Hi everyone,
I want to relate to you a new aspect of my walk that I honestly am not sure what to do with. I do not want to sound proud or favored over anyone and I almost wish this was not happening to me because I could be going nuts. I am on anti-depressant medication but the doctor does not think the medicine could cause this because it is one of the more milder ones out there. But of course he is concerned of the direction that my mental processes might be going. It was a good opportunity to share my faith as I needed to properly tell him all the truth as a possible aid in any diagnosis that might be thought of.
At the same time, I see this also as much responsibility that might be placed into my hands, and I do realize that Jesus equips us for his work, so maybe I am just feeling anxiety for the most part because I have no idea what this will manifest into or if indeed the medication is having some odd side effect. With that said, I did see slight glimpses of this before I started in the medication so that maybe is a positive sign in that regaurd.
Basically I get the sense that I can feel other peoples spirits, not in the sense of mind reading or clarivoyance, but I seem to sense other peoples pain. It started a while back while I was still in the church I left before I finally said goodbye to organized religion. It was a smaller group of people and we were watching a DVD series on worship. As per some other comments I have made on this board, I have come to the conclusion that much anguish is being caused by the teaching that we of our own free will have to put ourselves into a position of receiving Gods blessings.
I was among these people as the DVD played and the conclusion of this particular set of teachings basically pointed out our failure of just "Entering his Presence". I felt a very very strong gloom enter the room and I actually saw the people in the room sort of turn translucent momentarily as I saw what may have been their spirits in anguish and in bondage of that failure being that they just were not good enough for God.
This was one of the moments when I really started to shift my belief on Gods plan and his control over everything. I felt people who have faith, I felt their spirits KNOW that God was there, but were in bondage of a religious teaching that crushes their worth.
As I tried to talk individually to these people I could not get anyone to talk, they neither acknowledged nor denied what I tried to say that I saw. I went into a lot less detail in the hopes that maybe I would just come across as being intuitive that night rather than scare them off by vividly saying what I saw.
After that I was walking around in walmart and just felt the need to walk around the store and contemplate the Lord and I saw the same thing start to manifest, I saw people turning translucent, straining to be free of the bondages in their life and seeing that they have been told that they have to figure this all out on their own.
I wanted to just go right up to everyone and tell them how much God loves them, how much he cares, that they do not have to "live right first". But I believe I was stopped by the holy spirit because at the time I was also suffering from a ruined friendship and I needed a boost myself for how I looked at myself. I believe God knew that while what I am experiencing is true, I needed a selfish boost from helping someone and that would of been my motivation at the time.
So, as I contemplated hoping I just did not talk myself out of doing that, God verified this by placing a friend in my life that I have been able to help individually. I have not told this friend that I felt his spirit, that I felt that he did not think anyone liked him and through that I discovered that he was in the bondage of co-dependance of a church and needed to get free of that. And God is working a great wonder in theis persons life in freedom.
I think though the thing that is bothering me is that I am having a hard time drawing a parallel to what is happening to me in scripture and that concerns me a great deal. I struggle a lot with my own self worth at times and it isn't something I like to share a lot because I am done with pity parties. So at times I like the fact that I am seeing this and can help people but I do not want to be prideful, I do want to do this and help people even if I never get any credit. But this new aspect of my walk makes resisting that terribly difficult.
Anyway, just sharing that with the people here that I have come to believe are friends even if it only remains in the online world. So, if you feel the need to respond to this, please be honest, do not encourage me to make me feel better, because I want nothing more than the truth.
Thank you
It sounds like a beautiful gift to me.
Jesus could tell what people were feeling and thinking and would answer their questions and concerns before they even asked.
I always wondered how he did that.
Here, Jesus answers a man's thought--
39Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
40And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
--Luke 7
I think a heart of flesh gives us a kind of hyper-empathy with others. We are also more able to see their spirits,-- beyond the flesh. But, I've never quite had an experience like you describe.
It's really interesting to hear about it.
Hi Paul H.,
The KJV would call this the gift of discerning of spirits. It's one of the three revelatory manifestations of the Holy Spirit described by St. Paul in 1Corinthians 12. You're not the only one that experiences this. And it's very Biblical.
Quote from: martincisneros on August 30, 2008, 06:54:16 AM
Hi Paul H.,
The KJV would call this the gift of discerning of spirits. It's one of the three revelatory manifestations of the Holy Spirit described by St. Paul in 1Corinthians 12. You're not the only one that experiences this. And it's very Biblical.
I know a few with this gift. Gary's wife is one.
I'm going to have to agree with the others here, Paul. This sounds like a gift from God. I assume that you are not taking any other prescription medicines or hallucinogenics, and that you've not had a history of seizures, head truama, etc. ?? right? And just one other quick question...are you experiencing any OTHER strange phenomena at the moment?
Sincerely,
Joyce :)
Thanks for all the replies and encouragement.
I have seen that there is a great untouched area concerning the relationship of our behavior and our spirituality. It goes far beyond trying to define peoples lives by their seen behavior.
As I contemplate what I feel as I walk through a store or encounter someone where I have these experiences I find that it is not really a "feeling", but I have been discerning it with my emotions, so the emotions that are invoked take precidence over what I experience.
I have always been an emotional person, mainly because all my life I have been taught this concept of God being a river and how we feel is dependant upon how much of ourselves we can get into the river.
