Spiritual Forces, Manifestations And Reactions–Corresponding Observations.

 

There are spiritual forces in the world that we, as mortal humans cannot see. To start with, you either believe this…or you do not. If you do not believe this, then really there is not much anyone can do to convince you. This is something that is highly subjective in the eyes of the beholder and the mind of the individual. It is not the purpose of this article to convince anyone of the presence of unseen spiritual forces. Either you believe it or you do not. If you do believe it, then the context and message of this article may resonate with you. If you do not, then, possibly, some elements may have value, but others will not. So I start with this admonition or disclaimer; this is primarily written to the audience who believes in the spiritual realm and that spiritual forces (outside the boundaries of what we know as the laws of nature and physics) do exist.

First of all, the Bible talks very openly about this. If we accept that the Bible is an inspired work, written by human writers under the influence of the Holy Spirit (note: Spirit) then we see that the presence and workings of spiritual forces is very, very real. We cannot see these forces in the physical sense, although we may at times have experiences in the physical realm that give hints or clues that there are very real forces, spiritual ones, at work in our midst and surroundings. The actions of these forces can manifest in our physical realm, but if we are not keen and perceptive to the source of these manifestations (and many, many are not keen) we will misinterpret what is really happening or assign the actions and circumstances to some other reason that, while it may have an appearance of truth and accuracy, is actually false and inaccurate.

The Enemy, our spiritual enemy (Satan) is a master of deception and a seeder of conflict, dissension, lies and misrepresentations. You can look out into the world today and see some of these lies, innuendos, deceptions and misrepresentations that are quite obvious and others that are not so obvious and subtle.

A few clues. Anytime there is a conflict about something, whether between two individuals, two groups or a number of elements in a multi-party engagement, there is likely some sort of Satanic element (spiritual) at work. Anytime people, for any reason, try to use deception or misrepresentation as a means to push forward some supposed “greater good”, there is clearly a Satanic influence there. The agents involved may not be spiritually sensitive or aware. Usually they are not. That does not matter, Satan can twist, bend and influence those who are very unaware and they have absolutely no knowledge of it whatsoever. They may be in complete denial that there is any spiritual influence whatsoever. That is a perfect soil for the Enemy. His greatest deception is the denial of His very existence, the ability to be cloaked in “anonymity” whilst deceiving many.

So look at this carefully in any situation where serious consequences are involved. If there is an element of deception, misrepresentation, outright lying or miss characterization in an attempt to accomplish something, that is a spiritual influence and it is Satanic. It is from the dark side.

As a believer in the superior power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and our Divine Creator…as this writer is…a basic belief is that the power of Almighty God can thwart or overcome any evil that the Enemy may attempt. It can be frustrating for believers to see and wonder why this doesn’t always seem to be the case in the short term. Why do injustices seem to persist? Why do evil agents seem to “have their day” without any apparent consequence? Why is that?

Short answer: The writer DOES NOT KNOW WHY? BUT… from a scientific point of view, the writer does know that the time that we live in, the space and time we inhabit is very, very, very minuscule in comparison to the eternal realm and the totality of God and the greater conflict in the unseen spiritual realm.

That may seem an insufficient answer because all that we know is what we know in the limited time and space we inhabit…maybe for some of us…up to 80, 90 or if extremely healthy, 100 years. In comparison to eternity (and the Bible notes this) this is not even as much as a single grain of sand on a vast, vast oceanfront beach. Not even that much. BUT it is all that we know and all that we experience, so we must contend with it.

So what then and how then do we contend with it. A few thoughts.

 

As the Bible counsels:

Try, as much as one can, to be peaceable with all others…our neighbors.

Who are our neighbors? Well, from a Biblical perspective, EVERYONE else is our neighbor.

Being peaceable does not necessarily mean being in agreement with.

It does not necessarily mean being exposed to.

It does not necessarily mean forming close community.

It does mean, as much as possible, to take steps not to harm another.

 

Try, as much as one can, to build community based on honest, sincere, mutually respectful principles.

Building community does not mean being in 100% total agreement on everything. That is very, very unlikely and arguably not even healthy. It does mean trying to find common ground, where possible, to make the collective lives of the community members better, stronger, and more productive and, also, support and promote the individual worth of each member.

Try, as much as one can, to seek and live a life of honesty in matters great and small.

Just try to be honest, and also, forgiving of the shortcomings of others, to the extent possible. A corollary here is justice. There can be no true justice that is not based in honesty and integrity. Honesty and integrity are the pillars of true justice. Falsehood and lies destroy and pervert justice. We should seek justice as a rule and offer it to others where we can. We must also understand that, at times, in our temporal space, justice may be elusive or seem as though it is not happening.

This is difficult to accept, because we live in the here and now. It is all that we know.

Everyone wants to be treated fairly and with respect and dignity.

That is not always the case.

When we are confronted with unfairness and indignity, we do have a right to stand against it…and yet…as the Bible counsels…we are to be “wise as serpents, yet gentle as doves”. This does not mean we are to be passive and allow ourselves to be “run over” …that is subject for another discussion…but it does mean we should be wise and circumspect in our actions and stick to our principles in the face of the Enemies devices. In every instance in the Bible where Jesus confronted Satan, Jesus won every single conflict. He did not allow the guile of the Enemy to pull him “down” to the Enemy’s level. He always stuck to His true, superior, eternal and just principles and he ALWAYS won. Now, He did suffer, He did bleed, and He did die a physical death (once)…but then passed through that and returned a VICTOR over that physical death…proving and demonstrating that the spiritual is superior to the physical.

Further meditation, study, introspection and prayer is advisable to uncover more kernels of truth. This writer does not have all, or even many of the answers, but the writer has a few clues discovered from years of experience, trials, failures and a few victories (by God’s very hand) along the way to validate the assertions above. To God be the Glory. AMEN.