#12 - Sometimes, the Sense of Touch Can Hurt

A Spiritual Kingdom

Courtesy Dean Williams 2012

Our small group was invited to a prayer meeting at the home of a pastor and his wife. Truthfully, I did not like this pastor because he seemed not to care for his wife, only for his reputation as a "man of God".

That being said, after everyone had arrived, we began the meeting with prayers, prophecies, and a whole lot of praises to the Lord. Pastor came to stand next to me. I felt uncomfortable and inched away. By the end of the night, it seemed to me as if pastor was going out of his way to "minister" to me.

Later, as the group shared our fellowship meal and things had settled down, I began to feel ant bites on my neck. I brushed behind my neck with my hands. I brushed again. These biting sensations were stinging me! Still I found nothing. I tilted my head up to silently inquire of the Lord, and as I did so, the pastor's wife came into view and glowered at me. Ahh. She also knew of her husband's tricks and each time he performed them, she was filled with jealousy.

I silently prayed for grace and mercy for her. Perhaps she was unaware of the power her intense jealousy could spiritually inflict upon the women her husband singled out. Then I asked God to deal with her unfaithful husband (1 Peter 4:17). I never went back. By the way, jealousy is a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:19, 20).

(Update: More than 20+ years have passed since that time, and the pastor and his wife got divorced. However, he did manage to marry their divorce lawyer.)

Note: Spirit can be felt (Mark 5:29; Acts 18:5), which is why I put this article under “touch”. Touch and feeling often manifest together.

Next week: Sense of Touch Conveys Power
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version . 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spiritual Senses #11 – The Sense of Touch

A Spiritual Kingdom

Since our physical body belongs to God (1 Cor. 6:19, 20 NKJV), sometimes he uses bodily manifestations as a different way to communicate with us. After all, God is not bound by our traditional methods of communication. Remember, he conveyed his message to a prophet through the behavior of a donkey (Num. 22:21-33); and brought conviction to an apostle with the crowing of a rooster (John 13:38).

• As a Body, our church ministered in small groups by prayer and the laying on of hands. One evening, an elderly woman requested ministry. Everything being done decently and in order, it came my turn to minister. I placed my hands upon her head and prayed; it was then that I felt a bombardment of small pings (like sonar pings) rise up from her head and bounce off my hands. I got the message, “pray for her thought-life”. As I gently prayed, silent tears began to run down her cheeks. Afterwards, she expressed her gratitude to the group and gave testimony that for her, God had become a caring God, up close and personal.

The bible instructs us to renew our minds. Our minds are breeding grounds for all sorts of carnally-infested thoughts that will continue to emerge untethered (Rom. 8:5-7), and cause us many troubles in varying degrees of difficulties. Some troubles the fleshy Christian might notice and be able to change; while other difficulties become too noticeable to ignore—and requires diagnoses and doses from the professional world of psychologists and psychiatrists.

Touch reveals the works of the carnal flesh hidden by many Christians. While their bodies are sending out silent signals, our bodies are receiving them. But to do so, we must be spiritual Christians; otherwise, we’re unable to discern, judge (1 Cor. 2:15), or “pick up” on these silent messages. Once received, though, we should also be spiritually fruited Christians (Gal. 6:1, 2) in order to minister within the parameters of love (1 Cor. 13:4-8). 

Next time: Sometimes, the Sense of Touch Can Hurt

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spiritual Senses #10 – Hearing in the Present for Validation

A Spiritual Kingdom

Noni fruit 2013

 

1. When I was a new Christian, I didn’t know “how” I was supposed to hear the voice of God. My life at the time was 95% prayer along with reading the bible. The thing I wanted most was for my parents to see what my church was all about. Well, one day it seemed I was arguing with my mind. I was being told to see our pastor. I was new. I didn’t want to. I wasn’t ready. The voice argued, “Okay. If you see your pastor, I promise your parents will go to your church”. I was fed up. I called the pastor who just happened to answer the phone. I said I thought I was supposed to see him but I didn’t know about what. He cleverly asked, “Is God sending you?” I broke down and told him about the argument I was having with myself in my mind. He chuckled and invited me over. That day with the pastor, I discovered my potential for the “gifts and calling of God”. The next two years, pastor implemented my gifting and calling. Then, after I became “somebody” in the church, my parents showed up—on the day of my first sermon! God was faithful to his promise.

