Spiritual Living

“Be still and know that I AM God.

Pass through the words and thoughts which continuously occupy your mind, and rise in consciousness to that place of silent knowing…beyond words and thoughts.  In this quiet place you will notice Me…the I AM that I AM. I am not only the I AM that I AM, but also the I AM that you are. I AM the One Life. The Life of ALL. When you are aware of Me as the I AM that you are, you are aware of All that I AM…Life, Love, Healing, Restoration, and Wholeness. There is nothing lacking in the I AM that I AM, therefore, there is nothing lacking in you, because the I AM that I AM is your true identity..Who you really are. You are not your mind, will, emotions or body. You are the individual expression of Me… the I AM that I AM. So, come to Me for Me. Seek Me alone. When you have a conscious awareness of Me, you have All that I Am, and I AM is all you will ever need. Go ahead, rise now above words and thoughts. Be still and know that I AM God. You will find that I AM waiting to meet you there. In my Presence, there is fullness of joy. I Am that I AM. I AM the I AM that you are. Besides Me there is none other.”

TRUTH IS. The nature of truth is to be constantly expressing Itself. We become consciously aware of truth in proportion to our receptivity to it. We never have to live on the truth that was revealed to us yesterday, because there is always fresh revelations awaiting for us each day. Just as the Israelites in the desert never had to live on “yesterday’s manna” neither do we have to live on yesterday’s revelations. They are new every morning.

The reason we contemplate scriptures (the written word) is because it one of many ways to prepare our conscious mind to receive the Living word revealed from within. It is not just the written word we need, it is fresh relevant spiritual revelations about the written word that makes it come alive in our every day living.

No human being can make truth come alive to you. That is the work and function of the Spirit within you. Men and women can be channels through which truth flows, but only the Spirit within you can take the written or verbal presentation of truth and make it come alive to you personally.

The reason we seek and contemplate truth is to clear our conscious and subconscious mind of the religious error we’ve accumulated through the years, by blindly and un-thinkingly accepting whatever was dished out to us by a “professional peddler” of religion. Contemplating spiritual truths and allowing the Spirit to teach us tears down the error and rebuilds our lives with truth.

The goal is to move from the “letter of truth” to the “spirit of truth.” The words written in black ink on a white page in the Bible are an external visible representation of the inner invisible truth written by the Spirit within the heart of each of us.

If the mere presence of truth in our lives has the power to free us from error, addictions and any other form of bondage, then everyone with a Bible sitting on their bookshelf or coffee table should be instantly freed. Jesus didn’t say that “the truth shall make you free,” He said “You shall KNOW the truth, and (knowing) the truth will make you free.”

“Knowing” something is not “thinking” or even “believing” that something is so. Knowing something to be true is based on an inner certainty. The inner certainty comes from within you. Jesus told us that we really didn’t need a teacher to teach us spiritual truth because that is one of the jobs and functions of the Holy Spirit or Presence of God within us.

In this information age we currently live in, many spiritually hungry people have been deceived by denominational hiarchy into believing that the only way they can understand the Bible or spiritual truth, is through years of formal training in seminaries. This simply is a lie and not consistent to Jesus’ teaching whatsoever. You can study truth for years and still be ignorant to the spiritual intent of the AUTHOR….GOD. The way to know what the author of a book has in mind is to spend some time with the author and ask him/her about their original intent in their writings. Some of the most defeated and unhappy people in the world are those who have memorized large quanties of scrirptures but have never disciplined themselves to the harder task of “being still and allowing the Spirit to reveal the true spiritual significance of the passage.” Comparitively speaking, it is a lot easier to reach for a concordance, textbook or pull up a word study on the internet, than it is so take a passage, sit in the silence with a humble listening attitude and say…”Speak to me Lord. Teach me Your intent in this verse, principle,or parable.

Head knowledge alone of spiritual truths is void of power. It is the KNOWING of truth that has the power to remove error, heal, restore and do any other curative work that needs to be done.

Sometimes just knowing the literal translation of truth actually places you in fear, legalism and bondage. It is the spiritual interpretation of scriptures that we are promised will make us free. Spiritual interpretations come from SPIRIT. You must believe that it is possible for God to communicate with you DIRECTLY FROM WITHIN. Without knowing that, you will buy into the deception that understanding comes to only the highly trained professional spiritual leaders. That is mass deception and it is time to wake up to Christ in You… your inner teacher who was, is and always will be the Source of Truth, the Interpreter of truth and your Inner Teacher of truth.

Remember, the truth has no power in itself to make you free! It is your and my individual knowing the truth from within that has the infinite power to free us from any form or shape or error and bondage.

Jesus tells us not to judge by appearance, but to use righteous judgement. What could that mean? In just His statement alone, we see there are two ways of viewing others. One is according to appearance, that is, how they outwardly look…their mannerisms, characteristics and behaviors. The other way is according to “righteous judgement” which means seeing them rightly.

A Spiritual Living  principle is that …There is ONE LIFE and that LIFE is GOD. Another major principle of Spiritual Living is There is ONE LIFE, Many Expressions. That means that God, the One Life expresses Himself as ALL. Omnipresent, a characteristic of God, not only means “everywhere present” but also the “only” presence. Therefore we have the ONE LIFE expressing Himself as us all. The Life of God, being the only life is therefore my life and your life, and everyone else’s life. So, if I am going to see you as you really are, I, through spiritual awareness will see you as a child of God, with God’s life expressing Itself as you. That is “righteous judgement” or judging rightly.

