January 22

Reality

Some realities are beyond detection by the five senses; they cannot be seen, smelled, heard, felt, or tasted. Despite these sensual limitations, the realities of the spirit dimension of life are powerful in their effect on us every day. Realities of the senses will pass away as we do. Realities of the spirit will last forever.

A Spiritual Reality
Prayer, although it can be seen, heard, and even felt, is essentially a spiritual reality. The Book of Revelation suggests that the prayers of the saints of God are stored somewhere in heaven. We add to that supply each time we pray.

Think of it.

• Our praise is collected before the Lord.
• Our adoration accumulates in the presence of the Lord.
• Our intercessions are invested with interest in the power of the Lord.

When the sensual reality of how we feel as we try to pray threatens to defeat us, we need to remember the heavenly container with our name on the label. Even when we don’t feel like praying and we pray anyway, those prayers add to the collection:

• Our praise collection grows.
• Our accumulated adoration of the Lord Jesus increases.
• Our intercessions in behalf of those in need increase by the power of another day’s interest.

Daily prayer and Bible reading arm us in spiritual realities, preparing us to walk in the Spirit during the coming day.

The Sense of the Spirit
Like everyone else we live in the real world, the world of the five senses. Like everyone else we also live in the spiritual world. Most people are unaware of this dimension of reality, thinking that what they see, hear, touch, smell, and taste is all there is. Not so. When the Lord Jesus reigns on the throne of our lives and with daily communion with Him through prayer and His Word, we are spiritually prepared. We can live with a very real sixth sense, the sense of the spirit.

• We can see the spiritual realities beyond physical realities around us and engage the full truth of each moment.
• We can hear the voice of the Lord in the sounds of nature and in the voices of those around us.
• We can feel the embrace of the Lord deep in our hearts in quiet moments of peace.
• We can sense the sweet aroma of the Peace of the Lord in the clamor stressful moments.
• We can “taste and see” that the Lord is good.

The world delivered to us by our five natural senses can be anything from delightful to terrifying. The spirit world made real to us by the Holy Spirit, is more dependable. It is a secure realm, ruled by the Prince of Peace.

Scriptures:
Revelation 5:6-9; 8:3-4
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders… Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
1 Corinthians 15:44-47
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
Ephesians 6:11-12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Galatians 5:16; 25-26 NKJV
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You are the ultimate reality. You created me so I am real, too! My problems are real problems and so are my potentials. My joys are genuine, and so are my tears. You have provided us with powerful imaginations but life is not imaginary; it is very, very real. Our five senses tell us about realities, and, we have another sense, a spiritual one, to help us recognize realities beyond our physical world. Thank You, Lord, that You have sent the Holy Spirit to abide in our souls, to guide us, inform us, inspire us, embolden us, and fill us with spiritual power. Tune my ear to hear the voice of the Spirit. Quicken my mind to comprehend what the Spirit says. As Your Spirit bears witness with my spirit, I am assured that I am indeed a child of God. Father, I choose to walk in Your Spirit today, fully aware of seen and unseen worlds and the reality of Your nearness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Song:
Open My Eyes, that I May See
Words and Music: Clara H. Scott

1. Open my eyes that I may see glimpse of truth Thou has for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp, and set me free.

Refrain:
Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready, my God, Thy will to see;
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!

2. Open my eyes that I may hear voices of truth Thou sendest clear;
And while the wave notes fall on my ear, Everything false will disappear.

Refrain

3. Open my eyes that I may bear gladly the warm truth everywhere;
Open my heart, and let me prepare love with Thy children thus to share.

Refrain

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved