Life in the Spirit

Part 1

We now begin a very exciting series of discussions.

It has to do with a Vision of life, what is possible.  We've talked about why a Vision is so important.

This has to do with our Destiny, which we have also touched on.

It is an extension of the Fruit of the Spirit, which was discussed here.

We talked about The place where the Infinite Creator's power is absolute is inside your very soul, also known as the Kingdom of God.

And we've talked about the Mind of Christ that is within us, aka God Consciousness.

And I've tried to show how it's all connected, that these are different aspects of the One God.

So what is next?  Where do we go from here?

Destiny, Vision, the Kingdom, it's all connected.

YHWH has many gifts for us, as a part of our inheritance as His children.

AMAZING things...Incredible...

You can know things you "don't know."

You can have a depth of understanding and wisdom that you "don't have."

You can see sickness disappear.

You can do things that you "can't do."

You can know things before they happen.

And it's not witchcraft, or voodoo, or sangria, or a lie.

They are called Spiritual Gifts.

And they are real.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:


I like it when you say "Get to work!". You said that before. It's very pep talky. Now, get to work!

Sometimes I have thought about myself: When am I going to stop talking (thinking) and DO SOMETHING!!!!!! ( All talk, no action.)

So I am curious about the thing in the Bible Study that you had covered 20 times that nobody could come up with. Do you laugh at that now? We're just ignorant humans, ya know. There's a huge divide frequently between the telling and the knowing.

So when you think seriously about quitting the pictures of God, what are you thinking, like are you thinking "I'm going to work on my music now", or some other aspect of TCOY, or are you thinking "these idiots, I'm wasting my time". Or is it just not Ahyh's will anymore? Just one-dering.

Love ya, S.

1) I asked them what "Adonai" meant. No clue.

2) No, I don't laugh at it...I guess I'm too concerned about the world and people...Oh, it all seems so cool and OK now, with our material wealth, but wife beatings, rapes, child abuse, war....I KNOW for a fact how empty and "falsely fulfilled" people are...So, no, I pity them, really....They are missing SOOOO MUCH.

3) When I think about quitting the Pictures, it's actually none of the reasons you mentioned. It's that everything's already there....Everything we need for personal and spiritual life really has already been given to us, and it is covered quite extensively in TCOY...So, sometimes I think that by continuing to type I give the impression that there's more to learn...Well, in some limited sense, yes, of course, that is true, we will never be able to biologically know everything....Nevertheless, what 99.9999999% of the planet needs is to WORK WITH THE MATERIAL THAT'S ALREADY HERE....What has been proclaimed for thousands of years, actually...

In other words, 2000 years ago Jesus said "Seek ye first the Kingdom of YHWH, and His Righteousness, and everything else will be added to you." It is, in my opinion, 10,000 TIMES MORE IMPORTANT for humans today to actually DO THAT then it is for any and every other activity they participate in, including reading (or writing) new "Thoughts for the day."

So, sometimes, I think I need thousands of links, every one leading to another page that says "God has a Name, that Name is YHWH, Seek Ye first for His Kingdom and righteousness, and that Name is the key to unlock the door." In some ways, with all the links and all, that IS what I'm trying to do, to show that it's all ONE, and that it's one thing to think, read & write about it, but another thing altogether to actually LIVE IT.

We don't need any more revelations....We don't need any more words...What we really need is to LIVE what we already know.

Part 2

First Corinthians 12:7

7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

This is one of the most controversial passages in the New Testament.

As we've discussed many times, one of the challenges all religious seekers must face is how they deal with Scripture.  Is it literally true, all of it, forever?  Is only part of it eternal and some of it cultural?  If so, how do you tell the difference?

Well, in the entire New Testament, the above passage is one of those that many, many people wish to believe no longer pertains.  The argument most often given is that these gifts of the Holy Spirit were necessary only until the Bible was written; after that, the Bible becomes the conduit through which the Holy Spirit works.  In other words, the gifts of the Spirit stopped (so they say) with the Apostolic Era, about 1900 years ago.

Everyone must make up their own mind.

Entire denominations center around this passage...The Pentecostals find it the center of their entire religion...Others, like the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) emphasize that these gifts absolutely, positively are gone and done; seminary students (at least through the 80s) had to swear they would never "experiment" with these gifts, or they would not be ordained.

So, where do you stand?  

Ultimately, that is the question.

Part 3

I know it's hard, folks.

Life...traffic....political unrest...over 300 Palestinians dead since the last "peace process" started...not to mention your own fears, money challenges, or a spouse you've lived with for decades and sometimes realize you barely even know....

