In Search of Spiritual Sense

By Pastor Michael Meyer

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462868223

Pastor Michael Meyer

I am a newly licensed pastor, I am writing my first book and God willing there will be more to come. The inspiration to write a book had never occurred to me in all of my 60 + years that God has blessed me with. He blessed me with a Christian family and I never knew a time that God was not a part of my life. I don’t know when I allowed God into my heart because it seems that he has always been a part of my life, when I took the time to look for him. It seems I would go for many years without talking to Him very much. As life goes, I had more interesting things to do like my hobbies and starting a new family after all it was up to me to complete these tasks that He had set before me(right?),than I had in walking with God, but I always knew he was with me , waiting for the honor that only He was due. Looking back I clearly see that God is so patient He will never cease to amaze me. I have been married to my God-sent wife Cheryl for over 20 years; collectively we have four children and three grandchildren. My wife and I have been active members of First Baptist Church of La Vernia, Texas for many years. My wife and I teach an adult Sunday school, we also have a home study group once a month, we help coordinate a prison ministry where inmates share time with their children, and we also give of our time to a disaster relief group. I have always been a working man, a mechanic by trade. I have worked on things from model airplanes to race cars, drilling rigs and heavy equipment and large ocean going ships. I feel that God had to give me this background to better prepare me to write to the hard working people who sometimes seem to have a hard time relating to our creator. I feel that God gave me the skills to relate to you.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Pastor Michael Meyer.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011907172

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4628-6821-6

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4628-6820-9

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4628-6822-3

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Contents

FORWARD

INTRODUCTION

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BE SPIRITUALLY MINDED?

HOW DO I BECOME SPIRITUAL?

HOW DO I LEARN TO THINK SPIRITUALLY?

HOW DO I PRACTICE MY SPIRITUALITY?

FORWARD

THIS BOOK HAS been written to provide clear understanding of the fact that we have two choices on how to look at life’s problems and situations. We have the option of viewing the events of our lives from a human viewpoint or a spiritual viewpoint. The humanistic viewpoint involves things we simply want and is generally based on fads, up-bringing, peer pressure, self image, and selfishness. The spiritual viewpoint involves making decisions based on what has real meaning and everlasting value.

We have all been born, raised, and live in a humanistic world. We have been taught to think and respond in the humanistic way. As an example, we learn to avoid people who look different than the way we look, talk differently than we do, or who have a different standard of living than we do. We tend to avoid people who have different ideas about life, religion, or culture. In other words, we have in many cases, been taught to be prejudiced and judgmental toward other people as well as toward their ideas of how to live life. Many times these prejudices are based on the personal values we were taught in our home environment. If you were raised in a family of people who didn’t smoke, you may not like to be around people who do smoke; or, if you have been raised in a family that doesn’t believe in God, you do not care to be around people who do believe in God. You have a different set of values than other people. We would rather be around people who hold similar values to ours. Our personal values for living also come from the people we were raised among, the music we listen to, the television programs we enjoy, the books we read, the hobbies we choose, the company we keep, and the peer pressure to which we succumb. All of this input into our humanistic life produces our personal values, values that take years to develop. Consequently we end up basing all of our life decisions on a humanistic values system that generally does not produce much happiness and more often generates heartbreak and sorrow.

We must learn how to think spiritually, to learn spiritual values. If we can learn that, we will find ourselves making decisions that make our lives more full and satisfying. We will find that life in general is not as it seems. We need to look at life from a spiritual vantage point with spiritual values because we are made in God’s image (Gen 1; 26KJV) let us make man in our image. God has no physical characteristics; therefore, this does not mean that we look like God physically. According to (1 John 4; 8 KJV) God is love. Since God has no physical characteristics, then it must mean that we are made with God’s spiritual characteristics, which are; an eternal soul, the ability to reason, the ability to be creative, forgive, love, and have freedom of choice to make decisions. This freedom to choose is where we need to work, this is where the rubber meets the road, and this is the critical point when we have the opportunity to make the decisions of a spiritual nature or humanistic nature. The problem lies in the fact that we are raised in a humanistic world but if we are made in God’s image (spiritual characteristics) then, in reality we are a spirit, a spirit which is raised in a humanistic world. Until we learn to think spiritually all we know is how to think humanistically. Some people were raised by Christian parents and if the parents learned to think spiritually, then some of those attributes were passed on to their children. Learned behavior such as being kind to others or sharing and giving to others was passed down to their children. Other parents who are not Christian have not learned the skills and of course could not pass on what they themselves have not acquired. But even the best efforts of parents cannot overcome the rest of the world and the influence that it inflicts on all of humanity. When people are out in the world, they are subjected to all sorts of information such as news reports, books, fads and fashions. Some people we associate with are great influences in a good sense, many are not, but they all have input to all humanity both good and bad.

For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit (Ecc 2:26 KJV). In this passage we can see that God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness to the people who please him. I believe that everyone wants these things in their lives. Do you understand that these things are of a spiritual nature and from God? The next question we may have about this passage is who are the people who please him? Well, it is the people who obey him, and search after him. That is to say the people who seek to do God’s will not their own will.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5 KJV) When we lean on our own understanding to make life’s decisions, this is making decisions based on our past life experiences, which are generally humanistic experiences. Many have never been taught what a rewarding life experience is or what a poor choice experience is and that is where we lack the proper guidance. When we make life decisions based on our humanistic understanding we have already started on the wrong path; when we start with human understanding we generally will not come to a spiritual conclusion.

This book will give you the tools to learn to think spiritually, not humanistically.

INTRODUCTION

THE POINTS I will be discussing in this book are:

1. Why is it important to be spiritually minded?

2. How do I become spiritual?

3. How do I learn to think spiritually?

4. How do I practice my spirit1uality?

These are the critical questions