Understanding The Mystery Of the Gospel

When you read the gospel as historical events that happened 2000 years ago, you would gained some knowledge alright, but would miss the substance of the gospel. What is the substance of the gospel?

The gospel is spiritual food for your soul. As you read the gospel and understand it, the words are transmitted from your conscious mind to your subconscious mind which is the mind of your soul. During the transmission from your conscious to your subconscious mind, the words of the gospel are transformed into spiritual food for your soul.

How the words of the gospel are transformed into spiritual food for your soul is a mystery. Unlocking this mystery requires the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to elevate your consciousness to see, hear and understand spiritual things. This is not as hard as you might think. While the words of the gospel are transformed by your subconscious mind to spiritual food for your soul, the words also inform your conscious mind to demonstrate your love for God by loving your neighbors as you love yourself.

In other words, you cannot receive the Holy Spirit without demonstrating your love for God, just as you cannot demonstrate your love for God without loving your neighbors as you love yourself. Many believers mistakenly think they are demonstrating their love for God by praying, fasting and living piously. While these religious activities are important, they are significant in the eyes of God when accompanied by practicing the words of the gospel.

However, you cannot successfully practice the word of God without involving your soul in the process, which is why it's necessary to hear and read the gospel daily to provide your soul the spiritual food it needs to cleanse itself for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

I know you may find the transforming of the words of the gospel into spiritual food hard to believe. I will go further to say it's alright if you are skeptical about the notion that words printed on the pages of a book could be transformed into spiritual food for your soul. I say this because I was once just as skeptical until I learned to elevate my consciousness.

Your reality depends on the level of your consciousness, or on what you are aware of, therefore it's reasonable to say other realities exist of which you are not presently aware, but could become aware of. For example, without the microscope you couldn't have known about the micro-organic world. Similarly, without faith you cannot become aware of the spiritual world.

Listen to what Jesus said in Mark 11:22-24, "Have faith in God, Jesus said. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, go throw yourself into the sea, and he does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen,it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

This spiritual principle is the most misunderstood among believers. What do we pray to God for? Do we pray for bread and meat to feed our families? Do we pray for shelter to protect us from the weather? Do we pray to God for good health? 

All these things are necessary for our survival, but have you ever heard of a starving man who prayed to God, and suddenly bread and meat appeared on his table, or a family who prayed to God, and suddenly the leak in the roof of their house stopped during a heavy rain, or a man who prayed to God, and suddenly got healed from diabetes, tuberculosis or cancer?

Very few people, if any, would say they have heard about or seen such miracles, and the reason is miracles are not every day events. Yet, if we shouldn't pray to God for material things, then what should we pray to God for? In answering this question it's important to know that God is a spirit, he is not a magician. 

When Jesus said, "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours," he meant when you pray to God, you will receive the Holy Spirit who will give you God's wisdom and power to enable you create the conditions in which the material things you need would become yours. 

This view is supported by Matthew 6:28-33 where Jesus said in part, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Here, God is telling us to first seek the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, then we will have divine wisdom and power to enable us get the material things we need.

You see, God does not ordinarily find jobs for the unemployed, or put bread and meat on the table of starving men. Off course, God could if he wishes to do so; in which case he would perform a miracle. But again, miracles are not every day events. Miracles happen only when your thought and God's thought coincide, in which case your thought is lifted to the level of God's, making what you hope for to instantaneously become yours.

Therefore be wary of people who tell you, all you need do is pray to God and you will have what you ask for. Also be wary of people who tell you to send them a certain amount of money and God will give you what you pray for. Again, remember God is not a magician. He is a caring spiritual father who wants to empower you with his spirit to help you create the conditions where you can put bread and meat on your table, stop the leak in the roof of your house, and afford to see the doctor when you are sick; not by wishfully thinking the things you need for your survival and happiness would miraculously appear in your hands, but by applying God's wisdom and power through your thoughts and actions.

I have spent my adult life thinking about the mystery of the gospel, and have found that faith is the key to understanding that mystery. The argument that faith is to believe blindly is wrong. When you go back to read the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1, you will find that faith is the pursuit of knowledge. Faith asks us to seek and find the substance of what we hope for, and the evidence that God exists. I see nothing related to blindness in the pursuit of knowledge. Meanwhile, you can begin your search for spiritual knowledge through faith by reading my articles on The Meaning and Application of Faith.