So I am not pretending there's any "magic formula" here.....Life is hard.  We must deal with it.  And knowing YHWH does not guarantee you a life without problems.  Often, for reasons I will go into at another time, the problems increase.

I have had virtually every material advantage a person can have, and live a blessed life, and some days I find it a real challenge to "go on."  Oh, I don't mean anything so silly as suicide, I mean finding the focus and motivation to keep moving forward on activities that I can find meaningful.

For me, my $200 per hour psychotherapist is God's Name, Ahyh, Asr Ahyh, I  + Will = Being, I Will Be what I choose to be.   As I focus on that Name, really, deeply meditate on it, I am astounded by its ability to clarify my confusion.

The "Good" News

"I Will Be What I Choose to Be" is the GREATEST GIFT I HAVE EVER BEEN GIVEN.  

Such are just a few of the gifts granted by being free, really free, Free in The Name.

I am well and truly free, deep down, in ways that most people can't even dream of, because I have lived with, meditated on, drawn pictures, done Bible studies, written, talked to people, lead Bible studies, ALL dedicated to YHWH's Name, and I acclaim the power to be 100% due to that fact.

The "Bad" News

"I Will Be What I Choose to Be" is the single most unyielding, uncompromising teacher I have ever encountered.

I know the answer lies in those all-powerful words: I Will be what I choose to be.

This is my psychotherapist.

I could probably afford to lay on the couch for $200 for 45 minutes once a week, trying to discover "what's wrong with me...."  Hypnotherapy, past-life regression, birth-canal trauma, early or late potty training, being ignored or pampered as a child, on and on and on....To quote Monty Python, "You may get better, or you may not, depending on how much money you have."

There is a marvelous story.  Scandalously, it comes from the Buddhist tradition, but I will relate it anyway.

A man is walking through the woods, when all of a sudden someone shoots him in the side with an arrow.  The man stands and contemplates: "I wonder who shot that?...where did it come from?....is there another arrow coming?...Is it made out of steel or wood?...and do you think the tip is poisoned?...why would someone do something like that?......."  And on and on until, of course, he bleeds to death.

Buddhism's position is very, very simple: get the arrow out of you, drain the poison, stitch the wound, and then spend the rest of your life (should you choose) exploring the whys & wherefores of the arrow's source and purpose.

FIX THE PROBLEM!  Then, if it's really important, you can spend the rest of your life looking into how the problem got here.

For me, and I know I am threatening a sacred cow here, the modern practices of psychotherapy & psychoanalysis have fallen into the "Arrow-syndrome".  Until we know (so they hint) every tiny bit of your history, there is no hope to change anything.

That is wrong.

You will be what you choose to be.

It really is that straight-forward.

I Know It's Not Easy

Again, I'm not pretending this is a magic formula.  Some people are so hurt, so damaged, that they simply have no capacity to deal with "I Will Be What I Will Be."  Their soul is sick, either from their own or someone else's neglect.

It is a sign of immense strength & health to be able to say "I Will Be What I Will Be."  Yes, it is freeing.  Yes, it is unyielding, because by the time you gain "The Consciousness of The Name" you have no more excuses, nowhere to hide.  It becomes your entire reality.

Great, immense, unimaginable freedom.

But, as always, that freedom comes at a price.

And no, I haven't forgotten we're talking about the Gifts of the Spirit.  

But it's all connected......The Name, the Spirit, the Presence of YHWH within you.

In Part 2 I asked you if you thought they (the Gifts of the Spirit) are real, and still present today.

I cannot prove this to you, in any way, shape or form.  All I can do is testify that, at different times in my life, when there was a particular need, I have experienced what I consider to be each of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Every one of them.

Yup, even speaking in tongues....and miracles...and prophesy.

All of them.

Clearly, we have much to discuss.

Part 4

It is a fairly widely known fact that humans use between 10% - 15% of our brain's capacity.

I am convinced it is the same way with our soul and spiritual abilities.

Think about Bill Gate (the CEO of Microsoft) and his newborn son (the kid's probably 2 by now, more or less.)  Now these figures are all approximate, since things change so fast, but last I heard Mr. Gates has something like 600,000,000 (that's 600 million) shares of Microsoft, each of which is worth about $60...Do the math, and 600,000,000 times 60 is $36,000,000,000.  That's 36 BILLION dollars.  That best way I've found to explain how much money that is is with this illustration: If Mr. Gates converted it all into cash, and put One Million in each of several banks, how many banks would he need to hold his money?  Think for a moment.  Got it?  The answer is 36,000 banks.  Could you imagine the poor postman who would have to deliver 36,000 bank statements every month?

