On the Spiritual Side
There really is such a thing as the devil, demons and evil influences that are spiritual. We are not talking about that here, because that subject has been covered amply in my opinion. There are books out there all over the place on how to deal with spiritual matters if we care to read them. I’ve read many, and I agree with many.
The revelation I have; is that someone who refuses to grow or get in with God about going forward in him; potentially sets the stage to have spiritual demonic influence get a hold of them. Why? Because they have not been going forward. Even in the natural, stagnant ponds draw bugs, bacteria, and all kinds of smelly things.
It stands to reason that a stagnant person not growing and keeping all their stinky attitudes might draw help from the dark side; if they don’t do anything about it.
I believe just as a person seeking and following God is a magnet for good things, a person who is only seeking to be evil, fleshly, or bad draws dark influences toward them. We can look at nature and see many truths if we only pay attention.
We know we need to develop and grow and so many like me; search the scriptures for answers. There are no scriptures to tell you that it’s childish to get fussy about food, or to preach at everyone all the time or other than the famous Mary and Martha story; when we might be over the top about our priorities.
It’s safe to use bible stories because then we hopefully won’t venture into what most Christians consider to be “enemy territory.”
I have a friend that wants me to write a book on how to study; and I’m perplexed about how to write it. From the knowledge of this world and studies that have been done (which are truths by the way) I know that there are different types of learners. Some people learn better from visual, while others learn better via audio. Still others, like myself, are called abstract learners.
Those types of truths are not any different from truths about how to arrange flowers or how to fix a car the right way. We need knowledge to correctly learn how to grow along with spiritual principles and the Holy Spirit as our guide.
Consider this passage as I have read and pondered it often:
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.”
2 Peter 1; 5-9 (NIV).