From its Greek and Hebrew perspectives, the word “repent” is most commonly known as metanoeo and nacham,  which define it as “to think differently or to change your mind” and “to experience sorrow for an action,” respectively. These definitions line up with the majority of scriptural references regarding repentance and how most people understand the word repent.

Many people believe the act of asking God for forgiveness is part of the repenting process. Though one can ask God at any time for forgiveness, which may be a part of their repentance process, the core understanding of the word “repent” goes well beyond an expression of remorse or sorrow. 

The question that needs to be answered in looking at these definitions are: “To  what are we to change our minds? What are we supposed to think differently about?” In other words, what should  our thought process be instead of the one we have that has caused us to feel sorrow for our actions?

The answer to these valid questions can be found in understanding the lesser-known Hebraic word for “repent” that has eluded traditional Christian teachings. This is the word shub, which is also referred to as shuv or shoov  depending on the study resource.

According to the Greek to Hebrew Dictionary of Septuagint Words, when the word “repent” is being used in a verse in which the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Heaven is mentioned, shub is the type of “repentance” being referred to. For example, when both Jesus and John the Baptist state, “Repent, for the kingdom of God/Heaven is at hand,” they are using the word shub (Matt. 3:2, 4:17; Mk. 1:15). 

In these cases, shub is defined as “to turn back to a previous state or place” and “a returning to one’s place of residence where one sits.” The “previous state or place” that this definition refers to is the origin of your existence in spirit form  within the mind of God. This state is described in the following verses:

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jer. 1:5).

“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).

We experience the “returning to one’s place of residence where one sits” when we intentionally “sit” or take on a meditative mindset to experience the heavenly environment of God’s mind that has been inherently placed within every human being so that we may meet and experience Him daily.

The ultimate purpose of “repenting” is to acquire another mindset or thought process that doesn’t come from the earth or from a human perspective. It is to acquire the mindset of God within your mind.

HUMAN ORIGIN VERSUS SPIRITUAL ORIGIN

According to ancient Hebrew thought, another way to describe this type of repentance is “to destroy a way of thinking that has taken you captive in order to return to a place of thinking where freedom is present.”

We are taught to believe our lives begin at conception. From a biological perspective, this is true, yet this is not where our spirits first began their existence. In fact, at your natural birth, a process of captivity instinctively begins, in that it keeps you from having knowledge of your true origin.

When we are born in the natural realm, this is our second birth. Remember that pivotal statement Jesus made in His conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:1-8? According to the majority of Bible translations, Jesus stated, “You must be born again to enter [and see or experience] the kingdom of God.”

In some translations of the Bible, instead of the term “born again,” you will see “born anew” or “born from above.” The Accurate New Testament  version of the Bible states it this way: “You must be birthed downward.” Some of the ancient Aramaic texts express it as, “You must return back to the place where you were first born!”

The term “born again” implies that you must have been birthed before. For anything to happen “again,” the same thing must have taken place before. Did Jesus indicate to Nicodemus that he must be born again in the flesh? This is what Nicodemus thought, but Jesus quickly ruled that out by saying, “What is born of the flesh is flesh and what has been born of spirit is a spirit” (Jn. 3:6). 

Living our lives from the reference point of natural birth will always lead to the greatest form of ignorance, which is lack of knowledge regarding your original self. It is a level of unconsciousness that will result in a life filled with what I call “spiritual amnesia.” This is the primary reason God commands humanity to repent, not just by the traditional application of expressing sorrow, but by positioning oneself to change one’s mind or to think differently. The only way we will have the ability to think differently is by experiencing and taking on the mindset and thought-life that comes from God.

“Truly, then, God overlooking the times of ignorance, now He strictly commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).

The ultimate purpose of being born again is to re-member  or reacquaint yourself back to the mind of God, which the Bible refers to as “the secret place” where you were first created in spirit form. This is the place you need to return to gain the original memory that God has about your life. This is the secret place where the mysteries of the kingdom of God are revealed to you. The secret place is the place where you were first created within the mind of God, the place that is currently hidden from you due to your natural state of thinking.

“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place [In the mind of God!] when I was woven together in the depths of the earth [within a mother’s womb]. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them” (Ps. 139:15-17, words in brackets added).

When we think about a womb, we think about the biological place within a woman where the creation of life takes place. Spiritually, God also has a womb within His mind that, according to ancient Hebrew perspective, is referred to as a matrix. A matrix is defined as an environment where something is developed. Scripturally, this environment is referred to as the loins of the mind (See 1 Pet. 1:13; Eph. 6:14). Truth is produced in the loins of the mind of God. Since God is a God of truth, the only thing that can come out of Him is truth, which makes the language of God, truth, no matter what subject matter He speaks.

