Second Sunday of Easter

Bottom Line Spirituality: Worldly and Godly Thinking

Click here to go to the Bottom Line Meditations for the Second Sunday of Easter

Godly Abiding Spiritually in Jesus Changes the Meaning of What we See Worldly When Not Abiding in Jesus.

Spirituality is our innate ability to feel the difference worldly or godly thinking makes to the way scripture translates to our daily life and relationships.

John 20:19-31 “Peace be with you.”

SPIRITUALITY CHANGES OUR LIFE

We try to change our worldly life to feel God’s Presence.

Godly feeling God’s Presence changes our life.

We try to be peaceful to feel His Peace.

In feeling the Peace He has for and in us, we become Peaceful.

”When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you’."

Worldly understanding does not know the difference it makes being in or out of the Presence.

Godly understanding knows the difference.

As we read this scripture with worldly, rational understanding in our head we look for the evidence of the resurrection.  We go right on to the following words, “after He said this, He showed them His hands and His side.” This is the physical evidence we are looking for.

With spiritual godly understanding, we have to be quick for this one or it will go right past our heart and up and over into our head. 

This is the Jesus way. If it is not immediately spiritually understood it may continue to be misunderstood. You have to stop for a moment to catch it. You cannot understand it rationally. You must catch it consciously. Grace is like quicksilver. You cannot rationally grab and hold it. It will fly out. You cannot treat it too cavalierly. It will spill over. Go back and reread what was passed over.

Jesus came and said, "Peace be with you." Now use your godly understanding. What happens to you when Jesus gives you His, “Peace”? You sense His Presence and feel the Peace of God. He told them, “in me you will find Peace. In the World you will have tribulation.” John 16:33 In the World means when we are out of the Presence and in rational worldly understanding. The World does not know Jesus. John 1:10 The Apostles were in the World. They were locked up tight in fear of the Jews. When Jesus came in they experienced His Presence and the Peace of God. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  It was not the event of His physical Presence that brought the Joy. It was the spiritual Peace: Love and Joy of His Presence.

This can only make sense if we can experience the Presence of His inner Peace. In worldly understanding we depend on the event itself for our joy. When the event does not work out or last long, we will have tribulation. This means we will feel peace when we think about things that go well and anxiety when they do not.

Godly understanding does not depend on events for Peace in our life. We depend consciously on the inner Peace no matter what the event is. The Apostles found Peace, Love and Joy in the Presence. However, outside their enemies were still looking for them. Nothing externally had changed.  It was an internal Peace. When the Holy Spirit fell on them they no longer had that fear. At Pentecost, Peter and the rest of the Apostles went outside to preach the Gospel. The Jews were still there looking to destroy them. In that same day over 3,000 responded to the call to be baptized.

Our Rational worldly understanding depends on the physical evidence for the resurrection two thousand years later. Godly spiritual Understanding depends on the experience of the spiritual resurrection Presence, right now!

The Way of Jesus is not to try to change the event, or the thinking. Jesus changes the internal atmosphere from fear into Peace. This is what the Resurrection is all about. There is the physical resurrection of Easter. There is also the spiritual Resurrection every day. It happens within us. We move from the worldly experience of depending on the event, to the Godly experience for our inner Peace. Every time we do this to experience His Presence it is an Easter moment for us.

Psalm 118:14 The LORD is my spiritual strength and my might; He has become my salvation.

Spirituality can change the weakness of our human life to a new life filled with the strength and power that comes from consciously feeling His Presence.