theologians say that what makes them happy is not having enough good food, functional clothing, sturdy shelter and freedom from diseases. What makes them happy, according to these theologians, is the beatific vision.
It is called vision because they see God face to face. It is beatific because it is a vision, a seeing, which makes us happy. The word “beatific” comes from two Latin words, “beatus” which means “happy”, and “facere” which means “to make”.
The Cure for Depression
The ultimate cure for depression, then, is the vision of God. In my opinion and according to my experience the cure for depression of whatever form is the vision of God, our seeing God. Because it is a seeing which makes us happy, fully happy.
What most theologians teach us is that this beatific vision can only be enjoyed by us when we are already in heaven, that is, after we die. And that is where I differ.
I say together with a few teachers of spirituality that this vision of God, this seeing of God face to face can be attained or achieved even while we are still on this earth. And it is this seeing God face to face which can get rid of depression forever from our life.
Réginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange was a Catholic theologian who taught at the Angelicum (the popular name for the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas), Rome, from 1909 to 1960. He said “Fundamentally, the same divine life exists as a germ or a seed in the Christian on earth and as a fully developed life in the saints in heaven.” In other words what he is saying is that the life in heaven is begun on earth now. Now what makes us happy in heaven is seeing God. Therefore what makes us also happy on earth if we have this divine life is the seeing of God, not as clearly as in heaven, but still a real seeing of God.
Nicholas of Cusa who lived in the 15th century also affirmed that even on earth we can already see God and enjoy this vision of God. He wrote a book with this title, ABOUT THE VISION OF GOD.
This seeing of God while on earth is the ultimate cure for depression.
But you may ask, How do I get to see God when he is invisible? What must I do to see God?
The answer to the first question is: Yes, God is invisible because he is spirit. But because we also are spirits our spirit can see God, not with the eyes of the body but with the eyes of the spirit.
The answer to the second question is: There is nothing to do in order to see God. You just ask God for this and he gives this to you, but you obey what he tells you. Each one will have a different way of receiving this vision of God. I received mine by having a vibrant, lively relationship with Jesus through the Bible and the sacrament of Communion. Yours may be different. A Buddhist attains it in a different way. A person of another religion attains it in his or her own way.
Still depressed? Ask God to reveal to you his face. When you see him you will no longer be depressed. You can then follow the command to rejoice always in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and Philippians 4:4, a command which we can never follow unless we see God face to face now, through a glass darkly, but as really as we would see him in heaven.
Notice also that I did not qualify the word “depression”. I did not qualify it with an adjective like “physical”, “psychosomatic”, “psychological”, or “spiritual”. This is because this cure addresses all forms of depression, whether physical, mental, spiritual or a combination of these forms.
Many Cures and Techniques for Depression
There are many drugs, food supplements and techniques which are described as cures for depression.
There are drugs called anti-depressants which medical doctors prescribe for their patients with depression problems.
There are food supplements which are advertised as natural cures for depression. The advertisements say these are better than antidepressants.
There are also several techniques offered as cures for depression. One that I read of is a combination of simultaneously eating chocolate, listening to music and reading the Bible. Another technique which many have found effective is self-talk. This is talking to oneself using positive, encouraging words, rationalizing over the feeling of depression and its perceived cause.
All the cures I have just referred to do help in the management and control of depression. But they do not get rid of the depression because they do not touch the root cause of all depression: the dislocation of our spiritual equilibrium. What I am saying is that the root cause of all forms of depression, even physical such as extreme physical tiredness, is spiritual. If the root cause is spiritual, then the cure can only be spiritual. Only a spiritual cure can get rid of depression once and for all.
Surprisingly, in my readings on the cures of depression I notice that a spiritual cure for depression is not even mentioned. Reading the Bible is not necessarily a spiritual cure. It can be physical, just giving some exercise to the eyes and lips. It can be mental, just thinking of the ideas therein.
