What is Spiritual Development?

 

By Dr. Kimberly Shedrick, Esq.

God, being a wise and impartial God, blesses all who reach out to him, granting them knowledge and faith. All who are open to truth and are willing to live by it once they receive it, will receive more -by visions, visitations or dreams, or by quiet prompting and insights. Each one of us made plans with our Creator and set goals for our lives here. God agreed to bless us with the experiences we needed for our ultimate spiritual development. .

Birth brought forth a forgetting of the previous life. Life here is to be a test, an examination of our spirits. Our eyes fully open, we are forced to follow the whisperings of our spirits – those quiet truthful impressions that spring from the subconscious. As we follow, we begin to hear the whisperings of God. To grow to become all that we can be, we must be true to ourselves – to the spirit within us that came from heaven. Yet, knowing ourselves requires painful effort, and this is the test. We are sent here to walk in faith, believing we are going forward, all the while not quite knowing where “forward” is.

If we could remember our former life and association with God, what test would that be? How could we foster our spirit’s development if our mortal minds recalled every reason for good and every punishment for evil? How could we learn who we are deep inside, if we are not required to rely on our spirits guidance? This process of discovery is not only how we learn who we truly are, but it is how we gain experience necessary for our growth. As difficult as this life is, it is a perfect plan.

Be assured that God is in control. All knowledge ultimately comes from him. In heaven we are our true selves. Our greatest identifier is our “presence,” and this gives us our uniqueness, and sets us apart from anyone else. Both who you were at spiritual creation and who you are after creating your life on earth remain with you. Its just as in this life: what you are born with and what you have made of yourself, combined, are you.

The mortal body ages through time. But the spirit quickens or matures through its understanding and ability to master task required of it. Our course is clear – to do God’s will. However we are always to exercise our own faith. God will bless us with a clear path to do his work only after a trial of our faith and after we have prayed for protection and guidance. A portion of heaven’s experience is available to each of us. As we allow ourselves to believe in God and to accept his love, a quiet joy will rekindle our souls, a joy we will instantly want to share with others. And as we share it lovingly, that part of joyful heaven will begin to swell within us, filing our entire souls. Then we will begin to discover the truth that heaven is everywhere we allow it to be, and it resides in us just as we once resided in it. Then, each of us will be blessed to know for ourselves, what words can never convey.

When we are able to expand our minds and hearts to accept the riches of heaven, we will receive them. This is our Creator’s promise to us. To accept, we must believe. To receive, we must open. To gain more, we must share.