I'm not concerned with the nature of our choices in this as much as I realize that how we feel at any given moment is not the truth of our worth. Behavioral issues can be more effectively dealt with if we deal with them straight forward with facts of logic in both consequences and spiritual truth.
What I am getting at is this. As I detailed before and saw people in the store change before my eyes I realize the images of what I see is not inherantly "Evil" people who are disobedient to God. See I do not believe scripture relates disobedience with inherant evil. I believe God relates our disobedience to the instruction and teaching us to realize how futile it is to think we can achieve anything of eternal value on our own.
Religion teaches this concept to say that we are evil and we are bad and we must be riddled in guilt and come before God in shame. But I believe the truth in scripture is that we are all worthy, and no matter what we look like now, what job we have, what clothes we wear, who our mother or father is, what choices we might have made good or bad, does not define the greatness and glory God designed us to be. Scripture may seem to contradict that message with verse such as "all fall short of the glory of God" but these are not verses that define our worth, they are verses that define our power. We do not have the power to transform ourselves into a God. All scripture is telling us is simple fact.
What I see is a world deceived into thinking that they are trapped and only they can break free and only they can figure out how to be important. I might just be dreaming, but what a world this could be if we could teach people to believe that they are inherantly important because they have been created for glory and to be in unity with a God rather than having to hope they get it right to be worth something.
That is the reality of life, each and every person at any given time, no matter what they are doing, no matter what they have done or will do is all a part of a glorious plan of a loving heavenly Father.
What we have instead is a world believing that they must measure up first, and then only then can they be of value. So, when people only see the futility of measuring up to what man teaches, then what happens? We just try to do whatever we can to feel good for the moment, because WHY NOT? We are never going to measure up, so whats the point in trying. People know that they cannot measure up first, they can never hit the mark that they have been told they have to meet, and this knowledge defeats them before they ever get started.
Maybe it is true that it is humans we must fear who can destroy body and the soul, maybe those people are the ones being taught in religious institutions that when they do not measure up they will be abandoned for ever without hope. It is those teachers who destroy the spirit of people. hmmmm
I hope that made sense, even more I hope it is the truth, for I believe God is going to help me teach this to awaken people from their slumber.
makes sense to me, bro! A child that understands that their father loves them has a certain "security" that an "unloved" child does not have. The one that feels that they are loved, repents and matures from the experience. The other one may feel repentive, but does not mature from the experience....they 'fall back' and can't seem to move forward in their development.
The one that does not perceive love, or worthiness, tends to say; "well, if I'm bad, and I'm not loved, then I'm going to be the best "bad" person that i can be...at least I'll get some attention that way." They go off to perfect their "badness," in hopes of getting attention....equating that with the only love they know.
Joyce :)
Quote from: PaulMaybe it is true that it is humans we must fear who can destroy body and the soul, maybe those people are the ones being taught in religious institutions that when they do not measure up they will be abandoned for ever without hope. It is those teachers who destroy the spirit of people. hmmmm
That's what Jesus said.
15Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. --Mat 23
That said, I do, myself, believe there are some people who are inherently evil, and beyond redemption in this life.
John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
John 8:24
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
I agree that people are made to feel unworthy by others. There is a concept called the "self-fulfilling prophecy" that means basically if a child is told he is stupid, will never amount to anything and the teachers treat him this way, that is how he will grow up. On the other hand, a child who is told he is talented, brilliant, will accomplish great things will grow up that way, esp when the teachers are reinforcing that to him. Look at all the great men and women who rose from poverty and very humble roots. And look at the others who stay in their poverty and ignorance because they believe that is their lot in life and they have no choice.
I went through a period of rebellion as a young woman because my father, who was a career military man in charge of many men, expected perfection from me. I knew I was loved, but I knew I could never measure up to the high standards he had set for me, so I gave up thinking it was hopeless. I also believed that my self-worth was tied to his approval, and when I did not get it because of my rebellious attitude and behaviour, I became even more gloomy about my self-worth. I was raised in a traditional Southern Baptist home, went to church every time the doors were open, not out of desire, but because we were ordered and expected to. I was taught all the horrors of punishment and hellfire, and at times I was so deeply depressed over my wicked life that I considered suicide.
Praise the Lord, He did not abandon me despite my rebellion, but has brought me into the revelation of the glorious, victorious gospel which is so liberating. I wish I could say my life is now a bed of roses, but it has been a wilderness experience the past few years while the Lord has been slowly toppling those traditions of men that were so deeply ingrained, and replacing them with the Truth, that has set me free. I am about to leave the wilderness training, I know, as He has a glorious purpose for me and my life, and I am so thankful and excited that He can use me, despite the years the locusts have taken.
He has shown me, among other things, that people DO have value, despite the sometimes evil appearance they may exhibit, and that God will accept them just as they are. Many of those people need a soft word, a gentle hug, a word of encouragement to unlock the potential they have to be accepted and used by the Lord. We, as overcomers, are to teach those underdogs that they too, are precious in God's sight, and there is hope for them within the boundless loving arms that encompass the body of Christ. We are not to perpetuate the exclusivity doctrine that so many churches teach, but to welcome ALL MEN as brothers, because in God's timing they ALL will be part of the kingdom of God.