Now, why have I walked you through this little exercise?  Because of this astounding fact:

All of those Millions and BILLIONS of dollars are the inheritance of little Baby Gates!!!  That little child is the heir to a fortune larger than he could possibly imagine, let alone understand!

If you take nothing else from this website or ministry or Church or whatever you want to call it, remember this:

You are Baby Gates, and your Heavenly Father has treasure for you far beyond the bounds of your weak imagination.  He's just waiting for you to continue to mature so that He can start showing it to you!

A hint of some of that inheritance is called the Gifts of the Spirit.  Potentials, abilities, capabilities of the human race, once touched by The Spirit, kinda like Baby Gates being able to throw a heck of a party once Ole Pops tosses him a couple of mill for the weekend(!)

First Corinthians 12:7

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Now, there are a few VERY important comments I want to make.

1. These gifts are real, and still operating in today's world.
2. You don't have to believe me, and I cannot make you believe me, but I have actually seen each of these gifts happen at one time or another.  
3. Most of them I have actually had happen in my own life.
4. These are gifts - you cannot harness or develop them.
5. They are given by the Spirit (as the passage above so clearly says) FOR THE COMMON GOOD.  If you happen to have one of these gifts and are using it for selfish purposes, you are on very shaky ground.  Danger.
6. Having a Spiritual Gift DOES NOT make you a "better" Christian or person than someone else.
7. NOT having (or being able to notice) any of these gifts working through you DOES NOT MEAN you are not a "real" Christian, or that there's something wrong with you, or that you are a bad person.
8. The Gifts of the Spirit appear most when someone around you is in need.

There's just so much misunderstanding, both in and outside of the Church, makes me (almost) despair of every being able to educate people about the truth....but press on we must.

Now I'm going to tell you one story.  Nothing dramatic, no miracles, but it was definitely a manifestation of what I consider to have been a Gift of Knowledge.  You can ignore this....call it coincidence, say I knew it all along, call me a liar.  I don't care, really I don't.  But the following little story is true.

In 1983 my Father was in charge of Brokerage Firm (stocks, bonds, that type of thing.)  That was before the days of the internet and day traders.  Anyway, they needed a program to track all the stocks & bonds that were bought & sold, commissions for the agents on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis.  It just so happens (I hadn't been told this at the time) that after a 6 month investigation the people who ran the $million Mainframe computer in Los Angeles told the company that it was too complicated and they could not do it.

Now, as a hobby I spent some time playing with this little $95 mini-mini-mini computer....no disk drive (1983, remember!), no color, 16k of memory (about as much memory as is in your mouse now!), plugged it into the back of the black & white TV, and you saved your programs on a cassette tape....Your cell phone (no joke) has about 100 times more power!

So my Dad buys this $4,000 IBM system, talks into a tape recorder for an hour about what this thing needs to do, and sent me off into the night.

First thing I did was buy a programming book...I've never had, even to this day, a class or lesson in computer programming...Anyway, I will spare you the gory details....After 5 days, the thing worked (!), but it could only process 1 day at a time.  It couldn't add-up days into weeks or months...It had a problem, and NOTHING I DID, for literally 3 16-hour days, made it budge one bit.

And you have to realize the pressure...new machine...new industry...My Dad really needed it...And nothing, no matter how I re-wrote it, nothing worked.

So, I finally printed out the essential part and made an appointment with a PhD in Computer Science....looked, read, talked...."Looks right to me!"  No help at all.

I was stuck...absolute, total, 100% dead end.  Nothing had worked, it didn't work, and there were no more resources available anywhere I could imagine to talk to....And Dad NEEDED that program....his entire business plan required it....Heck, on a hope & a prayer (based on my so-called abilities, the poor fool) he had spent $4,000 (in 1983, which was even more real money then than it is now, and with inflation and all that's the equivalent of $8,100 today (YIKES!)) on a computer to run his business...The sense of despair was overwhelming.

And I remember it like it was yesterday...I was sitting in the living room, in this funky green chair, the printout of my torturous computer code on my lap, and I prayed:

"Forgive me, Lord.  I know I should make you my first resource and not my last resort, but I am really stuck here.  But I know you know everything, and if you would be kind enough to show me the answer, I will do my best to give you the glory and praise.  In Your Holy and Infinite Name I pray, amen."

I opened my eyes, my gaze fell to one specific line in this cryptic mess, and I knew.  I just knew the answer.  It was strange, curious, and weird, I'd never read anything like it, let alone thought anything like it, but it worked.    I "knew" what the PhD in Computer Science didn't; what, evidently, no one else (anywhere?) knew.