The Greek perspective of “loins” is the word osphus, which is defined as “an internal place of procreative power.” This same word from a Hebrew perspective is the word chalats, which is described as “the sense of strength, the seat of vigor, the mind, the interior self.” Your existence was first created and made within the interior, procreative, power structure of the mind of God.

“And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness”(Gen. 1:26a). 

When God came up with the idea to make mankind, it first happened within the loins of His mind.

A womb is a place where life begins through conception, growth, and ultimately, the birthing process. Naturally and spiritually, the womb is a sacred place. Whether male or female, every human being has a spiritual womb. The reason for this is because of the gift of creativity and God’s desire for us to birth or “bring forth” what has been housed in His mind that He desires to transfer to your mind. Thus you become pregnant with the ideas of God. In ancient Hebrew thought, this place is known as the cheder or the nuptial chamber of the mind where the seeds of God’s ideas are purposed to impregnate you so that you can birth them out in your life.

THE BIRTHRIGHT OF THE FIRSTBORN 

There are five scriptural references where God required the firstborn that came out of the womb to be separated as His. In each of these cases, instead of wombs, they were called matrixes (See Ex. 13:12, 14, 34:19; Num. 3:12, 18:15 KJV). Fundamentally, this is still God’s desire and requirement. Since you were originally born (firstborn) in Him, this is your original identity that He desires to see lived out.

A biblical example of this truth is found in the story of Jacob’s life and encounter with God, which is filled with profound insights. The highlights of Jacob’s story can be found in Genesis Chapter 25, verses 19-34. Jacob’s life began with his mother Rebekah being informed by God that she had two nations within her womb:

“And the LORD said to her: ‘Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger’  “(Gen. 25:23 NKJV). 

The firstborn son always had the birthright – special privileges from the father, which included a double portion of the estate as an inheritance. In other words, the favor of the father was always given to the firstborn son as a legal continuation of the family. This prohibited a father from playing favorites among his sons by trying to give the birthright to anyone other than the firstborn (See Deut. 21:15-17). 

This is important because the same principle applies today. Every human was first conceived and birthed in the mind of God before the foundations of the world. 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will” (Eph. 1:3-5 NKJV).

The mystery of God’s will in terms of the inheritance of spiritual blessings for our lives can only be revealed from the mouth of God.

“Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself” (Eph. 1:9 NKJV).

“In Him  also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11 NKJV).

Returning to the story of Jacob, you’ll remember that later in his life, he had a direct encounter with God, in which God changed his name to Israel. A major principle that we must capture from Jacob’s encounter with God is not that his name was changed from Jacob to Israel; the important thing is what these names mean. Jacob is defined as “a heel holder,” which is a description of what happened at his birth when he grabbed his twin brother’s heel [Gen. 25:26]. Israel is defined as “one who prevails with God.”

The significance of this event of Jacob grabbing the heel of his older brother parallelled another event when Jacob deceived his brother, Esau, out of his birthright [See Gen. 25:29-34]. In other words, this heel grabbing symbolizes the second born (your natural birth) hindering the walk and birthright of the firstborn (your spiritual origin and birth), which when experienced you also “prevail with God.”

This is a portrait of our natural or physical birth hindering our true, spiritual beginning. Only our spiritual beginning gives us access to our birthright in God. We can’t experience the power of God until we get access to our first-birth environment (the womb or matrix of God), which contains the information that we need to prevail with God. Jesus was naturally born (second birth) on the earth but was spiritually conceived in the mind of God (first birth). This principle applies to us as well.

It’s important to note that when your biological parents conceived you, God also saw two nations  or kingdoms locked up inside of you! Until we experience a true repentance, a returning to our place of true spiritual residence, we will always be torn between two kingdoms: the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God. When we destroy our former way of thinking, we can then focus on one kingdom, which is God’s purpose for us.

When Jesus said, “Repent [shub], for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” the life-changing depth of what He was saying was that a person could achieve an inward relationship with God in the most intimate and personal level. Experiencing God inwardly is what gives life to the potential for us to bring to a reality Jesus’ precedent-setting statement: “Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). To be perfect is to bring something to completion. If we understand the word “perfect” in this way, we see that Jesus is urging us to be brought to the end state for which we were created. This is only brought about through the discovery of the inner self that is contained within the kingdom of God that lies within every person.

As noted before, initially, every human being was conceived in the mind of God from before the foundations of the world were ever created (See Ps. 139:16; Eph. 1:3-4). When we are naturally born into this world, we are born without the awareness of the beginning of our existence. Fundamentally, we are born without an awareness of our original memory. 

THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF REPENTANCE

At its core understanding, the ultimate purpose of repent (shub) was to begin a process of introducing you to the mindset of God within your mind. Your sole purpose in life is to re-member or reacquaint yourself with the mind of God, within your mind so that God can reveal what Jesus called “mysteries” to you. This is your soul’s ultimate purpose!

