The Spirit Realm

[shazeep]

amen!

[Aquila]

All I'm saying is this....

Many unbelievers see us praying to a cosmic Santa Claus, thinking that we expect Him to be at our beck and call like some kind of magic jinnee we release from a bottle. They don't believe in miracles. They don't believe that faith can literally move mountains, heal the sick, calm the storm, or raise the dead. They don't believe it is possible to have visions that transcend time and space. They see this as mysticism, magic, mythology, and delusion.

What I'm saying is that quantum physics shows that consciousness indeed affects the very fabric of the universe at the quantum level. Thus the door is opened for the human consciousness to shape and mold reality as we know it in this universe that God created. In essence, the universe is DESIGNED to react to consciousness and is indeed even born of and held together by a consciousness greater than our own. So, the nay saying atheist who believes that all this is just magic and mysticism is confronted with a strange and peculiar universe that is actually designed to react to.... faith. As a result... miracles are indeed possible.

And as it relates to this discussion, all things are indeed spiritual. Even the rock in the backyard. It is a product of a universe created by the very mind of an Almighty God. In Romans, Paul wrote:

Romans 1:20 (KJV)
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Not only does the universe attest to the reality of a creator, a designer. It also, from the smallest quantum particle to the largest galaxy, testifies of His power and all the possibilities He has offered us.

Would Satan understand quantum physics? Yes. Would he be able to reveal such knowledge to demonized Hindus or occultists? Yes. Often the children of the world are wiser than the children of God. We are like sheep, afraid of anything beyond what we think we understand. And so we often don't see things in Scripture that are staring us in the face. In the far East men have demonstrated abilities that can only be described as being "supernatural". And they say that they manifest these things through meditation and concentration. However, Jesus just calls it "faith". God designed a universe ready and willing to respond to man's faith. Now, that faith can be misplaced as it relates to salvation. But believe it or not.... even unbelievers and atheists have had a "prayer" or two answered in time of dire need as this fundamental law of the universe as taken over. However, they discount it as coincidence or as being related to some other seemingly less supernatural cause.

Now, we all know that a 11 year old can pick up an AR-15 and cause some damage. However, a trained soldier can use that very same weapon and be far more efficient. Most of us are like children using an AR-15. We often get results.... but we also miss the mark quite a bit too. But what if we were trained and truly understood how this weapon worked? What if we were even more schooled on the weapon (faith) than the enemy? What if we had the assurance that not only does God's word tell us that through faith we can perform miracles and healings.... but that even science confirms that the universe is poised to respond to us, the children of God?

My goal isn't to rewrite what anyone believes. My goal is to encourage you. Spiritual realities are all around you. Potential to experience those spiritual realities is all around you. Opportunity for you to experience the power of those spiritual realities is all around you. It's in the very math that governs how matter itself is designed. There is no excuse for unbelief. There is no excuse not to seek a miraculous healing. There is no excuse to not seek to cast out devils, pray for miracles, or even to doubt that through faith we can raise the dead.

I'm only trying to help people who think they are trapped in a world of matter and believe that miracles are some kind of "magic" occurrence. It's not magic or mysticism. It isn't a fairytale. It isn't getting God to respond to your every beck and call. It's mind over matter. It is faith over what we consider to be the natural. It is realizing that the realm of the spirit is far more "real" than the world we take for granted as being "real". Tear down the barriers that exist in your mind and embrace the reality that God designed a universe that is ready to respond to your faith. And He delights in you discovering this grand reality. By design, the universe will not act contrary to God's will. No amount of faith can change what God has decreed to be. However, God has granted us a significant amount of room and ability to affect our lives and the lives of others through faith filled prayer.

From Elisha's bones to prayer cloths.... from healing the sick to telling the dead to rise.... unlimited potential is waiting to be unleashed.... through prayer and faith. Have other religions and ideologies discovered this? Yes. However, they don't have the ability to seek the mind of God on these matters. They also don't have the very Spirit of God abiding in them to lead them as they tamper with our God's creation and the powers that reside within it. We have the Spirit, and we aren't tampering, we have authority that they don't. Consider the following text....