And folks, there was no possible way I could EVER have figured that out.

The next day I gave a fully working copy to my Dad.  I was known as the computer expert for the entire Financial Group, which lead to another project, and 18 years later, well, here I am.

And in my own, failing way, I have tried to give YHWH the glory, to return thanks...That's why I tell this story....that's why I host TCOY....And I could go on and on with similar stories...Heck, one of the Words of Knowledge was so powerful we looked into the patent process...And I'm just a trained toilet scrubber!!  (Really.....For the first 3 years after college, before YHWH gave me that word of knowledge and turned me into a computer expert (if they only knew!) I was a housecleaner.)

As a postscript to this little story, over the last 18 years I have looked through (NO exaggeration) AT LEAST 40,000 pages of computer books...As to that Word of Knowledge I received sitting in that green chair, I have never, ever, seen it written in any book, anywhere, or used by anyone, or appear in any sample code, or anything.  (I needed to add an array index to the record's field descriptor.  OK?)  Ever.

Now this isn't a lesson in computer programming.  That's just one tiny example of the real, actual, living presence of YHWH I experience nearly daily.

Here's the bottom line:

Trust me.

I know about these things.

Part 5

Notice that these Spiritual gifts appear in MANY WAYS and FORMS.... If Bill Gates gives his son $1 for an ice cream cone, that tiny dollar is STILL part & parcel of the multi-billion dollar fortune; it comes from the same source!!

So.....just because you don't see signs & wonders & miracles DOES NOT MEAN that the Holy Spirit's Gifts are not alive and well in you!!

Maybe you're just looking in the wrong places.

Maybe, just maybe, reading this small document is imparting to you some important piece of information you need soon, and that reading this document is a Word of Knowledge for you, here & now.

Maybe, just maybe, those Gifts are all around!

Again, the Gifts do not have to be imparted in strange and weird ways for them to be valid and real.

So perhaps, just perhaps, you need to stop looking so much at what you do not have, and be a little bit more open to what you do have....Remember, every flower is a poem from God that says, "I Love You!"

In short, as "radical" an idea as it may be, Life in the Spirit is actually a very organic, natural thing.

It is, after all, the way we were made.  In the Image of YHWH.

Part 6

The Holy Bible, New International Version

^{Numbers 11:29}But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all YHWH’S people were prophets and that YHWH would put his Spirit on them!"

Everyone.

Even me.

Even you.

What about it?

Part 7

The Holy Bible, New International Version

^{5John 3:5} Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

Think what you will of my little meditations, or pictures of God, or whatever you call them.

But here Jesus makes it quite plain...the one and only way to enter the Kingdom of God is by being born anew of the Spirit.

The first birth, of flesh, results in an utterly fleshly creature.  

The Second Birth results in an utterly Spiritual creature.

And the GLORY, (historically, one of the genuinely unique contributions Christianity made to the World's Religions) is the AMAZING NOTION that having a body (flesh) DOES NOT negate (or make impossible) a life FULLY DEDICATED TO THE Spirit.

A lot to think about there.

We shall leave that exercise to the reader.

I love you all, those who faithfully read these offerings, and give me your feedback.......they inspire me.

Part 8

I realize I have been waiting and preparing my entire life to write this series.

If you have read most of the documents on this site, you are certainly more prepared than if this is your very first introduction to The Church of Yahweh.

Nevertheless, this is one of the most "Radical" ideas you will find here, or anywhere else (in my opinion.)  Little men in space ships are hardly worthy of note, by comparison, at least in the life of a genuine religious seeker.

No, no, NO........A thousand times NO.

I am writing to a different creature: the Genuine Religious Seeker.   

The truth is that people go where they get something that touches them......And the Lutherans (Catholics, Baptists, etc) are certainly giving the people much more of what they want than TCOY is.  Each time I return to a retail church I'm just so overwhelmingly impressed with how much like a Country Club it is, except the center of the social life is the Sunday Morning oh-so-safe entertainment.

THAT, you see, is the fundamental problem with "retail religion."  When the Church owned everything there were certainly other abuses, but at least they were free to (in theory) teach the Gospel truth, regardless of whether the people liked it or not.

Not so with today's retail religions...If the people are offended, or don't like the music, or the preacher hints that there might be a life beyond getting forgiven, and the people don't return, don't pay for the message, then there's financial trouble.