A miraculous thing happens when I see you as you really are, according to your true spiritual identity, not just your human identity. When I see you according to your spiritual identity, I experience you as your true identity…the Life of God manifesting and expressing Himself as  you! I sense God’s presence in, through and as you. This is what Jesus meant when He said….” When you did it to the least of these, you did it unto me.” The reason being the “least of these” is Him, expressing Himself as them. Elsewhere He said…”Love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s because the Spiritual Self of your neighbor is the Spiritual Self of you…that being the ONE SELF…GOD!

Therefore, our spiritual responsibility is not to change other’s behaviors or re-make them in our image, but rather to see them as they really are…a child of God made in His image, and therefore an individualized expression of the ONE LIFE…HIS LIFE.

A second miracle occurs…As we see others as they really are, they begin to see us as we really are. All of mankind cries out…”Please see past my faults and recognize me for who I really am.” Out of love, we answer that cry and greet each other with the inner silent awareness…The Christ In Me Beholds The Christ In You. And so it is, and so it will be.

In previous writings we discussed that our spiritual destiny is know God! Wow! What an incredible undertaking! At least it is an awesome feat if we try to accomplish it through external means alone. By external means, I am referring to reading and memorizing scripture, going to church, pledging allegiance to denominational doctrines and hanging out with other “seekers” who are as confused as we are!

You and I can never reach God through external means alone. As we stated earlier, external means may or may not be a means to an end, but they certainly are not the final destination. The truth is, anything other than scriptures are probably more of a hindrance than a help!

The destination is a conscious awareness of the Presence of God. The way of becoming aware of His presence that I am most familiar with is meditation. So what actually is meditation?

Meditation is the process of quieting the mind of it’s endless chatter and allowing the mind to function as an avenue of awareness for the  Presence, voice, impressions and nudges of God. The question becomes…”how do I do that?’
 
Here is a simple process that has stood the test of time and is recorded in the Christian scriptures and ancient wisdoms of the world:

• Turn off all outside distractions, such as the television and radio.
• Sit in a chair, or on the floor, or wherever you are comfortable.
• Take a favorite scripture or other spiritual truth and begin thinking about it. ie…”My Kingdom is not of this world.”—Jesus
• Allow those words to still and focus your mind. As you repeat the words over to yourself and think about them, you will notice that the random thoughts which are occupying your mind will slow down and eventually come to an end.
• Now, you are in the silence. The silence is where you want to be. You may want to repeat the words that Samuel spoke when he said..”Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”

It is this “listening attitude in the silence” that you are wanting to attain. Now just “Be still and know that I (the I of your being) is God.”

• Be open to sensing God’s presence in whatever form He chooses. You may just know that you are in the Presence of God, or you may have a special feeling that you are in the Presence. It may be a warmth unlike anything you have ever experienced before. Whatever the manifestation of His Presence is, you will know that it is God!

This may seem like a lengthy process, but once you get use to it, you can become aware of His Presence anytime and anywhere. That actually is the goal. To instantly become aware of God’s Presence whenever and wherever you desire…which hopefully is Twenty-four/seven.

Again, I am sharing with you the spiritual revelations I have received. Spiritual Living by no means is an absolute teaching. It is a teaching based on my own personal journey.

So, to summarize, our destination on the Spiritual path is God…..Destination God!  How you get there is up to how the Spirit leads you. If meditation, the way I have presented it is helpful to you, wonderful! If not, I am certain that God knows the sincere intent of your heart and  will lead you in path you are to go.

From one traveler to another! Have a peaceful and profitable journey!

The spiritual life is a journey. It begins with the realization that “there has to be something more.” Something more to life than getting up, going to work, coming home, going to bed, just to wake up tomorrow and repeat the same process. Sometimes boredom and dissatisfaction are the catalysts which launch us on our spiritual journey.

In Spiritual Living, our journey has a specific destination and that is to make contact with God, to actually experience the Presence of God within. Reading books, memorizing scripture and discussing spiritual issues with others may be a means to an end but by now means is the end or destination. The final destination is experiencing God’s presence first hand. You can read about the benefits of a balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins and minerals but knowledge of food will not satisfy your hunger nor nourish you. Eventually you must taste and ingest the food in order to satisfy your hunger. The same is true with water. We can know all about the chemical interaction of H2O and still die of thirst. Water has to be taken into our system and absorbed before we will get the intended benefits. So it is with the Presence of God. In order to quench our spiritual thirst and hunger, the Presence of God must be experience within.

Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is within us. Scriptures tell us to “Be still and know that I am God.” Eventually we must lay the books down, get quiet, go within, and listen. For most of us, the Presence of God announces Itself as a feeling, a sensing and/or an inner knowing. However the Spirit of God chooses to communicate with you will be the perfect way for you. Do not try to manufacture the experience or outline the way you want to experience His presence. Just be open and trust that the Presence will make Itself known to you in the right way, and at the right time.

Enjoy the journey but keep the destination in mind. Don’t allow knowledge, church membership or religious business to become a substitute for the real thing…knowing God first hand. It is possible and highly probable for you to reach the spiritual destination of knowing God if you will decide to settle for nothing less.

You can view February’s newsletter here.