It is the place where the mysteries of the kingdom are revealed to you, according to Jesus’ words:

“And He said to them, ‘To you, it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables'” (Mk. 4:11). 

“And He said, ‘To you, it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. But to others, I speak in parables, so that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand’  “(Lk. 8:10). 

From an Aramaic perspective, the words for repent and repentance are tab and toubo.They are described as acts that are required in order “to return to the place of your original existence.” The only way to understand this “original existence” or this “place” of origin is for God Himself to tell you about it.

It is a place of being where we have been before, but our natural mind has no recollection of it until our spirits connect with God’s Spirit to re-mind us of our original existence. It’s the place where your belief system is accurately re-paired and re-structured according to God’s original intention and design.

It is an inner system restoration that comes from the original Manufacturer of your life according to the original specifications for your life! This is where optimal performance now becomes possible! It’s the place where you discover the original hard drive for your life! Until then, you are operating on a bootlegged system.

This place of origin is where all other forms of knowledge are completely removed in order to get this level of knowledge. It’s the place where time stands still so that your future may be revealed to you. It’s the place where blessings are held in disguise until the mask of traditional religion is removed so that you may put on and experience the face or presence of the kingdom of God within you.

Instead of continually learning about God and the Bible from human perspectives and indoctrination, we can actually learn from God so that He can teach you about Himself and give you His interpretation of the Scriptures and how He wants you to apply them to your life. This is the ultimate purpose of repentance.

A process of repentance should not be limited to experiencing sorrow, misery, or shame but should be understood as the beginning of a process in which you return to where you originally came from, which is the mind of God within your mind. This is where you discover the wholeness and completeness of “the Real You” and “the Real God” so that you can thrive in both these understandings.

“The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not purposing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

When Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” He was saying that now there is an original system of learning available, which is designed to govern your mind! It resides within the kingdom of God within you! It transcends traditional religious means. It’s a place that you need to seek out. To get to this level of “re-member-ance,” according to Jesus, you must “seek first the kingdom of God,” “for behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Matt. 6:33; Lk. 17:21). 

This post contains excerpts from Chapter Four: Repent, and Chapter Five: You Must Be Born Again from my book The Mystery of the Kingdom of God Revealed.

In part two of this blog-post, we will explore the connection between the repentance process of John the Baptist’s pre-resurrection baptism and Peters’s post-resurrection baptism experience.

Respectfully,

Julio Alvarado Jr.

DOCTRINE

What is doctrine? In its basic sense, doctrine is any sort of teaching. The Bible, for example, talks about the teachings of men [Mk. 7:7–8], the teachings of devils [1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 2:24], and the teachings of God [Deut. 32:1-3; Jn. 6:45; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 Jn. 2:27].

We live in an age in which – as with the word “religion” – the word “doctrine” has become a negative term due to man adding to their original concepts. And yet it is simply impossible to live without doctrinal beliefs. While many do not want to use the term, all people – secular as well as religious – have become exposed to some type of doctrine that has shaped their beliefs, core values, and certain ways of living – including those that practice atheism. 

I have encountered churches that claim, “We don’t teach religion or doctrine; we just preach the gospel,” or, “We just preach Jesus.” 

But the moment you ask them, “Well, who is Jesus, and what did He do?” or “What exactly is the gospel?” the only way to answer is to begin to lay out doctrine.

Doctrine is one of the most powerful shaping forces in terms of how it affects your thought-life and eventually, how you do your life overall. Doctrine is not just a biblical term. We are all being indoctrinated by somebody whenever we are learning something that affects how we think and live.

Week after week many well-meaning pastors and Bible teachers exhort God’s people through their doctrinal teachings to live sanctified lives, to be filled with and led by the Holy Spirit, to crucify the flesh and abide in Christ – all without sufficiently teaching them how to acquire doctrine directly from the Spirit of God for every aspect of their lives.

HUMAN INDOCTRINATION VERSUS GODLY INDOCTRINATION

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines indoctrination as “a process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs without considering whether it’s right or wrong.”

Here is the problem with doctrines taught solely from human sources or religious organizations’ perspectives, mainly when applied to millions of people spanning different generations and cultures: we don’t all believe the same thing.

The primary reason for this is because these doctrines are taught to us primarily from human sources and organizations rather than from the Spirit of God within us. Experiencing the Spirit of God within you as a teaching Spirit is necessary for you to receive “doctrine” for all facets of your life, just like Jesus experienced as a human being. Jesus got His beliefs, values, and life practices for every aspect of His life directly from the Spirit of God, through the kingdom of God that resided within His soul. (See Deut. 32:2; Prov. 4:2; Jn. 7:16)

Every human being needs to ultimately experience a personalized “doctrine” experience directly from the Spirit of God within themselves; otherwise true, spiritual maturation and the fulfillment of the perfect will and purposes of God for one’s life will never take place. The ultimate goal for this process is so that, as Ephesians 4:14 describes it, “… we no longer may be infants, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine …” that is caused by “the trickery of men, in cunning craftiness, to the wiles of deceit.”

