The Growth of the Spirit Among Us

Just as among us humans they naturally grow after birth, so among us spirits they grow within us after birth. This is part of the process of our spiritual development. When different organisms begin to grow, they look the same, but as they continue to grow, they gradually reveal themselves as their parents or their species. When the seeds of different types of grain begin to germinate, they look similar to each other like blades of grass. But as they continue to grow, they become distinguishable from each other. One becomes wheat, another rice, another barley, etc. In a similar way, zygotes or fertilized eggs of mammals appear to be the same in different mammals. But as they grow into fruits, they can soon be distinguished. One is the fetus of a cow, another of a dog, another of a human being. Likewise, even when spirits are born, the persons in whom the spirit is born still look like other human beings, those in whom the spirit has not yet been born. Physically they look the same: They both have two arms, 2 legs, 2 ears, etc. But in reality they are completely different from each other, worlds apart. Man has only a material, physical life. The other has a spiritual life in addition to a material, physical life. Man is only a human being, even a very good, talented human being. The other is a rising divine being. One is an earthly creature, the other a heavenly being, born of the Spirit above. One belongs to the human race; the other also belongs to the divine race. As the spirit grows within us, it becomes more and more and more manifest as his/her parent, Spirit God. (A note on the gender of spirits. Usually a spirit is referred to by the pronoun “it”. But this is not recommended among us humans. The pronoun “it” refers to a thing. The spirits of human beings are not things. They are persons. The spirit of a female human being is female. The spirit of a male human being is male. Hence the pronouns used here are “he” and “she”.) As human beings we have inherited the characteristics of the first human parent, Adam. Adam’s seed was passed down from generation to generation and produced human beings like Adam, the first human being. As we grow as human beings, these qualities become more and more visible. As spiritual or divine beings, we inherit the attributes of our divine parent, God Himself. The seed of God, which is His Word, is passed on to us from generation to generation, and it also creates divine beings like Jesus, a new human being, a human being with a divine nature. As we grow in the divine life, these qualities become more and more visible. There is a dynamism in the spirit to grow on its own. You don’t tell him/her to grow up. It grows naturally. But like other living organisms, it needs the right nutrients. The first is good food. The food of the spirit is the Word of God. The word of God as food can be divided into four kinds: initial food or milk, growing food or solid food, strengthening food or very nutritious food, and restoring food or delicacy. Milk or the initial food in the Word of God consists of many stories that we find in the Bible. They are simple stories that children naturally love to listen to. The Bible is full of these stories from creation to the end of the world. The solid or growing food in the Word of God consists of the exhortations we read, such as in the text of the Ten Commandments and the various commands in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Proverbs also has many of these fixed or growing foods. Very nourishing or strengthening food consists of doctrines or teachings found in various books of the Bible. A very good example of this is Paul’s letter to the Romans. It is filled with hard learning. Delicious or delicious food consists of mystical and apocalyptic literature in the Bible. Curious people are very interested. A very good example of this is the last book of the Bible, Revelation. The spirit chooses what is best for it. Of course it would be very helpful if there was someone who could guide the spirit on what food to eat at different stages of its growth. A spirit not only needs food, it also needs to move around its house. He does this by doing things that his/her spirit family in the Church does, such as cleaning the place of worship, inviting people to listen to the preaching and teaching of God’s word, learning Christian songs, etc. Third, the spirit also needs rest. He needs a period where he does nothing, just rests and is alone. And he/she needs to have a harmonious relationship with his/her spiritual brothers and sisters and his/her parent God Spirit. He has fellowship with his spiritual brothers and sisters. And he spends more and more time talking to his parent God. This is a prayer. In this way the spirit grows among us. Then he also needs to be disciplined by his Father Spirit God. This means that he avoids things that might harm him, such as associating with people who are not interested in spiritual matters.