Taking a break

Dear readers,

sorry for the delay in getting back to my blog. My objective of writing one post every week proved to be unrealistic in my present circumstances. There are a lot of work-related duties that force me to slow down and take it one step at a time. So I don't know when I will be able to come back and continue writing. I hope it will be soon. Thanks for your interest and your prayers and support.

Check out this video for the effects of faith in action:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KnLDsq4XXA

Spiritual laws of faith - part I

Originally I intended to leave the general paradigm of the sovereignty of God and the laws of faith this week and start dealing with another faulty paradigm. But during the week I got a message from one of my nephews who is reading my blog, with a theological question. That was really encouraging. Before I continue, I would like to take some time and thank all my readers for your interest and encouragement. On Friday I was at a Christian meeting where a few people told me that they were reading my blog and getting blessed by it. That was very encouraging.

A question from my nephew

So here’s the question I was asked by my nephew. “If God has established laws in the natural realm through His word, and He does not break them, how come Joshua in the bible asked God once to keep the sun shining, so that he could finish his battle, and God actually did it and prolonged the day for several hours? (Joshua 10:12) Obviously God intervened in the “normal” state of affairs and changed them for the sake of one person, who asked Him to do it. Was that an exception? Does that not contradict what I was saying about the trans-personal laws that God has established and that He himself abides by? – Thanks for that question! I’m glad you asked!

The spiritual trumps the physical

God’s word tells us, that the physical laws that God has created are actually not absolute in the sense that they are “unbreakable”. (Einstein discovered the same principle – the relativity theory. But that’s another day’s work). Although the physical laws are very reliable and always relevant, they are subject to influence from the spiritual realm. God is spirit and He created the physical world out of the spiritual realm. And the spiritual laws are of a higher order than the physical. They can actually overcome or transcend the physical laws. But that does not happen haphazardly. It is also always very ordered and according to a higher law that “overcomes” the lower law.

Even in the physical realm we can overcome one law by effectively applying another. The law of gravity is always in effect and it makes us stay on the ground. We as human beings are not able to fly and overcome the law of gravity on our own. But clever engineers discovered that by an effective use of the laws of aerodynamics we can actually overcome the law of gravity to such a degree that we can fly in an airplane. But the airplane is still operating within the confinements of the law of gravity.

God has created both the spiritual and the physical laws. But the spiritual laws are of a higher order, so that they can overcome the physical laws. In my last post I told the story of a boy in India who was electrocuted accidentally by touching a live wire. But that was not the end of the story. A lady of faith was sent by the pastor to pray over the dead body of the boy, and after a few hours the boy was brought back to life. This is one example of a physical law clearly overcome by a spiritual law.

The miracles of Jesus and the disciples

The miracles that Jesus and the disciples performed were clear examples of physical laws that were overcome by spiritual laws. Jesus could walk on water, and Peter did it too. That is clearly not possible within the confinements of just the physical order of things. They did it by way of the spiritual order overcoming the physical. The multiplying of food, turning water into wine, healing diseases and infirmities by just speaking or laying on of hands are all examples of this same principle. I used to believe, like most evangelical Christians who believe the bible, that these miracles were somehow connected to God personally governing them and willing them. But a close look at the biblical record actually reveals that these miracles were working according to trans-personal spiritual laws. Otherwise Jesus would have been very unfair and unjust to get so frustrated about His disciple’s inability to perform a miracle and heal the demon possessed boy. (Matthew 17: 14-22) If it were all down to God’s personal guidance and will, then why would Jesus rebuke them? Obviously Jesus expected them to be able to operate in the spiritual laws that would get the boy delivered by the power of God, but they could not do it this time.

Spiritual laws of faith

According to the biblical world view there is a real, consistent spiritual world that permeates the physical world. God is Spirit and He created the physical universe by His word. (Genesis 1-2/John 1:1-14). Now the Christians are not the only ones who believe that. Most if not all religions of the world believe that the spiritual world exists and that it can be accessed in some way or another. New Age people, Neo-pagans as well as people who practice witchcraft and worship Satan also strongly believe in the existence of the spiritual world. Some of them are able to perform acts of miraculous power that are quite remarkable. In the bible we are told that the sorcerers of Egypt were able to mimic some of the divine miracles that Moses and Aaron performed by way of their magic spells (Genesis 7 and the following chapters). So how can we know the truth about the spiritual world and the God-given laws that govern it?

