jamesaw111

As a minister of God, I look to others for reasons justifying the grace of God in and over their lives--believing that a wise, All-Knowing God knows best who is worthy of life, well-being, peace and/or happiness--and not looking for faults or wrongdoings or sins otherwise justifying their illness, hard times, or deaths. I love God because God first loved me; and God has said I should love others the way I have been loved. God has brought me, struggling from a youth up, out of darkness, confusion, and strife, and placed my feet upon a Rock. I therefore want more than anything to exemplify to others--male or female--whatever their race, culture, nationality, religion or non-religion--some element of that divine truth and peace and love. Subsequently, my spiritual endeavors tend to include rather than exclude, and to unify differences between people by some form of truthfulness. It is not always easy to do so, when one's creature self knows that a lie would get what is desired and the truth will lose all possibility of getting over; then the Psalms 23:1 is my standby: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..."

Love required by God in mind, soul, body, and spirit involves the total being. Yet, divine love for the human leaves one vulnerable to the object of one's love. Feelings of love differs from true, naked love--which is agape--based on principle rather than feelings or sensuality. Yet as a minister, one must find one's balance between the natural and the spiritual worlds, both of which exist inside one's mind, and choose good above evil, right over wrong, healing over illnesses--yes, and primarily, life over death.

Some things are made easy because of age and experiences with both good and evil. At 76 years of age, I have greater self-control than as a younger man, of course. My experiences, study and knowledge of the Scriptures, and other books, have provided much help in my yet-imperfect capacity to reach spiritual levels of consciousness above that of natural states of being. Of course, everyone to some degree has this capacity, which must be practiced regularly to maintain control over the natural self . And the spiritual self controls, or rather conducts, the natural self with the same truth, grace, and mercy that Almighty God extends over all human life. And one may seek divinely to influence, but never control, others. In fact, one's instructions from Almighty God is to "proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those that are bound.." (Isaiah 61:1- and Luke 4:18...)

You see, as the Scriptures says in Ephesians fourth chapter:

"There is one body and one spirit, even as You are called in one hope of his calling; one Lord,
faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all; who is above all and through all and in You all."

And again in 1 Corinthians 2:

"But the natural man (woman) receives not the things of the Spirit of God;for they are foolishness unto him (her); neither can he (she) know them, for they are spiritually discerned; But he (she) that is spiritual judges all things, yet he (she) is judged of no man (woman)."

God bless