A look into many of today’s churches reveals that what is being taught within them are doctrines that cause the people to remain spiritual infants due to them being “tossed to and fro through other winds of doctrines.” These doctrines primarily consist of sporadic teachings of different biblical topics or teachings that pertain to the leaders’ and/or the organization’s beliefs and practices.

There is only one doctrine that should be taught in these environments. That doctrine consists of teaching that is purposed to enable the people to get accurate “doctrine” for every facet of their lives by hearing and learning directly from the Spirit of God through the kingdom of God within their souls. 

A quote that I recently heard synchronized with what God was attempting to teach me about “doctrine” purposed to teach people how to listen and learn from Him directly. This quote stated, “There are over seven billion people on the earth today, yet there is only one mind; what we have are over seven billion on and off switches.”

The moment I heard this, a light went on within me. Though this person wasn’t explicitly talking about the mind of God, at that moment, God spoke to me and asked, “What are your thoughts about what that person just said?” Immediately, I knew where God was going with His question.

Initially, all humanity came out of God – beginning with Adam and Eve. When God formed Adam from the dust of the ground and then breathed His breath of life into him, He equipped Adam with the ability to receive doctrine directly from Him within Adam’s mind. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve chose to “switch off” the mind of God by welcoming the teaching of a doctrine that came from another mind – Satan, who appeared in the form of a serpent and tempted them to sin by twisting what God had originally said. It is important to note that they both chose to take on the actions of a mind that was not God’s. Satan introduced the first “off switch” to the doctrine that comes from the mind of God; Adam and Eve chose to use it, as does anyone else that decides to continually get their doctrine concerning God and the Bible solely from sources other than God Himself.

Sound doctrine originates with God; false doctrine originates with someone or something other than God. Paul went to great lengths to convince the church in Galatia that the gospel he taught was not his own, but God’s: “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11-12). Even Jesus was clear that He only taught what God had instructed Him to teach: “My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me” (Jn. 7:16). 

Just as true doctrine is marked by its divine origin, false doctrine is marked by its humanistic and diabolical origin. Paul warned the Colossian church to avoid doctrine that is “according to human precepts and teachings,” and he told Timothy that some would “depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons” (Col. 2:22; 1 Tim. 4:1). Again, It is this simple: sound teaching originates with God, and false teaching originates with humanistic and demonic influences.

Unfortunately, when it comes to much of today’s traditional Christianity, many other minds throughout the ages have created and continue to teach different doctrines versus a “doctrine” that is solely purposed to teach the people how to hear and learn from the Spirit of God directly. Though many may disagree with what I’m about to say, I believe that Satan is still influencing what is being taught in many of these religious organizations by “turning off the mind of God” through the doctrines that they teach. Proof of this is found in the vastly different doctrines that are taught and practiced by various religions.

It doesn’t matter how long a person has been a believer or what Bible college or theological degrees they may have or how popular the minister or ministry may be. The foundational “doctrine” of any fivefold minister or ministry should be a “doctrine” that is solely purposed to teach the people how to hear and learn personally from the Spirit of God. Anything less than this falls short of the foundational purpose for these five ministerial gifts and ministries.

The current, traditional church structure, for the most part, is a contradictory organization. Most of these organizations teach about God and about His Written Word (the Bible) from their personal and organizational perspectives that they have learned from other human beings. Yet too few actually teach the person how to hear from God Himself so that He can tell them what He wants them to know about Himself and so that He can give them His interpretation about His written Word (the Bible) and how He wants them to apply its principles to their lives.

MISGUIDED TEACHERS AND MINISTRIES

Many Christians or those that follow other forms of spirituality would say that their spiritual leader in no way fits the description of “the trickery of men, in cunning craftiness, to the wiles of deceit,” which Ephesians 4:14 describes as the underlying reason why they are not teaching the people how to hear and learn from the Spirit of God within themselves. The reality is that if a guru, priest, minister, or ministry is not teaching the people how to hear and learn directly from the Spirit of God, though deceiving people is the furthest thing from the minister’s mind, spiritually speaking, Satan could be negatively affecting that minister or ministry through his ancient tactic of iniquity, which is the root cause of why people aren’t taught how to listen and learn from God in the most intimate way. Ultimately, iniquity is why people aren’t taught how to experience God like Jesus experienced the Spirit of God within His inner-kingdom. Any spiritual teacher or ministry that fails to teach the people how to hear and learn from God, just like Jesus experienced as a human being, is falling short of its true purpose.

A similar warning of deception concerning spiritual leaders and organizations who don’t teach the people how to hear and learn from the Spirit of God inwardly (an inward educational process described as “the anointing that teaches”), but instead they teach other things, is given by John.

