Spiritual Christianity 2nd Edition: Spiritual Direction to the Holy Spirit
448
Spiritual Christianity 2nd Edition: Spiritual Direction to the Holy Spirit
448Paperback
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781491801970 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 08/06/2013 |
| Pages: | 448 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d) |
Read an Excerpt
Spiritual CHRISTIANITY
Spiritual Direction to the Holy Spirit
By WILLIAM M. BEECHAM
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2013 William M. BeechamAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4918-0197-0
CHAPTER 1
Spiritual Christianity
By William M. Beecham
John 16:12-15 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
Baptism of the Holy Spirit
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.
1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
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! He touched me! I had not quite finished my sentence when he touched me. I felt love for Jesus and grace from Jesus. Wonderful, wonderful!
It was like an explosion within my consciousness, and I lost awareness of the world around me. My heart burst. I overflowed with wonder and delight. I didn't know what to do next. I tried to love more, but my will failed me—I probably was out-of-body. My tears overcame me. I surrendered. There was no fear. Jesus loved me! I trusted him. It was so intense!
My eyes fill with tears again and again to this day as I recall it. I am amazed—totally blown away. I remember where I was standing.
Jesus came in to me. Jesus came to stay in my heart. Immediately, I felt connected to him. I felt safe. I felt loved. I felt peace. I felt Jesus touch me in my soul, not just for a moment, but a sustained touch.
John 3:3-5 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit."
Love became a verb for me. My life suddenly divided itself into before and after. It was better than a thousand beautiful sunrises. It was better than anything and everything.
I again appealed to Jesus, a day later. I prayed again, as before, that I wanted to love him and did not know how. Jesus touched me again, though the next time I felt calmer. There was a third time, then a fourth time....
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 went about my business with renewed knowledge that Jesus is my friend. When I take a minute to reflect, I reflect on Jesus and again there he is. When I have a question, I ask Jesus and he tells me.
Now whenever I remember to look, Jesus is there. It takes just a second or two to clear my mind, and Jesus is there. He waits for me, and he smiles when I look. Gratitude still overcomes me and brings me to tears, sometimes lots of tears. Look at the abundance of grace, look at what God has done!
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.
Luke 24:31-32 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?'
Jesus reveals the implications of Christianity in my life. Jesus teaches me what to want, and explains the implications of my wanting. I had felt the burning in my heart. I can ask Jesus, and my questions get answered. He teaches me gladly. Heavenly principles stand revealed. It all makes sense. He teaches me how to behave in the courts of Heaven.
Followers of Jesus may ask Jesus for help:
Jesus, if you are willing to teach me about love for you and for others, I want to know. I am willing to listen. I am willing to love.
I want to tell others, but only when others want to hear. I cannot teach like Jesus teaches. Jesus teaches in spirit using the language he gives to his angels. English is not like words that angels speak. I can only testify to it. I can recite the text of the Bible and claim some understanding. I cannot give the clarity and depth as Jesus does, but I can tell about it.
Here is an insight that helped me a great deal: All of the Kingdom of God operates by way of intentions. I realized that 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.
Intentions for this book
Eph. 3:14-19 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in Heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
I want to be a contemporary disciple of Jesus. It took a long time for me to realize that which now seems obvious: changing my intention—my wants—made my discipleship happen.
Approaching Baptism of the Holy Spirit should be the primary goal of all followers of Jesus. Baptism of the body merely indicates a willingness to approach Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I had been baptized with water but was lacking as far as the Holy Spirit was concerned. I, though I had heard of it, did not know to want this baptism of the spirit. My intentions had not been personal, not heartfelt.
I cannot know what my life would have been if earlier I had been properly instructed in the technique of changing my wants. My wants are the work-product of my uses of free will—my responsibilities. Perhaps I had been told, but I had missed it. Here, however, is an effort to save others from similar failings.
Perhaps, I was one of those rocky-road or thorny-field persons who had neither eyes to see nor ears to hear. Jesus has now shepherded me to fertile soil where the Holy Spirit has born fruit in me. What changed in me? What would have helped my ego to come sooner to life in the Spirit? I asked lots of questions of the Lord and some of the answers may help others.
A disciple teaches others and spreads the Lord's gospel. I want to enjoy loving companionship among apostles, disciples, and followers of Jesus. It enriches all to have more love.
Perhaps, and with Jesus' guidance always, it may be possible for others to find and to follow. Below is the text I wish I had read at age 19 years. I offer it with my best wishes for Christian discipleship to all who struggle on that path toward Heaven. This prayer may help:
Jesus if you brought my eyes to these pages as a way to guide me, then let me experience your help as you intend.