Most people seek a position (house, politics, religion, mate, clothes) that make them comfortable.  Comfort is utmost.  Everything else can be damned.  And I am not saying that is "wrong"...It has however been my experience that such a life cheats you, because there's soooooooo much "out there", "in here", so many horizons of adventure.  And I am NOT talking about (in my value system) taking cruises; moving around physically to different parts of the physical plane does NOT constitute being an adventurer, at least not for this Pastor / Rabbi's value system.

IDEAS.  CONSCIOUSNESS.  THAT is the great unexplored frontier; the rest is entertainment, nothing wrong with it, but ultimately very limited.  Physical travel pales compared to Voyages of the Mind and Spirit.

So consider that your warning.

What I am presenting here, in the context of Life in the Spirit, is one of the most radical and revolutionary ideas I have ever encountered....I have "worked with it", studying, comparing, meditating, for a quarter century, and I barely have a handle on it.

So stop now, forget about the whole thing, and go back to one of your favorite restaurants.  You've been warned.

Jesus' Religious Prescription

Let's deal with this right away.  Jesus taught:

^{Acts 4:31}After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. ³²All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. ³³With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. ³⁴There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales ³⁵and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!  If such "commune" existed, in reality, I'd go tomorrow.  Thru the power of the Spirit, they HAD NO NEED.  And the joy & singing of songs and the whole thing...As close to Eden Restored as we've yet had.  The U.S. Federal Government spends a trillion dollars a year supporting the socialist-welfare system, and we can't do 2% of what a SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE HAS TO OFFER!!!!!!!!  (Of course sin & greed crept in, and Paradise Lost once again.)  That excites me....Inspires me......Fills me with hope.......that's why I'm sitting here typing instead of watching the latest stupid TV sitcom, because I know intellectually, Scripturally, and experientially that if we can get just the tiniest percentage of the population to catch the idea of Genuine Life in the Spirit, our society and world will change, and all for the better.

So just deal with this; don't try to rationalize it away.  Jesus taught, and expected his followers, to live a life void of material possessions.

We didn't follow His prescription; we do not live that way, and that does not anger God, for there are, indeed, MANY pathways toward self-transcendence.  More than one way to get well.  But don't let any of the silly preachers lie to you and tell you "Jesus was just showing what we would have to do if we were not going be to be saved by grace through faith in him."  That's a lie, a rationalization, and (in my book) worse than child abuse.

So....OK.  We do not follow the prescribed pathway of radical asceticism as a means toward God-Consciousness.

So, the silly people discount the whole book, and throw it away, at least psychologically.

Not wise, and not needed.

Let's move on to another of Jesus' saying, connected, yet transcendent in its power:

Jesus The Christ, Luke 12:15

Of course we could go on and on endlessly.....Certainly in America, and much of Europe, the Japanese, and many other developing nations, we are consumers, aren't we?  That's just what we do...we work, get the check, and head out to buy things.  You do it, I do, we all do it...And I'm certainly not calling it a sin.  We dealt previously with the fact that we do NOT follow Jesus' pathway to the Kingdom of God, but we also discussed there are, indeed, different methods.

So, OK...we like things...we buy things, collect things, wash our things, catalogue our things.  Fine...As long as we do that with some type of mind to the universal community we occupy, and the poor and needy around us, things can be fun.

But put ALL of your things together in one big pile, and they ARE NOT YOUR LIFE.

Your life does not consist in your possessions.

So we're done, right?  Not quite.

What else do you possess?

I'm not playing games here, and I warned you we were heading into deep, very very deep waters.

Face it...even in common language..."MY daughter....MY dog....MY husband..." point to the fact we consider these relationships a form of possession.  Again, no problem; we're not doing anything wrong that way.  Talking about "MY best friend...." is a beautiful thing, and not even remotely a sin.

We have many relationships, and in so many ways we DEFINE ourselves by what other people say to or about us...One passing statement, barely even thought of by the speaker, can have daily effects on us decades later.  Mom & Dad, broken home, what my 5th grade teacher told me.....Both positive and negative, we define ourselves by our relationships with others, and their opinions of us play a huge role in forming our personality and self-image. 

Frankly, many sociologists will say that it is ONLY through our relationships that we develop our identity and personality.  Plenty of books to buy on that subject.

But put ALL of your relationships together in one big pile, and they ARE NOT YOUR LIFE.

Your life does not consist in your possessions.

So we're done, right?  Not quite.

What else do you possess?

The main thing I notice about people in the Arts (and I understand it's an occupational hazard) is how into being "them" they are....THEIR style, THEIR clothes, THEIR next project, THEIR thing....it's all so limiting.