“These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him” (1 Jn. 2:26-27). 

This same type of condition of learning about God versus learning directly from the Spirit of God is put forth in Second Timothy 3:5-7, which describes people who “have a form of godliness” in that they teach things concerning godliness. The problem is, these teachers cause the believers “to always be learning but ultimately not being able to come to the knowledge of the truth” because they are not teaching the people how to experience knowledge directly from the ultimate Source of Truth: the Spirit of God within. This is the same type of warning that Jesus gave in the following Scripture: 

“Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matt. 16:12).  

From a biblical perspective, leaven almost always represents evil or sin. According to Jesus, leaven in the above verse is likened to a corrupt doctrine. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were teaching doctrines that kept the people from personally experiencing the kingdom of God that was within them. 

Their “trickery” was exercised when they were diabolically influenced and spiritually fathered through Satan’s covert tactic of iniquity, which resulted in them stopping to use the scriptures as “the key of knowledge” type of teachings to teach the people how to experience the Kingdom of God/Heaven within their souls meditatively (Matt. 23:12; Lk. 11:52, 17:21; Jn. 8:44). 

Ephesians 4: 14 describes this travesty as “cunning craftiness” that causes “wiles of deceit” Like many Bible teachers today, they used the Scriptures to teach doctrines that made the people continually reliant on them as middlemen between the people and God. As a result, they limited the people from experiencing God inwardly as their Spiritual Father, Redeemer, and as a teaching Spirit. 

The Pharisees were a religious and political party known for insisting that the Law be observed as interpreted by the scribes. Jesus’s condemnation of the religious leaders of His day asserted three things:

1. That they were hypocrites.

2. That they did not understand the inner meaning and ultimate purpose of the Scriptures.

3. That they had set up a system to measure spiritual status and worthiness that emphasized external religious practices, thus neglecting “key of knowledge” (Lk. 11:52) teachings that were purposed to teach the people how to experience the kingdom of God within.

I do not believe that all of today’s church authorities are intentional hypocrites. However, church teachings often do not reflect the inner meaning and foundational purpose of the Scriptures. The spiritual emphasis of many of today’s church organizations seems to focus more on external status, image, worthiness, and religious practices such as supporting the pastor’s vision through involvement in church-related ministries, church attendance, and financial giving. As in the time of Jesus, teachings that solely focus on these external practices versus teachings that focus on how to experience the kingdom of God within hinders the saints from being spiritually matured by the Spirit of God.

Spiritual leaders are not immune to this type of deceptive practice. Though many of them may not know that they are being deceived, I submit to you that if a spiritual leader is not being consistently taught by the Spirit of God within their inner-kingdoms, then the “cunning craftiness” and “wile of deceit” that Ephesians 4:11 warns us about is at play. It is undoubtedly affecting that minister or ministry through the diabolical, covert spiritual condition of iniquity. This is what alienates people from experiencing the full essence of the “life of God” within their souls due to “ignorance” (lack of knowledge) as to how to experience it. And if they are not experiencing it for themselves, it is safe to assume they are not teaching those they have influence over, but are instead teaching other doctrines.

This deceptive spiritual condition is described in Ephesians:

“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph. 4:17-18 NKJV).

A Gentile is a biblical expression to describe a foreigner. To be a Gentile is a biblical metaphor that describes anyone who doesn’t know how to experience his or her Godly origin because they are not hearing from their ORIGINator within their souls: the Spirit of God Himself. 

The Greek definition for the word “vanity” in this verse, according to Thayer’s Greek Definitions, is the word mataiotes, which is defined as “what is devoid of truth and appropriateness.” The Hebrew translation for mataiotes is the word riq, which describes “vanity” in this verse as “what is empty of original content and purpose.” The “original content and purpose” that they are evidently devoid of is full knowledge of the purposes of God for every aspect of their lives, which will include how to effectively teach and train people how to hear and learn from God within their inherent kingdoms.

This “vanity” of the mind, with “understanding darkened” and “being alienated from the life of God” due to “ignorance” and “blindness of their heart” describes the spiritual condition of someone who is once again affected by iniquity. They have no knowledge at all concerning the will of God for their lives. At best, they assume the will of God but do not know it for sure.  

We see this same spiritual condition in one of the most insightful accounts of Jesus’ teachings concerning those who were deceived in assuming the will of God and the “the work of the ministry” for their lives by prophesying in the Name of the Lord, casting out demons, and doing many other miraculous works. They assumed these works would have pleased God since they were doing the same things Jesus Himself had done while on earth, but judging by Jesus’ response, they evidently weren’t doing the perfect will of God for their lives. Jesus told these imposters, “I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (See Matt. 7:21-23 KJV).