Before I name this spiritual cure for depression I want you to know that although it is spiritual, it does not necessarily involve going to church, saying some prayers, practicing meditation, doing good to one’s neighbor, not even following certain commandments of God.
There has been the idea since the 1960s that the cause of depression is sin and therefore to get rid of this you just have to confess your sin and get reconciled with God and with your fellow human beings. The cure that I will discuss here is not along that line. As I have already shown here http://developspirit.blogspot.com/2011/01/3-main-reasons-why-depression-is.html sometimes depression is a result of our effort to get rid of sin, not of committing a sin.
A World Without Depression
Before I state this cure let us imagine that we are in heaven. Many people believe that when they die they go to heaven if they have done good on earth. I say “many” because not all people believe this. Some Christians think that when we die we just sleep, waiting for our resurrection; we don’t go anywhere after death, either to heaven or to hell. And other Christians think that doing good on earth is not a requirement for getting into heaven.
People of other religions think that after death we exist again in another form of life: as another human being, an animal or a plant.
That is why I say “many”, not “all” believe that when we die we go to heaven.
But for the sake of an illustration let us just imagine we are in heaven. With the definition of heaven as a state or place of complete and lasting happiness it would be impossible for us to see there a depressed person. All would be happy there. Christian theologians say that their happiness there would be according to their capacity to receive happiness. But each one’s happiness would be full. No one would be there only half happy. All would be fully happy.
And what would make them happy? Again Christian theologians say that what makes them happy is not having enough good food, functional clothing, sturdy shelter and freedom from diseases. What makes them happy, according to these theologians, is the beatific vision.
It is called vision because they see God face to face. It is beatific because it is a vision, a seeing, which makes us happy. The word “beatific” comes from two Latin words, “beatus” which means “happy”, and “facere” which means “to make”.
The Cure for Depression
The ultimate cure for depression, then, is the vision of God. In my opinion and according to my experience the cure for depression of whatever form is the vision of God, our seeing God. Because it is a seeing which makes us happy, fully happy.
What most theologians teach us is that this beatific vision can only be enjoyed by us when we are already in heaven, that is, after we die. And that is where I differ.
I say together with a few teachers of spirituality that this vision of God, this seeing of God face to face can be attained or achieved even while we are still on this earth. And it is this seeing God face to face which can get rid of depression forever from our life.
Réginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange was a Catholic theologian who taught at the Angelicum (the popular name for the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas), Rome, from 1909 to 1960. He said “Fundamentally, the same divine life exists as a germ or a seed in the Christian on earth and as a fully developed life in the saints in heaven.” In other words what he is saying is that the life in heaven is begun on earth now. Now what makes us happy in heaven is seeing God. Therefore what makes us also happy on earth if we have this divine life is the seeing of God, not as clearly as in heaven, but still a real seeing of God.
Nicholas of Cusa who lived in the 15th century also affirmed that even on earth we can already see God and enjoy this vision of God. He wrote a book with this title, ABOUT THE VISION OF GOD.
This seeing of God while on earth is the ultimate cure for depression.
But you may ask, How do I get to see God when he is invisible? What must I do to see God?
The answer to the first question is: Yes, God is invisible because he is spirit. But because we also are spirits our spirit can see God, not with the eyes of the body but with the eyes of the spirit.
The answer to the second question is: There is nothing to do in order to see God. You just ask God for this and he gives this to you, but you obey what he tells you. Each one will have a different way of receiving this vision of God. I received mine by having a vibrant, lively relationship with Jesus through the Bible and the sacrament of Communion. Yours may be different. A Buddhist attains it in a different way. A person of another religion attains it in his or her own way.
Still depressed? Ask God to reveal to you his face. When you see him you will no longer be depressed. You can then follow the command to rejoice always in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and Philippians 4:4, a command which we can never follow unless we see God face to face now, through a glass darkly, but as really as we would see him in heaven.
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Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
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