The point is that we hold on to our thoughts, opinions, hopes, memories and feelings as a part of us.  We do, indeed, possess them.  "Hey, I've always been a Lakers fan, that's who and what I'm all about...."  Again, I will skip the millions of examples I could insert here.  BUT YOU KNOW I AM TELLING THE TRUTH.  "It's MY dream one day to..."  "I don't have to justify myself to you, that's just MY opinion..."

Yes, our thoughts, feelings, opinions, ideas, and even memories are possessions we gather, collect, polish, protect and catalogue just the same way we do material objects.

But put ALL of your thoughts, feelings, opinions and memories together in one big pile, and they ARE NOT YOUR LIFE.

Your life does not consist in your possessions.

So we're done, right?  Not quite.

What else do you possess?

They belong to you....you own and absolutely control them (should you choose)..."MY body is strong..."  "MY spirit is soaring..."  "MY mind is confused..."

But put ALL of your body, mind, will, soul and spirit into one big pile, and they ARE NOT YOUR LIFE.

Your life does not consist in your possessions.

Carve away everything that doesn't look like your life, and what remains is the truth...LIFE...The REAL YOU.

And what are we left with, intrepid voyager?

There's a massive debate that's been going on for centuries as to the origin of life.  It boils down (after all the hundreds of books) to one of 2 options:

1. "Life" is a function of matter...The right matter, combined in just the right way, starts to be able to move on its own power;  attracted to some things, repelled by others, it even appears to make choices.  But when the bio-system can no longer function (aka dies) then there is nothing left except inert matter.  Turn off the TV, blank screen.

2. The other option is that matter is actually a function of Life...that LIFE is some "mysterious force' that is non-material in origin, that somehow weaves the material world via Life's innate abilities, much like a spider weaves the web it occupies.  From this view, "death" is simply Life removing itself from the web it has woven, to move on to parts unknown.

I will state as simply and plainly as I can, that all the scientific, medical, theoretical, and experiential evidence I have (remind me to write some of these down some day; I think others would benefit from such an analysis) says that #2 is the truth: 

LIFE predates everything, and the universe is woven out of Life itself.  Life is eternal: Life, like Energy, can neither be created nor destroyed, but only change forms.  And some day we will learn the connection between Life and Energy, but I cannot go into that now.

Of course we still haven't answered the fundamental question, have we: "What IS Life?"  The Neti System has given us a lot to think about in terms of what life is not, but the main drawback to the Neti System is that, in the end, its assistance is only circumstantial.  If we can establish, for example, that"@#@" is NOT a letter in our alphabet, probably we can draw many other conclusions (for example, based on the evidence just given it is most likely that "#@#" is likewise not a letter in the alphabet), but often we are left hanging, to meditate deeply on the results.

If, in fact, we have delineated all the things that X is not (and the trick is to be sure the Neti System has identified ALL of the non-elements), then it becomes a "rather straight-forward" (though often quite complex and time consuming) task to be able to say what it IS.

So....Having traveled this far...Assuming you are "with me" in all the above lists being Possessions (with a CAPITAL "P", instead of just the small "normal" possessions like our CD collection), then the Neti System has carved away quite a lot of granite.

What is left?

What is Life?

Think about it.

This matters.

If you're not "working" this material, meditating & thinking & struggling, doing Bible-Study, but just reading it like it's some cute little collection of happy-thoughts, then you are in the wrong place, and will get nothing out of this.  That's just a fact.

No student ever comprehended Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions without "getting their hands dirty" and working a few problems!

Next, I will give you "my" answer, which I am convinced is also the Biblical answer, and the Truth of The Universe.

Part 10

What is Life?

An old "trick" I learned from one of my college professors is that he'd always end each class with a series of questions.  Great material for the involved students to ponder and work on till the next class...Of course, most of the Homers would just wait till the next class and ask that all-time, greatest question of all: "Do we have to know this for the test?"

I could not WAIT to get out of there.

Anyway......

Did you "work on it?"  Having gone through everything that life is not (You know, on a personal note, I really do love the Neti System...it's been very helpful to me over the years) did you work the system to come up with an answer for yourself as to what life IS?  Or are you content for me to feed it to you?  Well, the answer is between you, your conscience, and YHWH.  I will, however, state, that as a general principal, the more you personally work with something the more you personally will get out of it.

What is Life?

That's the question.

And remember, we are not talking about the "little" life, all the things we do & think & get involved with that we call our "life."  We are talking about the BIG "Life", which animates all things....what is it?

I indicated that I consider this to be a Spiritual Nuclear Bomb, but here goes.......I've prepared the soil the best I can.

Father, Son, Spirit, one in three, three in one, 3 different ways (water, ice, steam) of looking at the same thing.

God is Life.

Life is God.

