As spiritual energy created by God through Christ [Jn 1:3], each of us has an inactive spirit waiting to be ignited to cognition. With our spiritual activation initiated through a relationship with Christ we become a child of God. This acknowledged "activation" on our part engages His original Spirit to once again rejoin ours as its originator. From that moment until our last breath, the closer we choose to be with Him through moral and ethical emulation of Jesus’ thoughts, words, and deeds the more fully we see and experience life’s true reality. The esoteric realism that recognizes evil and corruption for what it is, and the spiritual grounding and strength to resist lies and deceit of the world which exist around us.

The evidence is in plain view. We each ultimately choose if our life will include a spiritual relationship or not. Spiritual strengthened support enables us to control our response to evil, hatred and corruption. By engaging spiritual strength when it's needed, we are able to confront and defeat the onslaught of negative energy trying to overtake and claim us. We are able to exercise the power of God’s spirit to repel and rebuke evil, casting it from our lives through and in the name of Christ. This is the power of faith in action.

Will you meet resistance? Yes. Will people mock and belittle you? Yes. Will the people closest to you ridicule and  possibly decry you? Perhaps. Who knows? Can you handle it? Emphatically, Yes! Once you see truth, embrace and live with truth, others' opinions, words and actions will fade as the mist that they are until they don't matter. The world hates the truth. It will do all it can to keep the truth hidden. The world does all it can to obfuscate truth. When challenged by truth the world's characters dismiss themselves through excuses and blame, looking for a new place to thrive.
 
Will the confrontation between your new spirit grounded in truth and the world be easy? Probably not. The one entity who knows the scriptures as well as the Triune Godhead is Satan himself. His desire is to be worshiped as god. Satan knows how the story ends. He knows he will be defeated.  His sole intent is to gather as many worshipers as possible into his kingdom. For this reason whenever a new believer in Christ spiritually surrenders to Jesus, Satan will do all he can to dissuade that choice to become a child of God.
 
Every new believer is tested. Tested to see if they will stay the course they’ve chosen that leads to God. If you trust in the power and presence of God’s spirit serving and counseling yours, He will strengthen you through these trials and tests. Each spiritual victory response will fortify you for the next challenge. Soon you’ll instantly recognize the truth in your current situation and know immediately the Lord’s suggested response.
 
Observe the world long enough and you'll realize we cannot, nor will we, change it. What we can change is how we respond and treat those in our life. We each have opportunities to become better people, particularly with those we say we love and care about. And then by extension toward others who come into our lives. Or, through spiritual ignorance we can experience a life of stress and struggle. The choice is ours. We each welcome God as an active participant in our life, or we don't. But we will all choose who we will follow and what will be our compass; the Lord or the world. Consider your options and learn all you can. For more about spiritual grounding and strength, we invite you to visit our web site and YouTube channel for our latest postings.
 
All the best,
Branch
 


​

​
We should stop here for a moment to explain that as soon as you turn to your spiritual counselor with a dilemma, you may have mixed emotions. For the first time, or the first time in a long time, you may feel odd by contemplating the truth of your pending situation. The shadow of 'truth' is always present, each and every time we choose or decide. The question is always, how will we respond? 
 
Just as our spirit is now always present, so too is the truth. With an active spirit we now become cognizant of the truth and the role it plays in the emotional struggle we now face. Truth's recognition through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us is always there. In every situation. We have lived our entire life ignoring it, distrusting it, abandoning it. Yet, it is always easier (and much more gratifying [in the short term or during the experience]) for us to dismiss it as “it's not for me”. It is easier to repeat our ‘old pattern’ behavior, and then, if necessary, to rationalize the consequence(s). Even if we know the potential outcome is not in our best interest, for many it’s actually more comforting to repeat the experience despite knowing and acknowledging (a potential negative outcome) rather than to trust an invisible ‘God’.
 
