The Spiritual World

 

Camel trip through the Negeve Desert May 2006

The Bible records that as a well-known Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus to arrest the followers of Jesus, his journey was interrupted. Suddenly, a bright light, brighter than the noon sun, appeared, and a voice from an invisible source came with a message to Saul. He later described this event to King Agrippa.

 One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests. About noon, Your Majesty, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to fight against my will.”

“Who are you, sir?” I asked.

And the Lord replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now stand up! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and my witness. You are to tell the world about this experience and about other times I will appear to you. And I will protect you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am going to send you to the Gentiles, to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.”    Acts 26:12-17

 

This was obviously the defining moment in Saul/Paul’s life. Considering the circumstances of Saul being on his way to capture and imprison Christians, this event was more than extraordinary. The Spirituael World opened and none other than the Creator Himself spoke to Saul.

The message was that he would be used by God to open the eyes of many. But open the eyes to what? For what purpose?

 

MB: We have been taught by our scientists to only trust the things that we can see, feel, hear, touch, and taste¾the things that our senses respond to. Yet there is a whole world out there that is accessible only through our spirit. Our God deeply desires us to be aware of this other dimension of life and that we enter in to relate to Him and impact the world for His purposes. The reality is that many in the world live their lives as if the spiritual world does not even exist, either through ignorance or choice. They are blinded to the realities of life and not living to their full potential. And they are perishing.

            

 

Randy teach in the Garden at Gethesemene May 2023

RS: This study is titled Living in the Spiritual World, yet I think most of us spend our time thinking about the physical world: “What will my job net me this month?” “Is the month bigger than the money?” I have always been interested in the subject of spiritual warfare from the standpoint of solving problems in my life. I think there are a lot of things written that help explain the theory of what is out there and who we are wrestling with, but I am more interested in actually attaining the-bearing-fruit-in-my-life stage that God intends for me.

                

MB: That bearing-fruit process begins by having an understanding of what is out there in the spiritual world and the dynamics of this unseen realm. It is like flying in an airplane at night when you can’t see what is ahead. Without a chart to navigate or radar, you don’t have a clue to what is out there in front of you.

On the A-6 Intruder jet I flew in the Navy, we had a very sophisticated ground-mapping radar that allowed us to fly low-level through a mountainous area at night and in foul weather safely. I think that this is what God gives us in His Word and through His Holy Spirit¾an accurate map of the spiritual topography and very sensitive radar to pick up what is out in front.

 

RS: So in essence, through this study, we are creating a spiritual radar and awareness of the spiritual map that the Lord has given us.

 

MB: Let me give you one example of what having the map can mean. We had a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) team with us at our ministry base in Auka, Honduras in 1989. The team was there as part of their discipleship training school outreach. Auka is a Honduran Miskito village that had many refugees from Nicaragua. Since we were only seven miles from the border, many families of the Nicaragua Resistance forces lived in this village.

The flight path from Tegucigalpa to Auka

During the weeks before the team’s arrival, we had noticed a sharp increase of drunkenness in the refugee village. Merchants from the coast were bringing merchandise into Auka to sell to the refugee families (whose husbands had US dollars - pay from their military service). There were two “stores” that had suddenly appeared selling clothes, beer, and rum. The cargo was coming in trucks over a very rough road from Puerto Lempira and in small airplanes. Now with this availability of alcohol, we noticed drunken men lying in the roads and on porches, along with the associated problems.

When the team arrived, we began to pray about this situation. One morning, after our morning worship time, one of the team members mentioned the story in Joshua about how the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days and the Lord brought down the walls of the city. Although we didn’t understand fully what the significance of walking around the walls was, we decided to take similar action and devote specific prayer for the situation “on location” as we walked. If it worked for the Israelites, it may bring these walls of alcoholism down in Auka.