Let me add that regardless of what you feel about God and the gospel, don't be content with the notion that God exists, end of story; or that God does not exists, end of story. In which camp you find yourself, it's important to seek more knowledge about God either to confirm what you believe, or to change what you believe. And you can begin with asking questions.

Receiving The Holy Spirit

When the Holy Spirit enters your soul, you will be changed. You will see and hear things that others don't see and hear. You will experience an elated state of mind convinced that you have found the solutions to all the problems in your life.

Unfortunately, seeing and hearing things and elation are also indicators of schizophrenia and mania. So how do you distinguish between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the effects of a mental illness?

In the case of schizophrenia, the affected person suffers from hallucination. He sees, hears, smells and feels things that others don't. These effects of schizophrenia become a problem and indicate a mental illness when they begin disrupting the normal life of the person. When he cannot properly function in school, at work, or maintain relationships, its time to seek psychiatric help.

Under schizophrenia the affected person also suffers from delusion. He refuses to change what he believes to be true even when presented with irrefutable evidence that his belief is not true or logical. For instance, he may believe people around him are cheating, plotting to poison, or spying upon him. He may also have delusion of grandeur and believe he can accomplish things beyond his immediate resources and ability.

In the case of mania, the affected person may be either elated, or irritable and angry. He would have racing thoughts, increased talking, faster speech than normal, risk taking, grandiose plans and impulsive behavior. Normal people do experience some of these characteristics of mania, but these become indicators of mental illness when they disrupt the person's normal life.

On the other hand, while the indwelling of the Holy Spirit would enable you to see and hear things that others don't, you would have this experience no longer than a few days. Better still the experience wouldn't disrupt your normal life. If these revelations begin to disrupt your normal life know that they are not from God, they may be the effects of a mental illness, or from evil spirits.

This is the reason priests don't normally teach the mystical underpinnings of the gospel. If they did, they would be introducing us to the activities of spirits. And since in the spiritual world there is no telling when we would run into evil spirits and be misled or harmed, priests seek to protect us from direct contact with spirits, and when we do come into direct contact with spirits the experience is gently explained away.

Priests have a good reason for protecting us from receiving direct revelations from spirits. Can you imagine the pandemonium that would occur in the church if half the congregation began seeing and hearing things that others don't see?

Well meaning as the priests are, we don't need that protection. We need to know the mystical underpining of the gospel in order to understand who is God, and his relevance in our lives. Agreeing with this is why Jesus spoke in parables telling us earthly stories to explain spiritual principles aimed at helping us understand the nature of God, and his relevance in our lives, and letting us know we can have direct relationship with God by worshiping him in spirit and in truth.

Matthew 13:3-23 is one such parables. Jesus told the story about a farmer who went out to sow seed, pointing out that the seed stood for the word of God, and those who hear, understand and apply the word of God in their daily lives would receive the Holy Spirit.

Before I lose you let me say quickly that receiving the Holy Spirit, or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a mystical process. In our conscious state of mind, you and I cannot understand this process. To understand the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we need help from the word of God.

By hearing, reading and practicing the word of God we prepare our souls for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but practicing the word of God is not easy. If it were human relationships would be far better than they are today, and consequently most of the problems we face would have been solved.

Still, practicing the word of God is doable when done on the foundation of love. A love that is willing to give without expecting something in return. I know I've caught your attention because what I'm saying is very seldom done. In the natural course of our lives when we give we expect something in return. For example, when you treat your neighbor kindly, you expect him to treat you kindly in return. If he doesn't you would stop being nice to him.

But the gospel teaches differently. It encourages us to treat our neighbors kindly, regardless whether they treat us kindly or not. This is hard stuff to swallow, and is the reason so many people are unable to practice it in their daily lives. Instead, we practice the dictum: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth which leads to spiritual emasculation and blindness. We are forever hearing but not hearing what matters, and forever seeing but not seeing what matters for our happiness.

Knowing that humankind was headed for disaster is the reason God came in the person of Jesus and lived among us, so that we might receive the Holy Spirit by hearing and practicing the word. By hearing and reading the word, we acquire faith by which we can see God, and strengthen our love for him.

Our love for God can be demonstrated only by practicing his word. And what is the word of God? In the form that matters the most, the word of God is this: love your neighbors as you love yourself, meaning do onto your neighbors as you would want done onto you. Loving your neighbors as yourself is the mystical underpinning of the word of God.