When your spirit is active and alive with the presence of God through the advent promise of a relationship with Christ, you now possess the temerity to recognize truth and its strength, by making it your reality in each specific and every particular scenario. There is nothing else available that will allow you to see the truth of your decisions in real time prior to enactment, as will the spirit of God within you.
 
How to make the jump? How does one go from neophyte (new) believer, with a now ‘born again’ activated spirit to an engaged, expectant receiver of ‘good news’? How do we learn to be expectant as to our response in a situation, which requires choice or decision with a consequence attached? As with learning to ride a bicycle, parallel park a car, being part of a team, learning a musical instrument, or any prolific new skill set: practice, practice, practice. Or as applied to our spiritual grounding and growth: hear, listen, trust, act; repeat!
 
The more we allow ourselves to turn inward for spiritual counseling and guidance in every important relationship or actualized decision, the more comfortably accustomed we become in asking. The more we ask, the more He answers. However, because His Spirit always answers with the truth, it is in our repeated recognition of that truth (or not) which enables us to control the consequence of our action (or not) before it occurs. Simply put, the more we ask and accept what He (God the Father through His living Spirit, in Christ abiding within us) would have us do, the more controlled our response or reaction. With our "counselor’s direction" we can sidestep the holes of adversity in our lives present and future instead of continually trying to dig ourselves out. We are able to start living full and blessed lives.
 
Once you are on the path, Stay on the path. This is the key!
 
Join me next time when we look at How our spirit works with the Spirit of God within us.




​

We each carry within our consciousness and subconscious different 'splinters'. One of the world and one of spirituality. For we are each both physical and spiritual in our nature. No matter how involved or invested in one over the other we are or to what degree, at any given time in our lives both are available and present.
 
Now that we have established a new way of examining our thoughts as related to our actions and responses, let me share a real-life example. A friend of mine had an ‘inactive’ spirit and for that reason was living trapped in and by the world's ways. With a focus on self-interests and narcissistic desires, his personal motto was “Anything and everything for money.” He was enmeshed in the ways of the world and wallowed in his successes, while excused, blamed, and transferred his foils when experiencing failure.
 
Having grown up in a ‘normal and average’ dysfunctional home with few expressions of love, while being no stranger to abuse, his focus of self was piled high with the layers of life from childhood to an adult. From childhood cognitions his innate concept of right and wrong had been formed foundationally on 'reward and punishment'. His actions and responses were grounded in his parents' experiential lives. Simply said, the cycle continued. As an adult he relished the freedom and opportunities to enjoy the pleasures life offered with few concerns as to the harm and damage his decisions wrought.
 
And yet the alternate 'splinter' of spiritual acknowledgement persisted to exist in the deep recess of his subconscious. At times "itching" at other times festering, coming to the surface of his conscience thoughts infrequent, yet persistently. Always there yet put aside by the immediacy of ‘self’. Then came the day. The day that choice stared him literally in the face. One of his greatest temptations was immediate, at his beck and call, available thirty feet away arching with desire. Next to that wanton wish was the seed of spiritual consciousness. Eyeing and salivating for his temptress, he chose to sow the seed of spirit by consciously inviting the Lord God into his being, thus activating his spirit by a single decision of action. In that moment one splinter was removed, a fork in the road chosen. He swears to me this happened. I simply share it with you.
 
His final comment to me was, “I’m just an average ordinary guy, struggling. Conflicted by life and its choices. But once I voluntarily removed and replaced the splinter of the world's ways to sow the seed of that latent splinter of spiritual acknowledgement available, it was as if a heavy weight was removed and I could breathe again.” He died shortly thereafter but lives again.
 
We live in a complex world. We are pushed, pulled, and prodded. We are bombarded by ‘wishes, wants, and the 'where-with-all’ of this world. We control nothing more than our thoughts and responses. Remove the world's splinter by inviting spiritual consciousness and the presence of the Lord God through His Son Jesus Christ to dwell within you. Your spirit will be activated, and your life’s choices will become clearer. And as you will soon discover, always in your best interests.
 