God’s Word as the only true guide

There is only one source that will guide us correctly in relation to God and the spiritual world. And that is the Bible, the living Word of God. The bible is the revelation of God’s truth, of how things really are in the spiritual realm (John 17:17). Well, some of my readers of a non-Christian persuasion (if there are any) may say, “How do you know? What gives you the right to elevate the bible above all the other sources of knowledge about the spiritual world? Is it not just down to believing? You believe the bible and I believe my stuff. There is no way of knowing for sure who is right and who is wrong.” – This is not so. The bible is true, because what it says about God, His love, His power and might actually does WORK in real life. It can be validated by people’s experience. And the spiritual power that comes from God to people through the bible is higher than any other. BUT they have to learn how to appropriate it and apply it in faith. It does not work automatically. No sorcerer, Satanist, or adherent of any religion on the face of the earth can make a similar claim and prove it. 

In the bible we read that the sorcerers of Egypt had to admit that the Power of God was superior to their power (Exodus 9:11). The prophet Elijah actually challenged the adherents of the pagan religion of Baal along these lines. He said to them: “Let’s have a competition. The God who answers with fire from heaven and actually does something in answer to prayer is the true God.” And God honored his faith and sent fire from heaven and consumed the offering. (1 Kings 18) I am very tempted to tell you modern day stories that prove that principle. But the space is limited, so I will have to restrain myself. I just wanted to establish this principle that the only legitimate and valid way for us Christians  (and for every human being) to ever learn anything about the spiritual world and the laws that govern it is the bible. 

In the bible God strongly forbids and warns His people about trying to access the spiritual world in any other way. Why? - Because it is very dangerous and harmful, and it leads into all kinds of errors and deceptions. (Leviticus 19:26  etc.) Not everything that is supernatural and works is actually of God. There is an evil force active in the spiritual world that has the goal to deceive and lead people astray. The devil has the agenda to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10), and he can appear as an angel of light, trying to persuade people that he is actually the good guy (2 Corinthians 11:14). His most successful lie is to say that all religions are the same, all “spirituality” is good, and there is no absolute truth, just go for what you feel best about. The bible says it very differently: There is one true God, revealed to us as the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is absolute. His word is absolute truth. Jesus, the Son of God, is the “way, the truth and the life, No one comes to the Father except through HIM.” (John 14:6) – Having established that, let’s have a look at some spiritual laws that are revealed to us in the bible.

Spiritual laws revealed in the bible

The main spiritual principle in the bible is the principle of FAITH. Faith is the most important “spiritual law” that governs the way we relate to God and the spiritual realm. The apostle Paul calls it the “law of the Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2). In the book of Hebrews Faith is defined as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) In verse 6 of the same chapter it is stated that “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” This is a trans-personal principle that applies to everybody. As human beings we can only relate to God through faith, through believing Him. This is the first dilemma that we are confronted with: How can we believe someone whom we don’t see? How can we be assured about things we don’t see? In human terms this is impossible. We cannot make ourselves believe. We have to receive faith as a gift. And this is exactly what the bible as the Word of God does – it works faith in a person. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. “ (Romans 8:17) True faith in God is impossible without the Word of God. We need to first hear or read it, then the Holy Spirit quickens it to us, so that it generates faith in us. Only then are we in a position to respond to God. That’s why it is so important to share the word of God with people. It is like a seed that has power in itself to grow and transform a person’s life. The word of God works faith.

Now the post has gotten really long. I will have to come back to this topic in my next post and write about the actual spiritual laws that we find in the bible. How did the people perform the miracles? How did Joshua get the sun to continue to shine? How did Elijah call fire down from heaven and raise a boy from the dead? How did Jesus and His disciples perform their miracles? – They all applied faith.  So next week I hope to be able to expand these principles or laws of faith in the bible. Be blessed and encouraged, everybody! Until next week.  

The Personal and Trans-personal dimension of God's dealing with people

I am still dealing with the topic of the sovereignty of God and the problem it presents to us in our thinking. God has got quite a bad press from the common belief that he personally controls everything, or at least allows everything that happens to happen. That is not true and the bible does not teach that. I’ve dealt with this in my previous two posts. Today I want to specifically deal with the personal and trans-personal aspect of God’s dealings with us. Understanding the difference has helped me a lot in my relationship with God, especially in the realm of prayer and how to receive from God.