Aren’t these the same activities that many Charismatic, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and other ministries teach under the umbrella of signs and wonders? I submit to you that not every Christian is purposed by God to perform such things. If this were so, why isn’t it happening across the world today? And isn’t this precisely the kind of spiritual immaturity that afflicts so many people today concerning traditional religious teachings? How tragic that people cling to flawed concepts of God.

The word iniquity that Jesus used in Matthew 7:23 from its ancient Hebrew perspective is the word aven. Its defined as “to use the power within the loins of the mind that is purposed to reproduce and create for vain or other improper purposes.” Evidently, the minds of these people were somehow influenced by other “winds of doctrine,” which caused them to use their “minds for vain or improper purposes,” which shaped their beliefs and practices and caused them to believe that what they were doing was God’s will.

In other words, they were not experiencing the “wind of doctrine” from the Spirit of God to acquire accurate and detailed truth regarding His will and purposes for their preordained ministry and lives.

SOUND DOCTRINE VERSUS ITCHY EARS

In the following passage of Scripture, Paul informs us that there will come a time when people will not be able to endure “sound doctrine” due to the fact that “according to their own desires, [the people] will heap up for themselves teachers” that will cause them to “turn their ears away from truth,” which will result in the people being exposed to and believing in “fables.” 

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim. 4:3-4 NKJV).

Understanding the term “sound doctrine” is key to understanding the significance of these verses. The word“sound” from its New Testament Greek perspective is the word hugiaino, which is defined as “what is healthy, uncorrupt, and what is free of the mixture of any error.” The Hebrew equivalent hugiaino is the word shalam, which is described as “what is required to lead a person to be complete or in a state of wholeness.”

The word “doctrine” in the above passage from its Greek perspective is the word didaskalia, which is defined as “instruction, teaching, and learning.” Its equivalent from the ancient Hebrew perspective is the word lamad, which is described as “what is learned through the skillful instruction of an expert teacher.” 

Interestingly, when combined with the word shalam,the term “sound doctrine” (shalam lamad) describes “a student who is instructed and guided by a skillful and expert teacher to be pointed in the right direction.” The “right direction” that a “skillful and expert” spiritual leader or Bible “teacher” should be guiding the student to experience is within the soul, which is where “doctrinal truth” for every aspect of the student’s life is acquired by none other than the Spirit of God.

In other words, “sound doctrine” is not just teaching; it is specific teachingabout how to experience the “sound” of the voice of God to get absolute truth through the kingdom of God that resides within our souls.

In the following passage, we see the sobering warning of accepting and believing other doctrines beyond one that teaches people how to go within their inner-kingdoms to get doctrine for all aspects for their life from Christ:

“Everyone transgressing and not abiding in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, nor speak a greeting to him. For he who speaks a greeting to him is partaker of his evil deeds” (2 Jn. 1:9-11).

The doctrine of Christ is not a doctrine (teaching) taught from another person about Christ. It is an experience where you experience doctrine (teaching) that comesfrom Christ for every aspect of your life.

ITCHY EARS

To have “itching ears” is a biblical figure of speech that refers to people who would prefer teachers tell them what they want to hear without considering whether it’s right or wrong (2 Tim. 4:3). Evidence of people today having “itching ears,” includes the popularity of prosperity doctrines that teach that God wants all believers to have an abundance of financial and material possessions; doctrines that people are not required to change because God is too loving to judge anyone; and doctrines that teach that you need a person to hear from God for you, which takes believers off the hook regarding hearing from God for themselves.

There are significant flaws in this line of teaching. One week you may hear a doctrine about faith; another week one about tithes and offerings; another week about the importance of finding a ministry within your local church, etc. These and any other biblical topic that God desires for us to learn, we have an inherent ability and right to learn from God personally. 

Teaching biblical doctrine is not just the act of teaching. More importantly, it’s the content of what is being taught. Though many doctrines could be taught through the content found in the Bible, the Bible should only be used to teach one doctrine; that doctrine is teaching the people how to experience the kingdom within.

When people have “itching ears,” other teachers decide for them what is right or wrong, or what is truth. Sadly, such people turn to and believe what the Bible refers to as “fables” or fictitious stories, regarding the biblical concepts because they fail to be taught how to turn their earsinward within their souls to hear the truth directly from God concerning them. 

There is no one more qualified to teach you doctrine concerning biblical topics or the personal “doctrine” for your life at this level than the “sound” that comes through Voice of God, biblically known as the Holy Spirit of Truth! 

Though God has given us gifts in the form of “the fivefold ministry” (and I thank God for the ones that are genuinely ordained by God), their ultimate purpose is not to teach doctrines according to their organization or denomination’s beliefs. It must be to teach you how to get your primary learning from the ultimate Indoctrinator Himself – the Holy Spirit of Truth. 