Now that we know how to become spiritually active, what do we do with that knowledge power? And how does it work? Before we go further let’s answer the question of, Why? Because ‘Why’ is at the core of everything we want to know about and experience. Why should we desire an active spirit? Only through an actively connected spirit can we prepare for salvation, redemption, and spiritual reconciliation. For the believer eternal presence with the Lord is the essential answer to ‘Why’.
 
With an active spirit we possess the spiritual ‘counselor’ Jesus promised. Now that 'he' is with us, how do we enlist him to work with us? Because He delights in being our advocate, our best interests are always aligned with his. In every situation you now find you are not alone. You now have God’s spirit actively counseling you from within. Therefore, His presence gives strength and power never experienced. You have had this connection since birth, but now it is active!
 
So, how do we as believers employ it? With every choice or decision we make from now on, before responding by words or action, STOP and ask yourself, "What would God have me do? How would He have me respond? (In this situation) What Would Jesus Do?" By asking we will get both an answer and direction. The more energy and time we give to the question the more convicted our direction will be. This is how the Lord’s spirit within works. The more interactive communication we have in thought, words and deeds the more of His spiritual presence we will discover and can trust to rely on.
 
Now comes the quintessential question for every believer in Christ. After you have asked and received, how will you respond? Conscious of the guidance His Spirit gives? Or will you resort to your 'Old Pattern' behavior? Will you do what you desire, even though the consequences may be harmful?
 
Join me next time when we look at the “Key” to making the jump.We each carry within our consciousness and subconscious different 'splinters'. One of the world and one of spirituality. For we are each both physical and spiritual in our nature. No matter how involved or invested in one over the other we are or to what degree, at any given time in our lives both are available and present.
 
Now that we have established a new way of examining our thoughts as related to our actions and responses, let me share a real-life example. A friend of mine had an ‘inactive’ spirit and for that reason was living trapped in and by the world's ways. With a focus on self-interests and narcissistic desires, his personal motto was “Anything and everything for money.” He was enmeshed in the ways of the world and wallowed in his successes, while excused, blamed, and transferred his foils when experiencing failure.
 
Having grown up in a ‘normal and average’ dysfunctional home with few expressions of love, while being no stranger to abuse, his focus of self was piled high with the layers of life from childhood to an adult. From childhood cognitions his innate concept of right and wrong had been formed foundationally on 'reward and punishment'. His actions and responses were grounded in his parents' experiential lives. Simply said, the cycle continued. As an adult he relished the freedom and opportunities to enjoy the pleasures life offered with few concerns as to the harm and damage his decisions wrought.
 
And yet the alternate 'splinter' of spiritual acknowledgement persisted to exist in the deep recess of his subconscious. At times "itching" at other times festering, coming to the surface of his conscience thoughts infrequent, yet persistently. Always there yet put aside by the immediacy of ‘self’. Then came the day. The day that choice stared him literally in the face. One of his greatest temptations was immediate, at his beck and call, available thirty feet away arching with desire. Next to that wanton wish was the seed of spiritual consciousness. Eyeing and salivating for his temptress, he chose to sow the seed of spirit by consciously inviting the Lord God into his being, thus activating his spirit by a single decision of action. In that moment one splinter was removed, a fork in the road chosen. He swears to me this happened. I simply share it with you.
 
His final comment to me was, “I’m just an average ordinary guy, struggling. Conflicted by life and its choices. But once I voluntarily removed and replaced the splinter of the world's ways to sow the seed of that latent splinter of spiritual acknowledgement available, it was as if a heavy weight was removed and I could breathe again.” He died shortly thereafter but lives again.
 
We live in a complex world. We are pushed, pulled, and prodded. We are bombarded by ‘wishes, wants, and the 'where-with-all’ of this world. We control nothing more than our thoughts and responses. Remove the world's splinter by inviting spiritual consciousness and the presence of the Lord God through His Son Jesus Christ to dwell within you. Your spirit will be activated, and your life’s choices will become clearer. And as you will soon discover, always in your best interests.
 
