I'm
reading A. W. Tozer's Pursuit of God,
and just finished the chapter on Apprehending God The chapter talks about understand God as a
real personality, a reality, not just an ideal.
To begin to understand God in this manner, we have to accept the reality
that there is another world out there, a spiritual world. Tozer points out that the very root of
Christianity lies in belief of a spiritual world, the invisible. Yes, I know conservative, fundamentalist
Christians tend to downplay the spiritual realm, but I don't understand
why. It was never really discussed when
I was a child. In fact, aside from talk
about the Holy Spirit, I feel like I was actively discouraged from believing in
another, spiritual, world. I remember
being told that while Satan exists, demons don't, or at least they don't affect
us at all. They are unconcerned with Christians. At least that is what I thought. But now that I am older and wiser (?), I know
that there is another world, a spiritual world. It is very real.
We live on two planes - one of them is this
earthly world, the physical world that we are a part of; the world that we
live, breath, eat, drink, work, play in.
But we also, as Christians, must be conscious of the "other
world", the world where our souls are in touch with God. That is the world where He speaks to us. Yet at the same time, and this is what so
many Christians want to deny, that world is also populated by evil. It's the
same world where Satan and his host reside. Yes, I do believe that there is a
spirit world out there that we cannot see, but certainly can know. If our eyes were opened to that spiritual
world, and we could really see what is going on, I do think that quite possibly
it would be as the author Frank Peretti described - angels and demons
standing, watching. One waiting to jump on every
opportunity to defeat and destroy, and one (Christ himself, in the form of the
Holy Spirit) standing guard waiting to fight at our simple command. That's the whole point of the armor of God.
Why else are we instructed in Ephesians 6 to put on the armor of God, a
spiritual armor, if we aren't in battle against spiritual forces?
I
thought of the hymn, Open My Eyes. The
author, Clara Scott, asks God to open her eyes to the truth that God has for
her, to understand His will. However,
it's risky really asking God to open our eyes to the spiritual world. I believe that when we do, we see the other
things, the things that we don't want to see.
Yet Lord, I still pray that you will open my eyes. If I am fully protected by His armor, then
having my eyes opened to the spiritual realm is actually pretty exciting!
Lord,
help me put on your armor - the girdle of truth, the breastplate of
righteousness, my feet covered with the gospel of peace, holding onto the
shield of faith, with the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. Then, and only then, am I prepared to see
the other world, and everything that it contains.
Listen to a beautiful piano version of the hymn http://tinyurl.com/p6pke93