The ability to walk, talk, move, sing, work, everything we do that we call our "life", comes from the one and only source and origin of all, God.

When you move your finger, you are using part of God's own energy to do so.

God is Life.

Life is God.

Like energy, life can neither be created nor destroyed; it only changes forms.

The present form of "life" that we call "you", is just God, the real source of life, in a changed form.

That's what it means.........Oh, connect the dots yourself.........that's what

means.

That's what

means....

that's what the WHOLE, ENTIRE BIBLE MEANS!!!!!!!!!

God is Life.

Life is God.

Now you have a choice...you can either continue with all the activities that constitute your "life", or you can recognize that your LIFE is an extension of YHWH's essence and power, and begin a course to bring your "little" life more in alignment with the realization of the "LARGE" life. 

I'm here to help, should you choose the greater way.  But the decision is yours.

Part 11

Alive, awake.  And grateful.

We all get stressed, especially in times of change.

It's OK to need help.  None of us are an island unto ourselves.

To simply move, stretch, and breath deeply.  Wake, eat, work, rest, sleep.  These, I have learned, are sacred gifts.

It is important, at least for me, in this digital age, to get and stay grounded.  Connected to the earth we are able to live a more organic, balanced life.

God is life.

God is Good.

Life is Good.

Life is God.

Part 12

Alive, awake.  And grateful.

Who do you count on when everyone counts on you?

I know many good, honest, loving, hard working people who get themselves in trouble by always being the care-giver.  I know.  I tend to be one of them.  People count on them at work, their family has many needs, and all around them they have friends and acquaintances who have problems, needs and desires.

The thing is, when the care-giver is always giving, and isn't taking care of him/her self, the care-giver will become tired and depleted.  It's a mathematical certainty.

And then it becomes oh so easy to take a "little something" to help deal with being tired, or the stress, or whatever.  Back through the late 90's I would wake up with a diet soda, have a few during the day just to keep going.  At the end of the day I was so pumped-up and stressed-out that, you guessed it, I'd have a couple drinks to relax...I confess I rode that roller coaster for way too long.

Fortunately, by YHWH's grace, I have been cured of that for nearly 2 years now.  I'm not saying that to brag.  I'm only saying it to let you know that I too have fallen into the traps, and know that we can be delivered.

But I have also learned that I cannot always, endlessly be strong...Trying to move ahead with the ministry, answering emails to people I really do care about, staying focused on the business and those who have come to rely on my work product, not to mention friends & family who all have their own financial, physical, emotional and spiritual challenges...Wow.  It can, at times, be overwhelming.  And then, at least for me, all "circuits" fail, like blowing a fuse.  I get sick, and can't do anything for anyone.

I think that's nature's way of restoring balance.  I know many people, too many, who work more or less all the time, 7 days a week, for weeks on end.  They are good, well intended people.  Just out of balance.  And when you lose your balance, losing your strength is not too far behind. 

Frankly, I think women in general do a better job with this than most men, though in this age they are certainly not immune.  But men seem genetically predisposed to need to get out there, fight the battles and slay the dragons...until we fall in an exhausted heap.

What does this have to do with life in the spirit?  Well, everything, it turns out.  

Our spirit can only express itself in this world through our body.  When we are sick & too tired to move, we cannot help anyone, even ourselves.

Over and over Jesus removed himself from the masses (and all the craziness they brought) in order to pray, rest, and sleep.

It is OK to be tired.  It is OK not to be the universal-solve-it-person-for-everyone.  We all need nourishment and rest.  In relationships there must be a relatively even balance of both give and take, or else the relationship cannot be sustained.

That's what I have learned.

And remember, keeping the Sabbath is not an ancient, stupid idea meant to burden people; it is a huge blessing especially needed by today's modern person.

Part 13

Strength and Stability

The vertical bar of the cross symbolizes strength: power, speed from 0 to 60 or 600, vroom!  Dad.

The horizontal bar of the cross symbolizes stability: Shock absorbers, tires that grip, solidity.  Mom.

We need both in order to be healthy.  Too much energy without sleep is unbalanced.  Too much rest without activity is empty.

Eternal Winter is dead.  Eternal Spring likewise leads to imbalance.  Just like the stock market, energy supplies, and a host of other sometimes overflowing, sometimes scarce resources.

It is in the Crossing, the marrying of the 2, that we find the essence of life.

Strength and Stability.  The 2 bars of the Cross.

Part 14

Born to....?

We see a lot of bumper stickers these days.

"Born to win"

"Born to lose"

"Born to shop"

I think, in all honesty, that for most of us the most appropriate bumper sticker would be "Born to worry."