Now that we know how to become spiritually active, what do we do with that knowledge power? And how does it work? Before we go further let’s answer the question of, Why? Because ‘Why’ is at the core of everything we want to know about and experience. Why should we desire an active spirit? Only through an actively connected spirit can we prepare for salvation, redemption, and spiritual reconciliation. For the believer eternal presence with the Lord is the essential answer to ‘Why’.
 
With an active spirit we possess the spiritual ‘counselor’ Jesus promised. Now that 'he' is with us, how do we enlist him to work with us? Because He delights in being our advocate, our best interests are always aligned with his. In every situation you now find you are not alone. You now have God’s spirit actively counseling you from within. Therefore, His presence gives strength and power never experienced. You have had this connection since birth, but now it is active!
 
So, how do we as believers employ it? With every choice or decision we make from now on, before responding by words or action, STOP and ask yourself, "What would God have me do? How would He have me respond? (In this situation) What Would Jesus Do?" By asking we will get both an answer and direction. The more energy and time we give to the question the more convicted our direction will be. This is how the Lord’s spirit within works. The more interactive communication we have in thought, words and deeds the more of His spiritual presence we will discover and can trust to rely on.
 
Now comes the quintessential question for every believer in Christ. After you have asked and received, how will you respond? Conscious of the guidance His Spirit gives? Or will you resort to your 'Old Pattern' behavior? Will you do what you desire, even though the consequences may be harmful?
 
Join me next time when we look at the “Key” to making the jump.



​

How much political power do you have?
How much financial leverage do you command?
How much social influence do you possess?
How much of your life do you control?
 
For this series, there are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers to these questions. They are reflective gauges of our ‘station’ in life and what we are doing with it.
We have jobs, careers, responsibilities, duties, obligations. We have relationships, issues, problems, fears. We have an id, an ego, insecurities and doubts, a conscience, a mind and body. We are each complex individuals living in a complicated world.
 
What do you have control over, exactly? Thoughts and Responses. Your Thoughts, Your Responses. On that platform we all start on a level ‘playing field.’ Think about what you can change in the world today. Not much right? Think about what you can change in your world today! Think for a moment about what you can change right now, today, in your family, neighborhood, community. Imagine what you can change in yourself. The questions really are simply, How? and Why? If you want change in your life, do you want that change to be positive or negative?
 
We are all caught up in life. Specifically ours unfolding hour by hour, day by day. We are trying to get by, get along, and get ahead. We’re all juggling people, places, objects, and emotions. 
You name it, we have got an aspiration to have it, be it, or possess it. How many of our desires, wants, wishes and delights do we actually have ‘control’ over? True control? Meaning "you’re able to walk away from it" if and when you need to?
 
We are each living, but are we ‘alive’? To recognize the purpose behind being ‘alive’ one needs to be ‘complete’. Mind, body, and spirit working in concert. That is the true challenge of life. We are each a spirit upon arrival, occupying a soul, housed in a corporeal body with a processing mind on a journey travelling a path that stretches before us. It is our individual life, yet we are each on a quest to understand and be understood. To know ourselves and our place in our world. After day one no one remains unimpaired. Life becomes a continuum. A series of chances, choices, consequences and changes. It is little things that often determine who we can, may, or will become. You, your complete package is and has traversed its journey that culminates in you, today.
 
From our first breath we are caught up in the world. With each of us inhaling its enveloping existence. We become part of our singular new world. And the longer we are a part of it and it a part of us, the more bonded to 'our life' we become. It is a “Matrix” like realm as our energies are used, influenced, morphed, modeled, and molded for and by the world through its control, evil and corruption. Are we an unwitting part of its system? Or do we blindly 'buy into' its temptations designed to engage us first and foremost in "self"? The essence of who you are is an energy unit of the cosmos. When the spirit within the corporeal body is ‘activated’ in a living spiritual relationship, choices come with fewer harmful consequences because an activated spirit identifies opportunities as efforts to grow. On the other hand an ‘inactive’ spirit is silent, allowing habitual repeated mistakes and errors in judgment to constantly proliferate, engage and result in requited suffering.
 
