DISCOVERING SPIRITUAL REALITY

By Thomas E. Durst

Many years ago now I met a lady who radiated joy in her life. I asked her how this came about. She related to me how she had grown up in a conservative denomination with lots of "rules and regulations" as well as having a heavy emphasis on doctrinal correctness. She went through all of the "forms and motions" of her inherited religion without much thought. After she got into adult life she discovered that her life was lacking meaning and purpose. She decided to either find some reality to this "God thing" or simply discard it as being useless and outmoded. So she made a definite commitment to "give God a fair chance" before throwing her faith out the window totally. She decided that she would spend a lot of time with the Bible and other spiritual writings. As I recall, she devoted two hours daily to a diligent study of the Bible along with these other books, some of which were fairly heavy theology. Within a very short time after she began her diligent search for God she began to sense a deep spiritual fulfillment that had never known before. She found reality in the faith she grew up with and remained in it but from a totally different perspective. She discovered that there is a big difference between having a personal walk with God and just merely going through the forms of some religious system. She had found new life. I met her again some years later and she was the same radiant person, glowing with the joy that there is when a person comes to experience the Presence of God.

I believe that all who are sensing emptiness in their lives and want inner fulfillment and meaning can find it but that effort has to be put forth. Most of the time "quickie" conversions are shallow and don't last through the storms of life.

I invite you to pick up your Bible and read the passages cited below with much prayer that your eyes will be opened to the reality of the Living God.

Deuteronomy 4:29; Luke 11:10; 13:24; Hebrews 11:6

Please note that there are conditions for finding God personally, for discovering spiritual reality. I believe that if we are wanting something more in our lives than what is available through the channels of material sense that we must get busy and ask, seek, knock, search diligently, and mean it with all of our hearts. Just imagine what could happen if even a small fraction of the effort that is put into materialistic and fleshly pursuits were put into the search for inner peace and spiritual reality. People will make practically any effort to accumulate more money and material possessions and yet they are always wanting more and more. They are forever seeking but not finding what they need the most-inner peace and fulfillment. When a person really finds fulfillment in God, which I believe is the greatest treasure that anyone can ever discover, he will not be endlessly searching for "something" and never satisfied. There really is nothing more to be had or ever experienced that could equal the sense of God's Presence.

Let's consider carefully the divine invitation in these selected scripture passages. Read them in your own Bible:

Isaiah 55:1-2; Psalm 16:11; John 6:35; 7:37-38; 10:10; 15:11; Ephesians 5:18; Revelation 22:17

Notice in Ephesians 5:18 that the alternative to being "drunk with wine" is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Those who find their fulfillment in knowing God are set free from the addictions that plague human beings. They don't need to always be looking for another thrill, a "fix" of some kind for in God that big empty hole is filled to overflowing.

The real search for all people is for God. They may think they are looking for other things, but they must eventually admit that it is God they seek.
Charles Fillmore

[This was revised on November 21, 2019 and is part of an ongoing series.]

All inquiries should be sent to:  tomdurst1@msn.com

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