Winter 1990

A Correct Perspective for our Spiritual Development
(Edited)
John W Follette

God has satisfied my spiritual hunger in a measure, but I am not perfectly satisfied yet. I am satisfied that I have found the source of all life and truth, but I recognize that there is so much more availible out there in God. There is yet before us this vast expansive field of spiritual reality for us to explore. That if we are to venture out in with the Holy Spirit we would yet make great discoveries.

Our present field of spiritual life and experience is the place to which God has brought us as a preliminary training school, for now and for the ages that are yet to come. It is in the "here and now" that we are to make certain qualifications for our placement in the eternal ages. These eternal qualifications will not simply be given to us, spontaneously, when we get there. We must qualify for this future placement, in this day and in this time.

The acquiring of that which is eternal is accomplicshed through our discipline and training, through our surrendering of our old life and entering into the resurrection of the new. All of these things will in the end be projected upon us in another plane of living in ages yet to come, even our dwelling in the heavenlies with the Father and the Son Jesus Christ. Whatever we acumen in our life here of spiritual vigor, strength, and vision, that is all that God will take of us.

The method by which this is built will come through our reactions to the Word, and our life circumstances, and to the movings of the Holy Spirit. These are the mechanics. (Our tutors and governors) All this will be used to trace upon our immortal spirit something of the image and likeness of His Son. This is the thing that the Lord is after in the here and now.

We must have a correct perspective. Instead of moving toward objectives which God has not put before us, we are to have our vision focused so that all this shall accumulate unto God, not some lesser thing. God is very busy building His Body, training it, doing a thousand things with it, so that at the day when it will be lifted up, there will be something glorious and beautiful to be presented.

All of us have a certain degree of spiritual hunger. Our hunger rests on certain levels of spiritual development and growth. In the realm of the Holy Spirit, there is to be a continual, progressive development in our spiritual living, moving us up from one place of discovery and life on to another place of discovery and life, and on to another. This speaks of "The spiritual ascent of our being back to the heart of God." We do not belong here; we are here on probation, for just a few fleeting years of training and discipline, then we will be taken.

In this ascent of going back again to the heart of God, we continually move from one level of spiritual understanding and experience to another. This is determined by the amount of spiritual life, illumination, and response which we are able to gain and render back to God on the level upon which He has projected us for the time being. We learn our lessons through these experiences, as we are reacting agents. We were made this way in the structural law of our being so this might be possible.

I have some very real spiritual experiences in God. However, this does not make me less practical in my daily pattern of life experience. I have discovered that I must order my steps, as I walk with the Lord. Then He guides my path; continually disciplining, training, and pushing me into a new order. This can be thought of as our entering into the classroom of theHoly Spirit, as we learn one lesson and then another and another. Our progress in this will be determined by the degree of spiritual hunger which is registered within us.

God can create this spiritual hunger; we cannot. The only thing that we can do is to hold up the possibilities that God has for us. We become spiritually hungry on different levels. Sometimes we say, "Oh, I know that, I have heard it before; tell me something new." We must come to realize that there are a thousand facets of light in this glorious gem of redemption. Who can hope to ever think that we will possess all of this light and illumination? No, we are yet very human, and our capacity of reception has not been sufficiently enlarged.

As we hold the measure of spiritual hunger that we presently have before the Lord and allow Him to accomplish within us all that this measure of hunger will allow, then He will be able to enlarge our capacity. This will be repeated again and again until we have come to the place where we are able to hear Him say to us, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" Matt 25:21

Now I understand why I had to go through these times of testing, discipline, and enlargement. He was creating within me the capacity to enter into the vastness of His joy. Finally, my hunger has found its satisfaction.