The trans-personal dimension of God’s dealings with us

When I say trans-personal, I mean that it is always the same and it is the same for everybody, it transcends the personal dimension of human beings. God has created the physical universe to run according to very stable, trans-personal laws. They never change, and they are totally equal for everybody. They act like a framework within which we have to learn to lead our personal lives. They are commonly referred to as natural laws – because they are consistent and they never change. As humans we find ourselves in this universe, and we can’t change anything about these laws. We can only discover them and use them, live within them. But we are not able to alter them in any way. If we learn to cooperate with them, we can use them to our advantage. If we violate them, we suffer damage or loss. And it doesn’t matter if we are good people or bad people, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly – they always work in the same way for absolutely everybody. For example: electricity will always work the way God has created it to work. If you touch a live wire, you will get a shock or be electrocuted, no matter what kind of person you are, good or bad… You know what I mean. If somebody accidentally dies from electrocution, we don’t say: “I wonder why the electric company let this happen to this man. He must have been a bad person…” No, it has nothing to do with the electric company. The man just violated the law of electricity and he had to bear the consequences. It is not personal, it is trans-personal.

I recently read about a young boy in India who was a child of Christian parents. He got electrocuted accidentally by a live wire that he had touched. Although he was a child of Christian parents and loved and cherished by God, he died a premature death. The law of electricity killed him. It wasn’t personal. It just happened the way it always happens if a human being is earthed and touches a live wire. It always kills. It is trans-personal. This was not the end of the story, though. Because there are spiritual laws that can help undo the damage. In this case the parents of this boy knew that God has the power to bring people back to life as an answer to prayer. So they called their pastor, he sent a woman of faith over to the house. This woman prayed over the dead body of the boy for several hours, until God brought him back to life. The boy is now alive and a living and walking testimony to the power of God.  (James Rutz: Mega Shift, Empowerment Press, Colorado Springs)

The personal dimension of God’s dealings with us

God’s personal dealings with us happen within the framework of the trans-personal dimension. As we learn how to live in the universe that he created, we learn how these trans-personal laws of God work and we learn how to use them. As babies, we learn how to crawl, then walk and then run and jump and do flip-flops. We learn how to live within the trans-personal law of gravity. Now the natural laws are so consistent and so stable that they actually leave us with the impression that they kind of are running by themselves. We take them for granted and think that the universe could not be any other way. That’s just how things are. – Well, the bible says that God - or to be more specific - Jesus upholds everything by the power of his word. Hebrews 1:3 says “He (Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”The laws of nature reflect the faithfulness and absolute dependability of God – he never breaks his word. He cannot lie (Numbers 23:19 : God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?). He is always faithful. That’s why we live in a universe that is so precise and predictable and ordered. God is keeping it that way through the power of his word. And he does that in a trans-personal way. These laws work for everybody, for the good people and for the bad ones. Adolf Hitler used the same natural laws to perform his atrocities and evils as Mother Theresa did to perform her acts of kindness, love and mercy. And God didn’t suspend the laws of nature, in order to stop Hitler. He couldn’t do that, because he has limited himself to work within the framework of these laws. And he cannot (= will not) break his word.

Now within this trans-personal framework of reality God calls us into a personal relationship with himself through faith in Jesus Christ. He has put an innate knowledge of himself into our system that works like a homing device, directing us to seek him and to ask about him. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says “He has also set eternity in the human heart.” Every human being is born with eternity in their hearts, a spiritual hunger for God. We instinctively feel that the physical universe is not all of reality, that there is more. The good news of the Gospel is that God, the creator of the universe, has made a way through Jesus Christ for us to have a personal relationship with him that will go on forever. This is mind-blowing and awesome. As we read the revelation of God in His word, we discover that at the root of the trans-personal, orderly universe that runs like a clockwork, is a personal creator, who created all of reality and who calls us into a relationship with himself. – This is the nearly-too-good-to-be-true message of the Gospel. You can get to know the maker, creator and sustainer of this vast universe in person. You can become a son or daughter of the living God and live in a close, intimate, personal relationship with him. – But does that mean that we can just walk into such a relationship as we desire, in any way we want? – No, definitely not. We can only come to God on His terms. We have to get to know how this spiritual relationship works.

