Spiritual Emotion Is A Key
To Self-Knowledge And God-Realization
Swinging from the little i and to the big I.
By
The Man Who Saw God Face To Face
Raphael Okechukwu Nweze
Meaning Of Spiritual Emotion
Emotion is the state and feeling of the mind at a particular point in time. As a state, it is the condition of the mind, consciousness, at the time. The condition may be joy, love, mercy, excitement or attentiveness. It is a feeling because the mind, spirit, feels the state by experiencing the emotion. The spirit is aware of its state, just as a sick person knows how his body feels at the time of sickness. Also, the spirit is also the emotion, just as the body is one with its sickness and as a red-hot charcoal is also fire.
Spiritual emotion means that we feel what God feels and experience what God experiences. That is the reason why humanity were sent to God’s own school, here on earth, so that people can learn to value things and manage them very well by experience. Experience is the best teacher and also, the key to mastery.
Generally, we experience worldly emotions through the five senses, mind and intellect. But, emotions of God are experienced spiritually, even so naturally and spontaneously. All of a sudden, a person is overwhelmed by a feeling of divine love, joy, gladness, mercy, rebuke or any other virtue. The feeling is usually unexpected, true, temporal or lasting. That is also how and when the Holy Spirit moves the prophets and visioners to prophesy.
By spiritual emotion, we are aware of ourselves, aware of the divine presence and also we experience the divine nature and mood at a particular point in time. Without the spiritual emotion, we are purely our little selves as individual human beings.
As we grow in spirit, there is an increase in this awareness of God in our lives and around us. As a result, there is a reduced attention on our selves and to our selfish needs. That is a great way to deny ourselves (the little i’s), and pay more attention to devotion to God and services to others.
When one is in a state of spiritual emotion, his conscious and subconscious mind merges with God during the time. The self, mind and intellect take a back seat and one is able to experience communion with God. He immediately attains God, uses omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence, as directed by the Holy Spirit. Hence, while in this state, the person does not have any doubts or fears about spirituality or reality of God. It is no longer the person living, but God living in him then
Types Of Spiritual Emotion
Two types of spiritual emotion are manifest and unmanifest.
- We experience manifest spiritual emotion when there is an evident manifestation of spiritual emotion.
- Unmanifest spiritual emotion is a spiritual emotion that is present but is not noticeable to others.
Between the two types, unmanifest spiritual emotion is a higher state, because the energy spent in the manifestation of is conserved. This conserved spiritual energy can then be used for spiritual growth, serve God or in other essential spiritual activity.
Manifestations Of Spiritual Emotion
Spiritual emotions manifest in the following ways:
- Loss of consciousness.
- Experiencing a spontaneous motion that keeps a person randomly moving about the way a drunkard stagers about.
- Becoming motionless, standstill.
- Sweating.
- Hair standing on end, goose bumps
- Trembling voice
- Shivering of the body
- Change in body colour, becoming pale or blanching
- Tears of love or mercy flowing from the eyes
- Fainting for a while
Tears of spiritual emotion are often shed by a devotee or member during singing of hymns.
Some shed tears of love or mercy, when they remember the depth of God’s love and mercy.
Peter’s response was by spiritual emotion, which Jesus promptly recognized and acknowledged.
How Spiritual Emotion Manifests
The manifestation of spiritual emotion happens spontaneously, effortlessly, as one is moved by the Holy Spirit. When a person is experiencing spiritual emotion, his appearance and character changes. He is quickened to do things which an ordinary human being cannot do. In some cases, the person is so unconscious that he does not know what he is saying or doing. And in other cases, the person may know what is happening, but cannot control or stop it. Spiritual emotion is experienced when there is sudden inflow or increase in the presence and manifestation of divine nature in the form of the Holy Spirit.
The manifestation and experience of spiritual emotion is usually very short in duration. Sometimes, it may prolonged. The higher a person is in spiritual level, the more likely he experiences spiritual emotion, and by so doing is able to be in tune with God and direct the children of God aright. That is what being in spirit means. Again, the fact that a person is always having spiritual emotion does not mean that such a person is advanced in spirit. The heavens can decide to use a person often for the guidance and benefit of others.
The manifestation of spiritual emotion is may be a surprise, but it is usually a shameless encounter and a sign of divine presence and manifestation.
How To Make Others Grow In Spirit, To Experience Spiritual Emotion
You can hepl others experience spiritual emotion and grow in spirit by:
- Allow others freedom of the spirit.
- Make sermons to be interactive. People should feel free to ask questions, to make comments or to contribute.
- Do not threaten people with fear, which is a man-made.
- Make others to feel at home in your presence.
- Correct people with love and politeness.
- Do not be quick to condemn or pass judgement on others.
- Discourage the habit of telling people that their church is the best, to the extent that they lose their power of independent thinking and intelligent examination of issues.
- Spray holy water, blood of Jesus or consuming fire on people often. By so doing, you destroy and remove the forces of darkness that prevent spiritual growth and experience.
- Encourage people to pay more attention to their spirit selves and to the things of spirit.