If you love your neighbors as you love yourself, you wouldn't accept any revelation that told you to do onto your neighbors what you wouldn't want done onto you. For example, you wouldn't accept as a legitimate revelation to steal your neighbor's property, or take his wife or husband, or do harm to your neighbors, because you wouldn't want your neighbors doing these things to you. The mystery in this spiritual principle is that love opens the door to your soul for the Holy Spirit to live in you, protecting you from been misled or harmed by evil spirits.

By this spiritual principle God has revealed to you and I the mystical underpinning of his word. You don't need a PhD, or a Masters Degree, or even a high school diploma to understand the word of God, and have a direct spiritual relationship with him. Certainly, Jesus and his twelve disciples didn't have PhD and Masters degrees, yet they understood the mystical underpinning of the gospel, and taught it to all who had ears to hear.

To be sure, the word of God is a mystery, but by his grace we now know that by doing onto our neighbors as we would want done onto us, we can transform our souls into hospitable dwelling for the Holy Spirit, making us three persons in one, as God is three persons in one; making us children of God, as Jesus is the son of God.

As a child of God, remind yourself daily that the Holy Spirit lives in you. Know that the Holy Spirit will not make you do what you don't want to do. The presence of the Holy Spirit in you, makes available to you God's wisdom and power. It's your choice to use them to create the conditions in which the things you hope for will become real in your life.

If you have questions send them to me for answers. I don't charge for answering your questions. I received the Word freely and freely I give it to you. Meanwhile, read my articles on "The Meaning and Application of Faith."

Can I See God

I was formally introduced to God and religion at five in a Catholic school. Soon after I began wondering who is God and when could I see him.

As I got older I realized I was not going to see God, after learning from my teachers that God is a spirit, and I could not see him in the same way as I did my parents and friends. I was disappointed and for a while gave up longing to see God, but in my mind remained the desire to see him, and this desire resurfaced again and again during difficult times in my life.

These difficult times strengthened my desire to see God and have a personal relationship with him. My desire was reinforced when I read Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God". In saying these words Jesus was letting me know my heart is the source of my emotions, thoughts, motivation, courage and actions, and if I could express these in love without harming my neighbors I would see God.

Jesus' promise that I would see God was exhilarating. But how could this be done? How could physical persons like you and I see God who is a spirit? Was Jesus trying to trick us into believing God exists? Or was Jesus telling the truth?

In response to these questions, some biblical scholars argue that Jesus did not mean we would see God, because it is impossible for a physical person to see a spirit. On the contrary, they argue, Jesus meant we would see God through his works in our lives; pressing we needed nothing more than common sense to see the truth in that argument.

In fact, we can see God spiritually. These scholars see the issue solely from a physical perspective, ignoring the spiritual perspective which is paramount on issues relating to God. For starters, how could you have a meaningful discussion about God who is a spirit without talking about the activities of spirits and their effects on our lives?

Not talking about the activities of spirits in the church has diluted the power of our relationship with God. Many believers would be surprised to learn they have nothing more than a physical relationship with God through their priests. If you desire a spiritual relationship with God, it is worth knowing your priest can only show you the way to God, he cannot connect you with God in spirit. Nobody can connect you with God in spirit, only you can, aided by faith.

To have a spiritual relationship with God you should worship him in truth. You can worship God in truth by hearing or reading the gospel daily to find the truth and apply it in your life. This way you will find true love to enable you love your neighbors as you love yourself; meaning doing onto your neighbors as you would want done onto you.

Loving your neithbors as you love yourself is the second most important spiritual principle in having a spiritual relationship with God. The first is to become one with God in love. The reason love is important is that it allows the Holy Spirit to live in your soul. Only then can you have a spiritual relationship with God, and be elevated spiritually to see God.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a mystical experience normally not comprehended by human intelligence or senses. When you are indwelled by the Holy Spirit you may see and hear things that people around you cannot see and hear, in which case you would be called a schizophrenia. You may also experience an elated state of mind expressed by feelings of euphoria, lack of fear and an acute mind, in which case you would be called a mania. Is there any wonder why priests don't promote the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as ultimate goal of worshiping God?

You see, there are social disincentives to expressing your experiences with the Holy Spirit. But the good news is  the vast majority of people indwelled by the Holy Spirit don't see and hear things. The indwelling Holy Spirit often gives us God's power and wisdom to improve our condition and find happiness.

