Spiritual Realm

This is the second part of a series titled Spiritual Laws 101. The spirit realm is often seen by mainstream church as flaky, weird and sometimes not even touched by the western Church. In my experience in Africa, the spiritual realm is discussed more openly and a such its not a taboo subject from the pulpit.

The Spirit Realm is a vitally important aspect of our walk as believers. We are created in the very image of God (Genesis 1:27). God is first and foremost a Spirit. It is in this image that we are created. Our spirit man inhabits a physical body with a mind. The mind is most likened to our soul-man. The mind I the seat of our emotions, thoughts, feelings experiences etc. Our mind is a battlefield. Sin is first conceived in the mind. You think before you act (most times) and this is where sin originates. Joshua 7:20-21 Achan saw gold and silver and coveted them. There was a thought process before the action. In Genesis 3:6 Eve ‘saw’ the fruit after hearing about the fruit from the snake. Sin was entertained in the mind before the action took place.

From both the aforementioned examples we see a similar pattern. The eyes saw an item that was not allowed.  Lust is defined as an “intense desire”. In both cases we see the results of this intense desire.

The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:17 says to put on the helmet of salvation. The Roman helmet was designed to cover the eyes and the ears, as well the head. The head, holds the mind, the soil where seed comes into be planted. The eyes and ears are the gates to the mind. These gates allow all kinds of seeds to come in. Generally the eyes/ears do not have any filters over them. The helmet of salvation is a filter that we are to place over our eye/ear gates to filter out any objects that may lead to sin being conceived in our fertile minds.

In the spiritual realm you cannot see with your physical eyes, and as such you don’t see believers walking around with helmets on! The helmet of Salvation is likened to the blood of Jesus. You are instructed to protect your eyes/ears with filters. Use the Blood of Jesus as a filter. Do not allow any lust to enter in and be conceived

Discourgement

Ezra 4:4 The people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah.

Isn’t it amazing that the people of the land, those of the world, often try and unfortunately succeed in discouraging the people of Praise? Judah is the tribe of Praise and Worship. Judah was known as the tribe of Praise. It never seems to amaze me how the people of the world try and discourage those who are not of the world. As the world goes into recession, so it tries to discourage those of us that understand the power of praise.

 

Ezra 4:5 the people of the world even hired counselors to discourage the praise. You see the world’s counselors are not those with true understanding and insight into the spiritual realm. Thus things of the spirit are often confusing and seen as flaky by those of the world. In fact, one politician referred to the spiritual people as holding on to their religion. I don’t know about you, but it is this so called religion that sustains me in times of need.

The world does not understand the spiritual realm and as such looks with disdain at spiritual people. One of the finest principals of the spirit realm is the effect of praise and worship. The book of Psalms records this: My God inhabits the praise of His people”. Interestingly enough it’s the praises that the world’s system hates the most. The reason the world hates what it does not understand, is because a lack of understanding is scary.

God encourages us to praise Him during times of need. This is exactly when we need to increase in praise, get deeper into worship. Let God’s presence sustain you during your time of need. Discouraging times are testing times. Testing times are there to see how we respond to the external pressures.

 Praising God in times of need is a powerful tool in the arsenal of the believer.

In my next article I will examine some more of the spiritual laws of the Bible…