The primary reasons that the kingdom of God as an inner-learning environment is still such a mystery to so many today is that many Christians seem to be continually stuck on getting their knowledge and understanding of God and the Bible from human perspectives versus from God Himself.

One of the primary reasons there are so many religious philosophies, practices, and doctrines today is because accurate, Bible-based, God-centered meditation that is purposed to still one’s self to hear and learn from God is not taught today in many religious or spiritual environments. 

True, authentic, God-inspired “sound doctrine” coming from any spiritual teacher, will always and only, teach people how to go within themselves through the use of Scripture as “key of knowledge” teachings coupled with teachings on how to meditate for the purpose of being personally indoctrinated by the Spirit of God within their inherent kingdoms. Otherwise, you risk the danger of continually experiencing, as the Scripture describes, “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14) instead of being taught how to hear doctrine from God Himself.

God will only show you what you are looking for. If you’re not taught how to pursue this level of indoctrination (teaching and learning) from God through your personal prayer life, the traditional doctrines according to men will be the extent of your doctrinal and prayer experience.

Now that we have taken A Deeper Look into the biblical concept of doctrine, questions worth asking to consider seriously are: Who would you want to continually get your doctrine (religious education) from concerning God, the Scriptures and how to live your life according to the will of God? Would you rather get this type of knowledge from other people, self-study or the Spirit of God Himself?

This article contains content from The Mystery of the Kingdom of God Revealed chapter 15: Indoctrination. 

Respectfully,

Julio Alvarado Jr.

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Within traditional Christianity and among those that practice other forms of spirituality today, many people are running after teachers; going to endless conferences, workshops, and seminars; and reading stacks of books on spirituality and religion. They are always seeking more information but seldom do they obtain genuine transformation that satisfies their inner hunger to experience God in the most intimate level. I used to be one of them. Within these environments of learning, there is a lot of popular, yet shallow, teaching. By contrast, there are few instances of people being taught to experience “pure religion” by hearing and learning from God directly through the kingdom of God that resides within their souls. 

When most people think of religion, they do not think of it as a sacred experience where the Spirit of God is speaking to them and teaching them doctrine within their minds according to a book that God has authored on their lives that contains His perfect will for their life. This does not negate the fact that such a book on their personal life exists within the mind of God, and that revelation of the contents found within God’s personalized book on their life is experienceable within their mind.

The Scripture refers to this as experiencing the “engrafted word” that is able to “save our souls;” we are commanded to be “doers” of this word and not just “hearers” of it. This is a process that can only be experienced as we access the kingdom of God that resides within the soul [See Deut. 32:1-3; Prov. 4:2; Ps. 139:16-17; Jn. 7:16; Jas. 1:21-22 NKJ].

When we think of religion, we usually think of things related to the Church: people, groups, organizations, buildings, and movements. We are strongly influenced by the religious culture of our time – which is marked by competing denominations, churches, organizations, human traditions, and rituals that have all been put under the umbrella of religion.

Lately, the word “religion” has been viewed as a negative word by those who are not satisfied with what their traditional religious experience has offered them or by those who have been disillusioned by church politics, offenses, or sinful behavior of congregants and those in leadership positions.

Many believers are awakening to the fact that they are not being taught how to hear and learn from God personally. Instead, they are perpetually being taught how to hear and learn from their religious leaders and organizations. They are finding out that many religious leaders often twist life or religion to justify their religious views and why they think we should all live a certain way. The root cause of this is primarily due to a diabolical iniquity-influenced theology they received in Bible school, seminary, or through their organization’s views. 

Many people who have been discouraged by their religious experience today make statements such as, “I do not want anything to do with organized or institutionalized religion,” or, “I do not want to be part of a religion. All I want is Jesus.”

Once I came to the sobering reality that my traditional religious experience did not teach me how to hear and learn from God in the way that Jesus experienced Him, I did not want to be associated with religion either – at least not religion as I had been experiencing it. This was until I found out what “pure religion” was. Fundamentally, I had been discarding what was purposed to keep me pure before God because I had been allowing man’s contamination of the word “religion” to impact my understanding of it. 

A DEFINITION OF “RELIGION” 

People commonly associate the word “religion” with either a Christian church or some other faith-based or spiritual organization. A deeper look into the original understanding of the word “religion” reveals a much deeper, more personal meaning.

Today there are many claiming that God did not send His Son, Jesus, to establish a religion on the earth. I agree wholeheartedly with their assessment; yet understanding the word “religion” from a root word perspective will reveal that, although God didn’t send Jesus to establish a religion on earth, He did come to be an example as to how a person could experience a “pure religion that is undefiled.” This pure religion, which can only be experienced within our minds, has two primary purposes: showing us how we are to “to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction,” and showing us how to keep ourselves “unspotted from the world.”

Most of us have been either raised in or exposed to a denomination, or non-denominational mold called a “religion.” These may be all about Jesus, but are any of them Jesus’ religion? The type of religion that Jesus experienced is found in the following verse:

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).