In my next article I will talk about the difference between revelations from God, and the actual medical illness of schizophrenia and mania. Meanwhile, send me your questions, and read my articles on faith at: www.squidoo.com/meaning-and-application-of-faith

Connecting With God In Spirit

If you believe in God, you've rid yourself of the problems faced by nonbelievers who don't want to be bothered with questions like: Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where are we going, and why are there so much pain and suffering in this life? These are hard questions, and nonbelievers are aware science and phylosophy have no satisfactory answers to them. Yet they reject there is knowledge beyond human knowledge, and life beyond physical life.

Nevertheless, the nonbeliever has a point when he asks: how do we prove there is knowledge beyond human knowledge? How do we prove there is life beyond physical life? Because there is no physical means to find answers to these questions, is the reason religion came into existence to provde the spiritual means to do so.

Before commenting on how religion can help you find answers to the questions on life and death, let me say a word or two about religion. It is the pathway to God. Religion introduces us to God. How we connect with God spiritually depends on what we do individually aided by faith. The reason we need faith to connect with God spiritually is that faith bridges the physical and spiritual world.

In Hebrews 11:1 we read, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and evidence of things not seen." The things we hope for, before they are realized, exist in our imagination. What is "imagination"? It is the image of things and people formed in the mind not perceived by our five senses including, sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch; yet when you think about it, all the things we are aware of which form our reality come to us through our five senses.

If the things and people in our imagination got there not through our five senses, how did they get there? You may be surprised by what I'm about to say: we have a 6th sense that makes us aware of things and people not perceived by our five senses, and that 6th sense is the human soul. The soul being a spirit perceives spiritual things and people and makes us aware of them in our imagination.

The imagination is our window to the spiritual world, through which we see the images of people and things reflected in our minds, as in a dream, vision or nightmare. These images let us know what exists and what is achievable, but without the soul, these images would be blurred and meaninless.

Fortunately, everybody has a soul, so you don't need faith to have hope and imagination, but you need faith to connect with God in spirit. Now, why do you need to connect with God spiritually when you don't need him to have hope and imagination? Let me answer the question by saying if you believe in a God who you do not see, and yet believe he exists it can only mean you believe in a spirit. Consequently, your relationship with God would be different from your relationship with your parent and friends. How different?

Your relationship with your parent and friends occurs on a physical level, and made easier because you can see and talk with them. To have a relationship with God you need to elevate yourself spiritually because God is a spirit. Since we can not do this on our own, God came down to earth in human form through Jesus Christ to teach us how to elevate ourselves to have a spiritual relationship with him.

God has already reached out to us, it's our turn to reach out to him through faith. By faith we are encouraged to do onto our neighbors as we would want done onto us to purify our hearts allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in our souls, and make us one with God in spirit.

Becoming one with God in spirit unlocks the power of Matthew 5:8 to enable you to see God. You will find the evidence that God eixist, as you apply in your daily life what Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God". With a pure heart you will see God.

Read more about faith and how to purify your heart to see God at: www.squidoo.com/meaning-and-application-of-faith

God and Science

Science supplanted God and religion in the 1600s following the new paradigm that required logical explanation for all natural phenomena. For example if you said water is made from 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom , to be accepted as truth by your peers you had to prove your claim by an experiment. Thus any claim of truth that didn't meet the acid test of logic and evidence was written off as superstitious and false.

God and religion couldn't meet the acid test of logic and evidence, so they were left behind while science matched on, creating hitherto unknown knowledge and skills that produced material goods on a scale never before known to humankind. Unfortunately, we are approaching the limit of science where the production of more and more material goods fails not only to provide enough food and material comfort to all people on the face of the earth, but also fails to bring us happiness.

We are discovering that what needs fixing is our perceptions and the attitudes they create which determine how we interact with each other. In other words, how we treat our neighbors. No amount of material goods can teach us how to treat our neighbors as we would want to be treated. Science cannot help us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves because pure love conflicts with the desires of the flesh.

Before I put forth my view that only God can help us love our neighbors as we love ourselves, let me tell you something about how God came into being. Science will tell you in the beginning was "energy" and from that energy came matter. I will say in the beginning was the "spirit of love" and from that spirit of love came all that was created.

Science can prove that all matter came from energy, what it cannot prove is from where came the energy. On the other hand, we can begin to find proof that all matter was created by the "spirit of love" from the fact that we did not pay a penny for the earth, it's vegetation, fresh water, air and minerals. The oceans and the fishes and plants in them. All these things necessary for human survival and happiness were given us free of charge.

Other than the "spirit of love", what other entity could have given us these incomparable gifts while asking nothing in return? Love is the essence of God. It is that which makes God who he is. In fact, without love God couldn't exist. Recognizing God's love in our creation and in the creation of everything around us, it's hard to deny the existence of God, even when we refuse to say it aloud.