Trans-personal laws in the spiritual realm

As I have already mentioned in one of my previous posts, most people have no problem accepting the trans-personal dimension of how things function in the physical realm. But when it comes to the spiritual realm, we tend to think that God can do whatever he likes, in whatever way he likes and at whatever time he likes. We think of God as having no restrictions and limitations whatsoever in how He acts and what He does. So whenever something bad happens, we wonder: Why did God allow this to happen? Or if our prayers are not being answered we wonder: why did God decide not to answer our prayers? We tend to totally disregard the trans-personal dimension within the spiritual realm and think of God in only personal terms. But this is not accurate thinking and it leads to all kinds of wrong conclusions. Remember, the sovereignty of God means that He is like a king, ruling over a kingdom – not a dictator, or “big Brother” who controls everything and is personally involved in everything.

If we realize that the spiritual world functions according to very stable, reliable and unchangeable laws that God has put into place by His word, similar to the way the physical world functions, many things start to make sense that did not make sense before. God is almighty, but he has put laws into place. And He himself abides by those laws.

Examples for the trans-personal dimension in the bible

The personal will of God is, that not one single human being would perish and go to hell. He has made hell for Satan and his angels. God does not want that any man should perish. This is the explicit will of God. 2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”  - if God was only dealing with us in the personal dimension, then we could say: “Well, God, if you want that nobody should perish, just save everybody. Just let us all into heaven. You are almighty; you can do whatever you want to…” But this is not so. There are trans-personal laws that govern the way we can get into right standing with God. If we ignore them, we will miss the salvation and go to hell. God has established in His word that salvation is only possible by faith in Jesus Christ. So I can be a very good and decent person, doing a lot of good works and have very high moral standards. But if I refuse to believe in Jesus and accept his atoning sacrifice for my sins, I still will perish and go to hell. Why? Because God has established this law in his word. 1 John 5:12: “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Laws that govern how we receive from God

When it comes to prayer and receiving from God, the same principle applies. There are many things that God wants to give us in prayer.  The New Testament alone is brimming with promises of good things that God wants to bless us with. They are really amazing. And God personally really wants us all to have them and walk in total victory, abundance, peace, blessings and prosperity. So why does He not just shower us with all this good stuff, if He wants to and He is so good? – Because He has bound himself by his word to act in a certain way. There are trans-personal spiritual laws that govern how we receive from God. And we can be really good persons, love God with all our hearts and have a really intimate love-relationship with him. But if we don’t know these laws and don’t know how to operate in them, we will still miss out and not receive a lot of what God wanted to bless us with.

Not having this clear in my thinking was the primary reason for my frustration that caused my spiral into midlife-crisis. (see one of my earlier posts for details)  I thought that God was dealing with me only on a personal level. And because of that I was thinking that He didn’t treat me very well, because I felt that He didn’t answer my prayers, and that I just wasn’t able to walk in the degree of victory, power and authority that I so clearly saw in the bible. That is also the reason, why Jesus got frustrated with his disciples, when they couldn’t heal the boy with the seizures. (Matthew 17). They were not able to do that, not because God decided not to answer their prayer this time, or because he had something different in mind. No, they were violating a spiritual law. When they asked Jesus, why they couldn’t heal the boy, His answer was very revealing: Matthew 17:19-20 “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

God's goal for us - the personal and trans-personal 

God’s goal for our lives is a two-fold one: he wants us to have a deep, real and loving personal relationship with himself. (John 3:16/John 17:3) That is the primary goal of Salvation. He loves us and he wants to be loved back by us. The second goal for us is simply this: that we grow up into Christ (Ephesians 4:15) – that we learn how the trans-personal faith-laws of the spiritual world function, so that we can walk as Christ walked and do what He did; the same works that he did and greater works that these (John 14:12).

Satan has managed to steal the knowledge of these two goals from the body of Christ by introducing a lot of false teachings into Christianity. The first Christians clearly knew them and walked in them and saw very powerful results. Then the church deteriorated into the dark ages where very few people knew about these things. The protestant Reformation, and the subsequent Moravian, Methodist etc. revivals brought back the knowledge about the personal relationship with God. That’s great. But the second one was still largely forgotten. Only with the rise of the Pentecostal and Charismatic revivals the body of Christ started again to wake up to this second goal: That we can actually grow up to walk as Christ walked, in the same degree of holiness, power and authority. And now this is beginning to sweep the body of Christ. Individuals everywhere are starting to discover these truths and putting them into practice. A huge revival is on the way. We live in exciting times. As the darkness is deepening and increasing around us, the body of Christ is awakening to its full potential. Praise be to our wonderful God! Until next week! Be encouraged and blessed everybody!