2. One evening, I was walking to catch the bus home from work when I heard an audible voice to my right say, “Alex is going to pick you up”. As I turned my head to see where this voice was coming from, I saw Alex, who also saw me. He slowed his truck. “Hey!” he called, “You want a ride home?” Alex and I attended the same church. As leaders of different ministries, it became obvious to me that God had something planned, and our connection that day was the beginning of it; so I accepted.

Remember that Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world; that it is spirit. His kingdom operates by spirit even now, whether Christians access it or not. To access it? Live by the Spirit and do not gratify the desires of the sinful nature—and renew the mind (Gal. 5:16-25; Rom. 12:2).

Next week: The Sense of Touch

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Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Spiritual Senses #9 – Hearing in the Present with Cultural Roots in the Past

A Spiritual Kingdom

bird of paradise 2011

As usual, my siblings were gathering for prayer and fellowship at dad’s home for the weekend. Everyone was there except for my older brother. When he finally arrived, he approached from the back yard, down the steps that led to our patio. As he descended, I heard a loud clap of thunder, low and directly over his head. I was shocked! Did I hear right? It was a cloudless sunny day.

A few others in the ‘ohana also heard it and one other also saw lightning; but as I said, it was a hot, sunny day with no clouds in the sky.

Today, most of our ancient cultural roots have been lost or altered by changing times. When I began to do genealogical research, I came across some literature on ancient Hawaiian spirituality. I discovered that our elders called the thunder I heard that day “dry thunder”. The cultural meaning of “dry thunder” is significant, rarely experienced today, and generally taken as a myth. My apologies for not explaining it’s meaning here. The Scripture is:

“The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded” (Ps. 18:13 NIV; 2 Sam. 22:14 NIV).

The takeaway from this blog is if the Spirit incorporates our culture into spiritual workings, then who are we to repudiate how the Spirit manifests? More importantly, if a cultural manifestation occurs that follows Scripture and the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23)—then why do we still doubt whether or not it’s from God?

Next time: Hearing in the Present for Validation

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Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved; and from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge 1769. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spiritual Senses #8 – Hearing the Future to Perform God's Will

Trees, 2013

A Spiritual Kingdom

“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice…” (Rev. 1:10 NIV). Thus began the revelation of Jesus Christ to his servant John. Sometimes, the Spirit will use the sense of hearing to catch our attention before the Lord reveals his will.

I began my daily walk from the office to an Episcopal cathedral a few blocks up the street, where I usually spent my lunch hour in prayer. Suddenly to my left, I heard a loud gun shot coming from the roof of a parking lot. As I looked up, I saw a Caucasian man in blue Bermuda shorts. He was intently looking over the edge of the rooftop to the street below. Then he jumped!

Somebody called the police. They covered his lifeless body with a sheet. In church that day, even though I was traumatized by the incident, I cried and prayed for this stranger. Yes, he was dead; but obviously God wanted somebody to pray for him—and that somebody was me. Regardless of what we’ve been taught to believe—that once death comes it’s too late to pray for that person—God is God, and he makes exceptions. For this man, God had “mercy on whom he will have mercy” (Rom. 9:15 KJV).

God lets us hear the future so we can perform his will. I’ve learned that the more we trust God as his Spirit leads, the more we come to realize that words like “mercy”, “patience”, “kindness”, and “love” are less like feelings or ideas—and more like actions!

Next time: Hearing in the Present with Cultural Roots in the Past

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Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved; and from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge 1769. Used by permission. All rights reserved.