God is love, which is why he encourages us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, to enable us connect with him in spirit. Just as there are physical laws of nature, there are also spiritual laws. Just as when you throw a ball up it will come down, so too when you love your neighbors as you love yourself, you will connect with God in spirit.

I know it's not easy to love your neighbors as you love yourself, if it were there would be no war, hatred and poverty on the face of the earth. But loving your neighbors as you love yourself is a goal worth pursuing not only to make the lives of your neighbors better, but also make yours better, free from fear, despair, stress, depression, hatred and other vices that deprive us the opportunity to connect with God in spirit.

Connecting with God through love doesn't mean we would not have problems. What it means is we would not be overwhelmed by those problems. We will receive from God the spirit of power, the spirit of love, and the spirit of a sound mind to empower us fight off the spirits of fear, despair, loneliness, stress, depression and hatred, in order to maintain peace in our minds, bodies, souls toward happiness.

Read more about connecting with God in spirit at: www.squidoo.com/meaning-and-application-of-faith

You Know God Exists, What Next

Knowing God exists based on personal experiences in your life is important, but more important  is knowing how to use that knowledge to improve your life, and the lives of people touched by your words and action.

Too often though, people are scared away from God by the fear of religious rules of conduct, arguing these rules limit their freedom. Fortunately, Jesus took away this fear 3000 years ago when he summarized the Ten Commandments into two overarching spiritual principles in Matthew 22:37-39.

By telling us to love God with all our hearts, minds and souls, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, Jesus replaced those feared religious codes of conduct with loving God and our neighbors.

But, since God is spirit, we can love him only by loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. We would understand this when we give some thoughts to what Jesus said, "How can you love God who you do not see, but hate your neighbors who you see everyday.

Yet many people have difficulties loving their neighbors as they love themselves, because in every person are two entities each seeking control over the words and action of the host person. These entities are: the natural person who seeks the things of the flesh, and the spiritual person who seeks the things of the spirit. These two are in constant conflict.

The conflict between the natural person and the spiritual person is the reason Paul said in Romans 7:19-20. "He desires to do what is good, but he cannot carry it out. Instead he does the evil he doesn't want to do."

The natural person seeks all the good things for himself, leaving scraps for his neighbors. As individuals, we tend to resist sharing power and material things equitably with our neighbors. And this is the reason you will find conflict wherever people live. 

This human shortfall is the reason no person can do the right thing all the time. Our only hope is to ensure our words and action flow from love, as love alone can give us the spiritual strength to want for our neighbors what we want for ourselves.

Doing onto our neighbors as we would want done onto us is not without its reward. In doing so, we make our souls hospitable dwelling for the Holy Spirit. And once our souls are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we connect spiritually with God bringing his blessings into our lives. Blessings that lead to freedom, fulfillment and happiness.

Send your questions to me at: www.aidoo2b@gmail.com

Why You Need To Know God Exists

For starters, forget about what you have heard for, or against the existence of God. Blaze your own path with a personal mission to find the truth about God. You need to do this to base your attitude toward God on actual experiences in your life, rather than only what you hear. 

The difference between humans and lower animals is we are aware we shall eventually die. To allay the fear of death, some argue death is the end of life. Consequently, they tell us to eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we are dead. They reject the existence of the human soul, retorting how could they believe the soul exists when they cannot see it.

But there is a reason they don't see the soul. And it is that the soul is a spirit. By elevating their spiritual consciousness they would experience the soul acting in their lives, and understand the purpose of death. 

Death is a transition from physical life to spiritual life. It ends one form of life in order to begin another form of life. Which is why its important to know what would happen to us after death. The type of life we shall have after death is fully explained in the gospel.

Certainly, agreeing with the gospel doesn't mean blindly accepting that God exists. It means searching for proof that God exists. This is where many believers fall short. They give up too easily searching for proof that God exists.

Meanwhile, the means to prove that God exists have been with us as long as the gospel has. In Matthew 5:8 Jesus said, "the pure in heart shall see God," to press home the point that in order to see God we should purify our hearts.

Paul teaches us how to purify our hearts when he spoke about the Gentiles in Acts 15:6-9, "He [God] made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith." By faith our hearts are purified to enable us to see God. Read more about the power of faith at www.squidoo.com/meaning-and-application-of-faith. If you have a question contact me at aidoo2b@gmail.com.