We divided into two teams. One group hiked into the village and walked around the stores were many times, praying that God would stop the flow of liquor into these families. I led a group to the airstrip, and we walked the length (about 2300 feet) several times, praying that God would not allow alcohol to come into the village via this airstrip. Both groups finished by 9:00 a.m., and we all met back at our house. About 10:30 a.m., we heard the sound of an airplane approaching Auka. A few minutes later, a small Cessna from the local air service landed and began unloading boxes. I looked through my binoculars and saw that the cargo was cases of Flor De Cana, the local Honduran rum.

After unloading the boxes of rum, the pilot got back into his airplane to start the engine. But for some reason, the engine would not fire! The pilot continued cranking the engine, and the speed of the propeller blades became slower and slower as the battery drained. Soon, the battery was dead.

I was watching all this with interest and knew that the pilot would soon be walking up to our house to use our radio. He did a few moments later and called his base in Puerto Lempira. During lunch, another airplane arrived with a portable generator to charge his battery. I walked down to the airstrip and saw that the pilot of the other plane was a good friend, Barry Watson.

Barry is a Miskito who had lived in the US where he had gotten his pilot’s license. I first met him in 1987 when I began flying around Miskitia in our 1953 Piper Pacer (which we affectionately called the Flying Banana). Barry & I, along with Jack Dyer and the Mission Aviation pilots were all part of the “Miskito Air Force”.

 Barry’s father was a missionary pastor from the Moravian church who was responsible for bringing Christianity to many places on the Coco River. However, for many reasons, Barry had rejected Christianity or at least the “religion” that he saw growing up. I am always happy to see Barry, and we have had many good conversations, especially during our pre-dawn walks the runway in Waspam where he lives now and runs the best hotel in town- “Hotelito El Piloto”.

I told Barry that I wanted to apologize to him for the situation. He looked puzzled. While the generator was charging up the other airplane’s battery, I explained what we had done that morning by marching up and down the airstrip seven times. He looked even more confused. Barry disconnected the generator and told the pilot to crank the engine. He did, and after a few turns of the propeller, the engine fired. The pilot closed his door, gave a wave to us, and took off. Suddenly, it was silent, and Barry loaded the generator into his airplane. We said goodbye, and he cranked his engine¾then, guess what?

His engine would not start. He continued cranking, but the engine refused to fire. I looked inside the cockpit to the instrument panel, and it appeared that the fuel pressure was too low on the start cycle to fire the engine. He tried again but to no avail. An hour of recharging and cranking followed. Since the sun was dipping in the sky, I told Barry to relax, that we had plenty of food and an extra bunk for him to sleep in. By this time, many of the YWAM team had gathered at the airstrip. I know Barry was thinking hard. I don’t think he relished the idea of spending the night in Auka with twenty-three young missionaries.

Barry looked at the setting sun, then to me, and said, “Those must have been some powerful prayers.” With that acknowledgement, he cranked the engine one final time¾and it fired! With a look of surprise, he quickly loaded the generator into the airplane, said goodbye, and took off.

That night, a few team members went to one of the stores and began a conversation with the daughter of the owner. She became convinced that Jesus was an important part of her life and accepted Him as her Lord.

After our prayers on the airstrip, the rum flights abruptly stopped. The following week, one of the stores was robbed of all its merchandise. The merchants soon left the village.

Were our “prayer marches” responsible for this?

Was this a spiritual principle from the “map” (book of Joshua) that guided our situation in Auka? 

Barry and I have discussed this many times over these past years.

Along with the “map,” having a “spiritual radar” can make all the difference. Here’s one example: A few years ago, I visited my former home in Coupeville, Washington. I lived there during my years in the Navy when I was not serving the Lord. In fact, during those years, I was actually playing on the other team, and my house was the site of many parties and activities. I had returned to visit friends in the area and stopped by to show the house to my wife and children and to visit with Mary, the lady who had purchased the house from me. Mary was retired schoolteacher with whom I had kept in touch.