What to do? 
First, forgive your parents. Free yourself by doing this one thing, and you can start the rest of your journey to become your own person. Realize they are (were) just who they are (were). A culmination of their nature and nurtured upbringing. Each having ‘good, bad and ugly’ experiences you saw, endured, embraced and perhaps escaped? Next, allow yourself to forgive yourself the pain of the anger and animosity you hold deep within against those who have harmed you on your path. This is essential. It is only you who suffers the lingering indignant emotions of those experiences. If those people are no longer in your life, then be done with them once and for all. If they are still in your life, then you have work to do and decisions to make.
 
Are these two actions easy? Well, that depends on how much you continue to be emotionally invested in your anger and 'hurt' feelings. Does this sound harsh? Perhaps, however the penultimate question is do you want to heal and become better? More whole in your being and existence? Do you? If so, these two steps are the start. If your only desire is to feel sorry for yourself by refusing to overcome your past, then that is where you have chosen to be and stay. Good luck with that. Our choice with every step on the journey's path is to determine whether we will be 'whole' or, stay in the 'hole'.
 
Let’s turn back to that which we can control. Our thoughts and responses. God’s love for each of us is so great that He designed our brains (minds) with a unique ability. Like a supercomputer our brains can process information at the 'speed of thought.' That is, instantly. Our minds can change, analyze, prepare, and respond in nano milliseconds. Faster even than we ourselves can understand. But here is the true genius of God’s loving design. We can only have one thought at a time.
 
Think about it. Although the multiplicity of our brain's abilities is innumerable, we can only actively focus on one thought at a time. This is the omniscience of God’s love. He knew with our mind’s instant processing abilities we would be able to imagine wishes, desires and actions constantly. Combining this thought processing ability with ‘free will’ we often manage get ourselves into situations/issues/problems we create for ourselves. For this reason, He gave us the capability of focusing only on a single active thought in a singular moment upon which to act.
 
What does this mean? If you want to change your life, change your thoughts! How? Redirect or replace that (inappropriate or negative consequence producing) focused thought with a different one. Why? Because our thoughts become our actions, our actions become our habits, our habits become our character, and our character becomes our destiny. If you want to change your life, change your thoughts, and then act accordingly in every situation. If you want/need help to make that happen, activate your spiritual connection with God, through Jesus Christ.
 
By not recognizing the spiritual power connection between the innate concept of right vs. wrong consequences, life continues as a process of cause and effect, reward and punishment. Life becomes layer upon layer of covered and muted pronouncements or attempts at ‘control.’ Always lingering is the knowledge of choice between immediate gratification and an alternative response. It is similar to experiencing the brass ring on a classic Merry-Go-Round. Knowing it exists and is attainable, yet never stretching out far enough to grasp it.
 
We each come to learn and understand the consequential options between right and wrong. Spiritually speaking, that same option is between a moral or ethical response, versus an amoral/immoral or inappropriate/unethical response. Each moment of decision can represent a point of mental conflict within every choice. The question, or opportunity becomes, " Will I choose my way?" That is, my well known and well used, comfortable 'old pattern' world influenced response/action/reaction? Or will I attempt the unknown, untried, possibly untrue and perhaps uncomfortable response guided by spiritual recognition and understanding?
 
Being and remaining ‘in limbo’ teetering between these two with every major (or minor) decision or choice leads to frustrating and potentially costly consequences. This can also make for tenuous and conflicted daily interactions which can further exacerbate our doubts or fears. Truly a difficult way to live. Much like Alice’s rabbit hole, we tumble, wander and wonder. While the entire time in the back of our mind is an itch we are unable to scratch, that mental 'splinter' we are unable to extricate. An ever-present cognition that surely, there must be an alternative way.
 
Join me for Part 2 when we pull the splinter.



​