Exodus 7:8-12 (ESV)
8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.

Notice.... the unbelievers can work miracles.... but we have authority in the name of JEHOVAH God, the name of Jesus. To them this is based on "secret arts". To us, it is an open promise declared by God. And whatever we do can devour whatever they can do.

Jesus promised...

John 14:12
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Who shall do these works? He that believeth. We aren't summoning God to do our bidding. That's actually more of an occult concept than most realize. God isn't a familiar spirit that we summon and command. However, God has granted that faith can move mountains. And God has revealed that truth to us.... and unleashed us on a world in desperate need of healing. Many don't receive a miracle because they don't believe they have been granted the knowledge and power to receive it. They don't realize that it is their very own faith that has to be awakened and unleashed so that it can bring the miracle they desperately need. My point is... there is actual science behind this.

Your world is awaiting you to unleash your faith. So be encouraged. Only believe.

[shazeep]

Amen! Quantum physics might very well be in the doldrums they are in because your description of its discoveries was all it was ever meant for, perhaps.

[Aquila]

Consider this text.... and think outside the box of anything we've been told.... what might it mean if we "unshackled" it?

The King James Version reads:

Luke 17:21 (KJV)
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

A better rendering of the original language reads:

Luke 17:21 (ESV)
21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

The most literal translation of the ancient tongues is the NASB, and it renders the text as saying:

Luke 17:21 (NASB)
21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

My friends.... the kingdom of God, or the spiritual realm, is all around us. Verily, it is in our midst.

[thephnxman]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Consider this text.... and think outside the box of anything we've been told.... what might it mean if we "unshackled" it?
The King James Version reads:
NT]Luke 17:21 (KJV)
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.[/INDENT]A better rendering of the original language reads:

Luke 17:21 (ESV)
21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

The most literal translation of the ancient tongues is the NASB, and it renders the text as saying

Luke 17:21 (NASB)
21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

My friends.... the kingdom of God, or the spiritual realm, is all around us. Verily, it is in our midst.

"But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom
of God is come upon you."

Is that what you mean, or do you mean that God's kingdom is currently in
the world (midst) in the body of Christ; or are you referring to another
phenomenon?

[votivesoul]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Consider this text.... and think outside the box of anything we've been told.... what might it mean if we "unshackled" it?

The King James Version reads:

Luke 17:21 (KJV)
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

A better rendering of the original language reads:

Luke 17:21 (ESV)
21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

The most literal translation of the ancient tongues is the NASB, and it renders the text as saying:

Luke 17:21 (NASB)
21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

My friends.... the kingdom of God, or the spiritual realm, is all around us. Verily, it is in our midst.

This passage can be interpreted in different ways. Jesus may have been talking about a spiritual reality that, while invisible, overlays and is dispersed throughout natural reality...

...or, He could have simply been referring to Himself. When you look at the Greek word behind "kingdom", you'll see it's less about a place or even a concept, and more about the right and privilege to rule, i.e. royal power.

In this way, since God sent His Son to be, among many other things, King of kings and Lord of lords over all the created cosmos, it can be correctly said that Jesus is the Kingdom of, or rather, the Royal Power of, God.

[Esaias]

People who think 'the kingdom of God' is some kind of 'force' that can be harnessed and 'unshackled' are on thin ice, and are susceptible to being deceived. I can smell this stuff from miles away, slow internet sat connection and all.

The kingdom of God is first of all the dominion of God. Where the king is, the kingdom is. Christ is the king. He was in the midst of the Pharisees. Literally, standing in their midst. And thus, the kingdom of God was 'in your midst'. The moment he walked off, it was no longer in their midst. How do we know this? Because they were the sons of hell, the sons of their father the devil, the ones who refused to enter the kingdom of God and hindered those who were trying to get in.

Pharisees, who were of the devil, and who not only did not enter the kingdom but HINDERED people trying to get in, were also into things like exorcism, and wielding the supernatural power of God, getting it to operate. It's called kabbalah, 'unshackling' the 'hidden mysteries found in the word of God', which reveal the secrets of manipulating reality by imitating God's actions in the creation and preservation and on-going maintenance of the universe. Tapping into what man was supposed to be in the Paradise of God. Based upon wisdom 'received' (kabbalah, qibel, to receive) from God.