When we entered the house, Laura had a real “oggy” feeling and immediately took the kids out into the backyard. I stayed and talked with Mary and began to remember all the “stuff” that happened in the house. Mary was having severe health problems that required her to be on an oxygen machine with a long cord and nasal tube. As I spoke with her, I began to feel difficulty in my breathing. I felt mounting pressure in my chest, and breathing was getting more difficult. I knew that this was unusual. My spiritual radar told me that I was under attack and that there were spiritual forces trying to affect my health. I excused myself and went out to find Laura. I told her what was happening and we prayed. We pointed our offensive weapons toward specific areas, and I began feeling better. We collected the kids and left. By the time we were out of Coupeville, I was back to normal.

 

RS: I think that spiritual warfare and all of the issues that come out of understanding the spiritual world in general are well exemplified when we face problems. One of the things that people often struggle with in their theological development is the big question in their heart: “If God loves me, why am I going through difficult and painful times?”

In 2 Kings, chapter 6, there is a relevant passage about such a problem. This story is about Elisha and the children of Israel. There is a serious problem: There is a war going on, and a young servant, Gehazi, is looking at the situation saying, “What shall we do?”

The king commanded, “Go and find out where Elisha is, and we will send troops to seize him.”

And the report came back: “Elisha is at Dothan.” So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere.

“Ah, my lord, what will we do now?” he cried out to Elisha.

“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened his servant’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.                                     2 Kings 6:13-17

 

In reality, when we look at the physical things in our hand, the amount of money in our bank accounts, the size of our congregations, and we see all the evils of society that are pressing in on us, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. All you have to do is watch the news and you are overwhelmed¾it often seems the whole world is going crazy!

Here’s a young man ready to follow the man of God and to do the right thing, but he can only see the crisis and not the salvation. The problem wasn’t that help was unavailable. The problem was not that the help was too small. The problem is in our lives. Like this young servant, Gehazi, we don’t see where the help is.

The phrase, “There are more on our side than on theirs,” is an echo of the passage: “Greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Perhaps this perspective from Laura will help.

 

Alive in the Spiritual World

Co-pilot Laura Uyeda, La Ceiba Honduras 1989

 

We live for and are influenced by innumerable forces¾seen and unseen. However, we live most of our lives primarily by what we can see, hear, taste, touch, and feel.

We find ourselves influenced by the weather, our health, the time, the economy, the system, and all that is tangible to our senses. We live our lives here and now mainly for the urgent needs of the moment. Yet there is an entire host of heaven, including a Creator Being, longing for our attention and affection.

A Creator that is totally engrossed in us and our activities on this planet, so much so that He made visible to us His Son, so that we would have the opportunity to look into the unseen world all around us. By the death of Jesus Christ, we have access to an eternal world far greater than our minds could conceive.

We are made alive in His Spirit and have been given the right to know the mysteries of our God¾the unseen mysteries that move our universe and influence our daily existence. Things hidden from plain view and only disclosed to those with the faith to believe. The unseen forces that influence are more powerful than the forces that can be seen.

Whether we believe these forces exist or not does not change the fact that they are there and that they do influence. Indeed, it is with an influence so great that lives are devastated and destroyed because of them. Just as lives are changed, empowered, and renewed by them. Satan attempts to steal, kill, and destroy all that belongs to God.

God, the Victor through Jesus Christ, empowers us to overcome all the influences of Satan and his demonic hosts. He uses the power of His angelic creations to wage this battle in the heavenly realm. We are a part of this war whether we know it or not. It is far better to know it than to be ignorant of it and bashed back and forth by the forces that be.

In understanding the Lord's creation¾the seen and the unseen¾, we are able to deal with life with the greatest insight. Our level of discernment into the spiritual realm will heighten, and we will experience an effectiveness that will impact not only what is seen but also all that is unseen.

Our lives will enter the realm of the eternal¾a realm far more profound and lasting. A realm that rises above the circumstances and influences of this life.

 

 

Personal Reflections

 

1.       What things about spiritual life are you currently learning?

2.       How do you make the shift from human thinking to spiritual thinking?

 

Deeper Water

 

1.       What are the essential elements of spiritual living?

2.       What things would be important to a new believer?

3.       What are the most important practical aspects of spiritual living?