Spiritual Christianity 2nd Edition

I experienced a miracle when Jesus entered my life. Jesus healed my soul when I experienced Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I want everyone to know the wonder and joy of it. There are no words to describe it, although I want to try. I had felt a general desire to love as the Great Commandment instructs. During 2003, I began reflecting on what it means to love. There are definitions of love that are comprehensive from the standpoint of human experience. We are human. We tend to form affectionate and ‘loving’ attachments with others, even with animals, especially when we are close to them day to day. But, how does human love help me to love God? We do not see God, hear God, nor do we know God – we feel separate from God. Spiritual love for God puzzled me. I began to take more seriously the commandment to love God. I was perplexed – humbled – when I realized that I had too little guidance about how to love God. Spiritual love to me was more of a noun than a verb. Grace is an unmerited benefit, offered from God before we know the ways of Heaven. Grace from God gives us a chance to do things right. Grace gives sinners a chance to want the right wants in life. When we pray, it is his grace that we receive. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19) I thought about the lack of instructions about how to love. I thought about Jesus. I just started talking aloud, as though Jesus were listening. Really, I was grumbling about the dilemma. I quite earnestly described my problem: Jesus, I want to love you and do not know what to do. If you want me to love you, please show me how, because I do not know how. And, I want to. Jesus responded just at that moment. Boom! Jesus touched me! I had not quite finished my sentence when he touched me. I felt love for Jesus and grace from Jesus. Wonderful, wonderful! … Pretty soon, I got to know Jesus’ presence as the Holy Spirit. Since then, I have lived my life in daily contact with the Holy Spirit. I cannot say I have become accustomed to the Lord’s full presence, but there are degrees of the Lord’s presence that make daily life manageable, from my point of view. The Lord’s presence can be totally overwhelming. I am his servant and I know that none of this is about me. I like being Jesus’ servant. My work in the mental health field gave me lots of contact with others who were also asking for help. I found that Jesus would help others through me, provided that I practiced humility. Having met Jesus, I prayed, Jesus, I humbly surrender all I thought I knew about happiness and success. I want to serve your truth. … I know his presence by the love I feel, the warmth in my heart, and the sense of peace he gives me. I know his presence by the guidance he gives me. I know his presence by the truths he shows me. I know his presence by how he helps me to love others. I know his presence by the sense of purpose he gives, a sense of spiritual direction – he knows where he is going. Others told me they could hear God speaking through me. Others told me they have seen light coming from my face and around me. I had felt alone during the previous moment. The Holy Spirit came in and my aloneness ended. Jesus is my friend who gives me what I want. Jesus had answered my questions totally and still answers them. Jesus is love, the Holy Spirit. He is Emmanuel and Messiah. He changed me from the inside; my consciousness no longer is alone. … Here is the first thing I want to tell about: All of the Kingdom of God operates by way of intentions. Only my lack of heartfelt intentions had kept me from experiencing love for Jesus. When I, from my heart, stated the proper intention, I got the result I prayed for. … If there were road signs along the way to Heaven, several might read this way: • God made creation through acts of separation: God separated light from darkness; sea from dry land; waters from waters; Eve from Adam (the rib), and finally God drove Adam & Eve from the Garden of Eden. God created people to experience separation from God. • God granted mankind just enough willpower so that we may ask God to end our separation. We may choose to reconnect with partners while living, and we may choose to reconnect with God for eternity. It takes willpower to choose loving connections with God and with others. • Everyone rejoins God at death as we re-awaken into a spiritual world that God totally rules. The quality of this eternal life depends upon the personal uses of willpower during living on earth before death. If a person did not want to love God in living, then there will be no love with God for eternity. • Willpower ends at death, so the acts of willpower must occur before the end of life. There are no do-overs, no mulligans in Heaven. The consequences of a person’s uses of willpower during life follow each person to the next life. • The Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, and spiritual means “of consciousness.” People must learn ways to live within this kingdom because it is difficult for humans to engage the tasks of spiritual love. God loved us first and sent his son, Jesus, to help us. A person needs to become a follower of Jesus who offers eternal happiness to anyone who is willing to love God and to love others. We may pray: Jesus, we want to live in your kingdom forever. Please guide us toward true spiritual life.