Life in the Spirit is different.  Different for me, different for you.

Look, folks.  The witness of the Bible is that we have been created for joy.  I know it is true.  Despite the evidence, God does not want us to suffer.

And I have also learned this.  It is very important for me, and perhaps for you:

1. Life does have its struggles, pains and challenges.  No one, from Adam thru Moses, Jesus, right to us here and now, lives a problem-free life.
2. By constantly worrying about what might happen, we weaken ourselves to the point that, when a genuine problem does come our way, we are entirely unable to deal with it.

In short, as the old saying goes, The coward dies a thousand deaths, the hero dies but one.

Another one: "Take no thought for tomorrow, for each day has trouble enough of its own." - Jesus (Mt 6:34)

You see, I have learned it really is a choice.  I can choose to fret & worry, and I can also choose to rejoice.

I can choose to hate, I can choose to love.

But loving & rejoicing are the best tools we have to give us strength and stability, to prepare us for whatever challenges lie ahead.  Or may not.  Best to leave it in YHWH's hands.

That is what Life in the Spirit is all about.

Part 15

Transformation

The Holy Bible, American Standard Version

^{Romans 8:28}And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.

No one wants to suffer.

That is plain, and simple.

Ultimately it is a matter of faith that God, too, does not want us to suffer.

And yet, countless millions live lives full of pain & misery.

All I know is what I have experienced.  And I have experienced, upon many occasions, a profound and mysterious transformation.  God has repeatedly taken the most "horrible" events in my life, and transformed them into positive, growing experiences.  Sickness, failures, disappointments, even family death, have all been springboards for a new round of faith, hope, growth and love.

I do not know how it works.  It is a mystery.  But then, so is the web, gravity, light, and life itself.  None of us really know anything at all, when you think about it.  We can use electricity, for example, but no one, not even the brightest scientists, know what electricity is.  But that does not stop us from being able to use and transform it.

So too with this miraculous gift of new life.  I cannot explain it.  But I know it is real.

And please, do not misunderstand me.  Bad, horrible and evil things are not good.  If I could I would eliminate them.  In my own, small ways, I work to do so.  I believe there is much evidence that the course of history is toward solving fundamental problems, and increasing peace, health, goodness and love.  Just look at things like penicillin, aspirin, and open-heart surgery.  Symphonies.  Clean water.  A peaceful night's sleep without fear of attack.  Warmth of a loving family.  These are good things, the blessings I am convinced are YHWH's genuine will for all of us.

Yet when the bad does hit, and none of us are immune, The Creator works to use that experience, to them that are called according to his purpose,  to work together ultimately for good.

The practical application is that, after my 45 years of watching this amazing series of transformations, I am able to have more faith when challenges appear, by YHWH's grace, that this too shall pass.

And become a seed for new, beautiful growth.

A blessed gift of Life in the Spirit.

Part 16

The Holy Bible, New International Version

^{John 17:15}My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect
them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

We are clearly called to be here, in this world.  Hiding away, either from ignorance, or drugs, or suicide, or simply burying our heads in the proverbial sand, is not YHWH's will for us.

But we are also not to be of the world.  That means we are not to be like it.

St. Paul says in Romans 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

The world tells us many things...Many things that are perfectly acceptable to the world...

This list could go on and on for endless pages.  You certainly have your own list.

Life in the Spirit, a life touched by the grace of YHWH, need not, and is not, that way.

Frankly, I do not consider most people to be evil.  Even the radical secularists.  I have met a few who must be considered genuinely evil, but very few.

I think that most people are motivated, ultimately, by the fruit of the Spirit(!)  We seek love, joy, peace and the rest, no matter how round-about or convoluted the path.  "If I can get into college and get that degree then I will get this position that will springboard me into stock options and with enough growth and time and correctly timed acquisitions then I can retire with a portfolio large enough to give me real security, and then I will have peace."  While a hypothetical illustration, it is clearly not imaginary.

I am willing to grant (as I just said) that the majority of people are all seeking the same things, which I find to be grounded in the fruit of the Spirit.  

But the "pathway of the world" is twisted, indirect, and has a host of pitfalls and risks, such as enmity, strife, hatred, and the other attributes of the fruit of the flesh.

The "pathway of the Spirit" is direct.  We don't need to have anything else happen or go anywhere or do anything in order to find peace, love & joy.  We realize the presence of God, the promise of eternity, and receive by grace the indwelling Spirit.  Directly, immediately, now.

And we can then return to the world, empowered to testify to the more direct, better Way.  In the world, but not of it.

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."  - Jesus.

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