Looking for True Spirituality 2 Not restricted to an elite

True Spirituality—How Can You Find It?

“To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,”

wrote the apostle Paul. (Romans 8:6, King James Version)

English: St. Paul by El Greco, c. 1608-1614. O...

The religious and spiritual Jew who was converted to follow Jesus from Nazareth – St. Paul by El Greco, c. 1608-1614. Originally taken from artchive.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With those words, the apostle was pointing out that being a spiritual person is more than a matter of personal preference or inclination. Essentially, it is a matter of life and death. In what sense, though, does a spiritual person receive “life and peace”?

According to the Bible, such a person enjoys peace now — with self and with God — and will be blessed with everlasting life in the future.

23 For the wages sin pays is death,+ but the gift God gives is everlasting life+ by Christ Jesus our Lord.+ (Romans 6:23)

Let your reasonableness+ become known to all men. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious over anything,+ but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God;+and the peace+ of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts+ and your mental powers* by means of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)

No wonder Jesus observed:

“Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need”!—Matthew 5:3.

Are you blessed when you’re at the end of your rope? With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
Spirituality” may be a word that defines our era. By times the world also became more fascinated by “Spirituality”.  there have been moments in history where everybody had seem forgotten about it, and at other moments there have been times nobody could be quiet about it.

The fascination with spirituality is a striking aspect of our contemporary times and stands in stark contrast to the decline in traditional religious belonging in the West.  “Spirituality” has now moved well beyond religion itself. It is all about lifestyle and practices that embody a vision of how the human spirit can achieve its full potential. In other words, spirituality embraces an aspirational approach to the meaning and conduct of life – we are driven by goals beyond purely material success or physical satisfaction.

Mangreen Health and Healing Trust - the Light ...

Mangreen Health and Healing Trust – the Light Centre (interior) – geograph.org.uk – 1584251 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some may think we do not to be in monasteries to be a full spiritual person. Spirituality has perhaps been at certain times the preserve of spiritual elites, for example in monasteries, but it is presumed to be native to everyone. In each person it is implanted by the Divine Creator, in whose image we all are created. And because God is Spirit we have an element in us which would like to encounter that Spirit Being. Lots of people are looking for that spiritual element in themselves but do not know how to find it. Therefore they also look all sorts of things they can worship. those who have more light should know by Whom to look for, in what to believe and Whom to worship.

22 You worship what you do not know;+ we worship what we know, because salvation begins with the Jews.+ 23 Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for indeed, the Father is looking for ones like these to worship him.+ 24 God is a Spirit,+ and those worshipping him must worship with spirit and truth.”+ (Johannes 4:22-24)

It is individually-tailored, democratic and eclectic, and offers an alternative source of inner-directed, personal authority in response to a decline of trust in conventional social or religious leaderships.

From the previous articles you may have come to understand that Spirituality is also understood to be engaged with a quest for “the sacred” – whether God, the numinous, the boundless mysteries of the universe or our own human depths. The word is also regularly linked to “thriving” – what it means to thrive and how we are enabled to thrive. Contemporary approaches also relate spirituality to a self-reflective existence in place of an unexamined life. People are searching for a “value-added” factor to personal and professional lives. they may look for many ways. We would like to show you there is a very easy way to come to peace with the self and to come close to yourself in union with the Most High.

We do not know how you came onto these pages. Perhaps by Googling a certain word or looking for “spirituality”. Spirituality is something which should bother many of us. The fact that you found this internet magazine which is concerned about spiritual and religious matters, religious and spiritual life, may perhaps indicate that you have an interest in spirituality — and wisely so.
Yet, views on this subject differ widely, so you may wonder:

‘What is true spirituality? And how does one attain it?’

In the previous articles Bijbelvorsers tried already to give a good answer. But let us look a little bit closer in the next articles.

+

Preceding articles from Bijbelvorsers:

Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience

Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life

Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual

Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people

Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences

Being Religious and Spiritual 6 Romantici, utopists and transcendentalists

Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one

Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious

+ Preceding article:

Looking for True Spirituality 1 Intro

To be continued: Looking for True Spirituality  3 Mind of Christ

Dutch version of this article / De Nederlandse versie van dit artikel:

Op zoek naar spiritualiteit 2 Hoe te vinden

The beginning of the Dutch original version may be found:

De aanvang van de originele Nederlandse versie kan gevonden worden:

Op zoek naar spiritualiteit 1 Inleiding

++

Find also to read:

  1. Meaning of life
  2. Doctrine and Conduct Cause and Effect
  3. Remember that who you’re being is just as important as what you’re doing
  4. Circumstances are beyond human control
  5. Bible a guide – Bijbel als gids
  6. Be like a tree planted by streams of water
  7. Faith antithesis of rationality
  8. A Living Faith #1 Substance of things hoped for
  9. Everything that is done in the world is done by hope
  10. Walking alone?
  11. Give your worries to God
  12. Look for today
  13. Try driving forward instead of backwards
  14. God Feeds The Birds
  15. We have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace
  16. Choosing your attitudes
  17. Wisdom lies deep
  18. Don’t put a question mark where God put a period
  19. The great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me

+++

Additional reading:

+++

  • The True Story of Thanksgiving ! (ioan17.wordpress.com)
    First, God created humanity for gratitude. You exist to appreciate God. He created you to honor him by giving him thanks. Appreciating both who God is and his actions for us — in creating us and sustaining our lives — is fundamental to proper human life in God’s created world.
    +
    Perhaps hyperphysicality is all too well known in 21st-century Western society at large. A milieu of materialists is so unaware of spiritual reality that even when there is gratitude for the physical, the spiritual is neglected, if not outright rejected. We can be thankful for the temporal, even while we couldn’t care less about the eternal.
    But hyperspirituality is often particularly dangerous among the so-called “spiritual” types, even in the church. We can be prone to mute God’s physical goodness to us out of fear that appreciation for such would somehow detract from our thanksgiving for spiritual blessings.
  • Latest Prophecy – 1 Thessalonians 5:20 Do not despise prophecies. @ www.johnleary.com Dec 10, 2013. (kenjohnston98.wordpress.com)
    When you are outside of your body, and outside of time, you will have a different view of life, and what should be important for you to accomplish. You will desire to repent of your sins more than your previous Confessions.
  • Social or Spiritual (johnnoble1.wordpress.com)
    the gospel is both social and spiritual.And it is encouraging to see that more and more churches and organisations are aware of the necessity of the good news of Jesus Christ being both social and spiritual.
  • The Certainty of Some Things (counselofafriend.wordpress.com)
    Some people deny the reality of certainties, but how can they be sure that nothing is for sure?
  • Spiritual Warfare Against The Spirit of Fantasy (pastorstrom.com)
    the Spirit of Fantasy gets in. It alludes to another dimension and lures us to what the Apostle Paul called the “doctrines of devils” (see 1 Timothy 4:1). Using fantasy, the Devil can preach and disseminate his own agenda. Back to the movie and the one song for a moment; I was shocked when as I listened to my children sing “Let it go, Let it go, can’t hold it back anymore….I don’t care what they’re going to say, let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway”. So, whatever you think you are, just let it go. If you are a homosexual, just let it go and don’t worry what anyone else says. It’s ok to be cold and dreary on the inside. This is how the Spirit of Fantasy begins the Devil’s work of pervading both mind and soul of the people.
  • The Manger Throne (theswordandtheshovel.wordpress.com)
    Israel had forgotten and forsaken all that the Lord had done for them and wanted a change in how things where run and God, being the great ruler that He is, gave them over to that desire to be like everyone else, which is the exact opposite of what He was calling them to be, Holy and set apart from the world.
    +
    History is defined by kings who’s only care was the advancement of their kingdom and not God’s and this all originates in the sinful heart of man where they want to operate independently from the governing wisdom and love of our Sovereign Lord who has always been king and just because we don’t want Him ruling over us does not stop Him being King over us we just simply live out our existence in a Kingdom far less glorious than His.
  • Revelation 4: The Best Worship Service Ever (josephfranks.wordpress.com)
    John, was found again in visionary state, and this time he was enabled to see into heaven.  Perhaps one remembers how Stephen was given a similar privilege on the day of his assassination.  In similar manner the heavens opened and John could see an open door.  It appeared to be a door into the throne room of God, the heavenly sanctuary, or the Holy of Holies.  How excited he must have been when he received the invitation from the divine host to come and take a look.  John was about to catch a glimpse of what takes place “after this” present age of life is complete.
  • Spirituality and Your Health (evelynmmaxwell.com)
    Your body is precious because of its vital connection with the inner person.  The body is the “temple” of the Spirit of God when we are born of God.  The chemistry of your body affects the functioning of your nervous system and your brain.  And, the inter-workings of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual factors affect body chemistry.  Therefore, keeping our bodies as healthy and fine-tuned as possible is important to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, and vice-versa.  Spiritual health helps us meet and overcome difficulties in every other aspect of living.
  • Helmet of Salvation: 5 Daily Spiritual Warfare Tips (nostopministries.wordpress.com)
    What we think determines what we believe; what we believe determines how we live.  It is in our minds that we think, reason, discern, and live out the immaterial part of our Christian faith.  Our minds, soul, and spirit are so closely connected as to be virtually indistinguishable.  Therefore, the mind plays an incredibly foundational role in every aspect of our existence, especially our relationship with God.
    +
    The Bible tells us that unbelievers have their minds occupied with things of the world rather than things of God (Ephesians 2:3; Colossians 1:21). This is evidence that one does not love God with all their being.  It is wise for the Christian to periodically evaluate our own thought lives to see if what we are thinking about is pleasing to God.  Our thought lives reveal much about our commitment, or the lack thereof, to God.
  • Spiritual Blessings (moretolifetoday.wordpress.com)
    We all love blessings; we pray for them, we testify about them, we revel in them. But it is so easy to fall into the trap of only thinking about tangible blessings, like health and protection, food and clothing, shelter and finances. Do we really appreciate our spiritual blessings? How often do we take time to thank God for the intangible benefits He showers on us? We can’t touch, smell or hear salvation, but it is a priceless gift. And the peace that holds us together when life gets confusing…what would we do without that?
  • What Are You Pursuing – Proverbs 11:19 (prowisdomtext.wordpress.com)
    While our old nature wants to do what it wants to do, we must practice self-control. We must follow after righteousness instead of the deceptive whims of our heart by walking in the power of the Spirit (Jer. 17:19, Gal. 5:16). We have the choice to be a person after our own heart or a person after God’s heart.

 

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