Jesus will open the world of spiritual things for anyone who asks with heartfelt desires and with humility. I know that appreciating spiritual things is difficult, because now I see many people who do not appreciate things of the Holy Spirit. Jesus went to the most extreme lengths to bring the problem to the world's attention. Yet even in his time, some got it and some did not.
I cannot do better than Jesus did, but I can phrase the invitations in contemporary language. Always, I seek to serve Jesus and steadily I ask Jesus for guidance. Perhaps a sincere follower also will feel Jesus' guidance.
John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day."
Let us all seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
All existence and glory belong to Jesus.
CHAPTER 2
Christianity as Jesus described it
Mark 1:15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
John 8:13 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
1 Cor. 15:1-5 Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
1 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness
First of all, I want to thank God for the Bible. Our Biblical texts provide a standard for truth and spiritual guidance. Whatever spiritual experiences we may have, looking to Biblical support and confirmation has meant so much to me. We may pray:
Jesus, we thank you for our Bibles, your written Word. You have given us spiritual wealth. Please give us the desires and humility to appreciate your revelations, according to your will for us.
According to our Bible, Jesus invited people to follow him in an auditory call during his lifetime on earth. Jesus now reigns in his spiritual kingdom, and from Heaven he calls us with his still, small voice. Now, the call to discipleship in our modern era is a spiritual call.
Jesus came to teach because the pathway to Heaven is impossible to find without Jesus' help. Jesus stills teaches. Hearing his spiritual call takes desires and humility.
It helps to know what to desire, where the path lies, and how to follow it. 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 will power 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.
• Will power ends at death, so the acts of will power 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.
It sounds easy. 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. Jesus and love open the doors to Heaven.
Jesus, we want to live in your kingdom forever. Please guide us toward true spiritual life.
Followers have a duty to perform in order to pass successfully into God's kingdom at the end of physical life. Somehow, a follower must love God and others.
The Holy Spirit offers to help. Jesus wants to shepherd his contemporary followers into Heaven. Jesus needs cooperation from his followers. Cooperation may include developing desires to go to Heaven and humility to accept spiritual rebirth.
The Holy Spirit is the missing ingredient that is beyond our understanding and beyond our control. Followers can make many efforts to approach Jesus. But, the gifts of the Holy Spirit come from God, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit remain under God's control. We act upon what we know, according to wisdom from above. We ask, and we wait for the Holy Spirit.
It is Jesus' contemporary spiritual presence that makes the biggest difference. Jesus' life, two thousand years ago, made a spectacular and unparalleled statement about Heaven. Jesus lived, died horribly, and rose from the dead. Jesus explained and taught leaving mankind with records of his life and its purposes—our Bibles. Jesus' Spirit lives among us today, available to all just for the asking. A sincere follower might pray:
Jesus, let me hear you and see you. Let me experience through the Bible the lessons you taught during your years on earth. Let me accept your presence in my life.
Jesus put much effort into explaining the problems to his followers. Jesus explained the solutions using parables and indirect explanations. Jesus acknowledged that not everybody gets it, at least not at first. Always, Jesus continued to teach and made the offers to anyone who seemed interested.
John 3:8 "The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Jesus calls us. What does a successful apostolic response look like? A sincere and heartfelt love for God and for others defines that duty—except that instructions about how to love are missing. A follower must want Heaven. A follower of Jesus must make such a heartfelt quality of prayer that God accepts the petition. It starts with saying, "I want to go:"
Jesus, I want to go to Heaven. Please show me how.
Further, a follower must understand the problem in order for the prayer to be sincere. Wanting something for the wrong reason does not work. This is where things get difficult.
John 4:24-25 "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Spiritual CHRISTIANITY by WILLIAM M. BEECHAM. Copyright © 2013 William M. Beecham. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Chapter 1 - Spiritual Christianity.................... 1
Chapter 2 - Christianity as Jesus described it.................... 7
Chapter 3 - Mysteries of life.................... 45
Chapter 4 - Path to the Holy Spirit.................... 175
Chapter 5 - Spiritual Acts.................... 214
Chapter 6 - Relating to Jesus.................... 264
Chapter 7 - Repent.................... 284
Chapter 8 - Give Away.................... 302
Chapter 9 - Follow.................... 328
Chapter 10 - Marriage.................... 367
Chapter 11 - Raising Children.................... 393
Chapter 12 - Coping with self-reliant people.................... 402
Chapter 13 - Memorize!.................... 408
Chapter 14 - Baptism.................... 411
Chapter 15 - Appendix.................... 418
Chapter 16 - Index to Biblical Citations.................... 420