They trucked with demons, in other words.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Esaias

People who think 'the kingdom of God' is some kind of 'force' that can be harnessed and 'unshackled' are on thin ice, and are susceptible to being deceived. I can smell this stuff from miles away, slow internet sat connection and all.

The kingdom of God is first of all the dominion of God. Where the king is, the kingdom is. Christ is the king. He was in the midst of the Pharisees. Literally, standing in their midst. And thus, the kingdom of God was 'in your midst'. The moment he walked off, it was no longer in their midst. How do we know this? Because they were the sons of hell, the sons of their father the devil, the ones who refused to enter the kingdom of God and hindered those who were trying to get in.

Pharisees, who were of the devil, and who not only did not enter the kingdom but HINDERED people trying to get in, were also into things like exorcism, and wielding the supernatural power of God, getting it to operate. It's called kabbalah, 'unshackling' the 'hidden mysteries found in the word of God', which reveal the secrets of manipulating reality by imitating God's actions in the creation and preservation and on-going maintenance of the universe. Tapping into what man was supposed to be in the Paradise of God. Based upon wisdom 'received' (kabbalah, qibel, to receive) from God.

They trucked with demons, in other words.

It is written,

John 14:12 (KJV)
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Luke 24:49 (KJV)
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Mark 9:1 (KJV)
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

Matthew 9:8 (KJV)
But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

Acts 1:8 (KJV)
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Mark 9:39
But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.

Mark 16:17-18 (KJV)
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

1 Corinthians 12:7-12 (KJV)
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Definition of Spiritual Gifts:

Word of Wisdom - Divine wisdom or insight about a situation that is delivered straight from God.

Word of Knowledge - The impartation of knowledge pertaining to a person, situation, place, object, or chain of events that the gift holder could not have known by any natural means.

Discernment of Spirits - The ability to supernaturally know the motive of a human spirit or the presence and nature of spiritual beings.

Gift of Faith - The impartation of supernatural faith that defies all logic in a given, and seemingly hopeless, situation or circumstance.

Gifts of Healing - The impartation of the power to heal various maladies in the body, soul, or spirit.

Gift of Miracles - The impartation of the power to perform acts that defy the laws of nature.

Gift of Tongues - The impartation of the ability to speak a message directly from God "in the Spirit" or to supernaturally "pray in the Spirit".

Gift of Interpretation of Tongues - The impartation of the ability to "interpret" (not translate) unknown tongues spoken under the "Gift of Tongues" before listeners.

Gift of Prophesy - The impartation of the ability to speak a message directly from God concerning a future (or present) spiritual reality or situation ("Thus saith the LORD...").

I do not ascribe to there being a "force".... but there is a "power" that flows with the Spirit of God, and that power is everywhere, for His Spirit is everywhere.

This power can also reside in objects such as bone and cloth....

2 Kings 13:21 (KJV)
And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

Acts 19:11-12 (KJV)
11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

[mfblume]

Aquila, not to be mean, but I think this is another issue like those you have dabbled in before and realized were found wanting after time. Sabbath... etc.

You just are wrong here.

[shazeep]

Originally Posted by Aquila

I do not ascribe to there being a "force".... but there is a "power" that flows with the Spirit of God, and that power is everywhere, for His Spirit is everywhere.

This power can also reside in objects such as bone and cloth....

2 Kings 13:21 (KJV)
And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

Acts 19:11-12 (KJV)
11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

i think the disagreement that "force" = "power" pretty much stems from Star Wars, which i get, but then we have these verses that describe results of the power, that do not seem to have required faith on the receiver's end, even while glorifying God.

And it seems to me that Scripture even gives us examples of how to abuse the power or force, without glorifying God, with the solemn warning to not engage in those practices--but without denying their existence. So how do you treat, say, an Edgar Cayce? Who attributed their power to God, and saved many from imminent death?