First John 2:6 says, “He who says he abides in Him [Jesus] ought themselves also walk just as He walked.” The expression “just as He walked,” means to pattern your life after the way Jesus lived. He received His instructions as to how He was to live every step of His life through interaction with the Spirit of God by way of the kingdom of God within His soul.

It’s how we walk that reveals the truth about whether our “religion” is His religion, or from another outside source that just talks about Him. 

Numerous biblical study resources cite that the etymological root of the word “religion” that we find in our Bibles comes from the Latin word religare. “Ligare” means “to bind” or to “connect.”  Adding the “re” before “ligare” causes the word to mean “re-bind” or “re-connect.” From a biblical perspective, when the word religion is used, it is always used in reference to absorbing the knowledge that shapes your religious beliefs and lifestyle. 

The Scriptures teach about two types of religion. One type of “religion” is described as spirituality that is learned through teachings (doctrines) of human beings through a religious organization setting.

The biblical example of this type of religion is when Paul was describing where he got his religion from that caused him to believe what he believed about God and the Scriptures and how he practiced his religion:

“Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straightest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee” (Acts 26:5).

“For you have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:13-14).

Evidently, Paul’s traditional religion experience did not teach him how to hear and learn from the Spirit of God within his soul. Instead, the doctrine he was absorbing about God and Scripture came from the religious organization he belonged to. This is what caused him to persecute the Church and even approve of the death of Stephen because his beliefs were different than Paul’s and the religious organization Paul represented [See Acts 7:54-8:2].

Once Paul began to hear the voice of God, after his journey-to-Damascus experience, he began to realize how his former religious education had been compromised. This is the reason that he was inspired to give the following warning:

“Beware lest anyone rob you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

This is the same type of warning that Jesus gave in the following Scripture:

“Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:12).  

From a Christian perspective, this is how many people experience their religion. Instead of it coming from Judaism as Paul’s religion did, it may come from a Catholic, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Baptist, Assemblies of God, Word of Faith, or Church of God in Christ religion – just to name a few of the hundreds of religions that exist today. 

Returning to the definition of religare, which is defined as “to rebind or reconnect,” if all we do is go to Church or any other spiritual environment to hear about God and the Bible, this will be the extent of our rebinding or reconnecting. Another religious “rebinding or reconnecting” experience is far more effective: learning how to hear from the Spirit of God Himself so that He can teach you who He truly is. He can also teach you His interpretation of the Bible, and how He wants youto apply its principles to your life personally. 

Many people now see organized or traditional religion as a system of control based on dogmatic belief, which has thwarted their progress of experiencing God-consciousness within their souls.

PURE RELIGION

The other form of religion, which is biblically described as “pure religion” in James 1:27, is experienced from the teachings (doctrine) of the Spirit of God Himself. This pure religion is experienced inwardly through a meditative mindset that is intentionally purposed to experience the kingdom of God that resides within the soul of a human being.

From an ancient Hebrew perspective, the word most associated with the religion that is experienced within our souls is the word yada, which is defined as “knowledge that is acquired through an intimate relationship and experience.” We see the purpose of the experience more clearly when we define the word “pure” in the critical phrase “pure religion.” The word “pure”in this key verse from its Greek perspective is the word katharos. It is defined as “what is clean and clear.” 

Interestingly, its translation from the Hebrew perspective uses the two words tomand yosherto describe this type of religion as what makes someone “mature, whole, full, complete, perfect and upright.” This is the same definition for the word “perfect” that Jesus used in Matthew 5:48 when He said, “Therefore be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” 

This is a spiritual maturing process that God inherently designed all of humanity to experience if adequately taught how to do so, which is exemplified in the following verse:

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).

What does it mean “to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction”? How is this a result of experiencing “pure religion that is undefiled” from the Spirit of God? 

Though the above verse contains legitimate instruction in a physical sense to make sure that we all do our part in making sure the fatherless (orphaned) and widows are taken care of, there is a deeper meaning and life application to this verse that we must consider.

The more profound meaning and application that this verse is purposed to teach is: a description of someone who visits with people who are spiritually fatherless or widowed because they are not experiencing the Spirit of the Father within themselves – who is biblically described as “a Father to the fatherless” and a “Husband and Defender of widow” as well (Ps. 68:5; Rev. 21: 2) – in order to teach them how to experience the kingdom of God within their minds.

And what does it mean to stay “unspotted from the world?” We have passages of Scripture that inform us that friendship with the world is enmity with God; others state that we are in the world but not of the world. They tell us to not conform to this world. What do these Scriptures mean today? What does it mean to be a friend of the world? 

How does one become “spotted” in this world? 

Have you ever wondered what spots, blemishes, and wrinkles are from a biblical perspective or what they represent? Many assume they are the imperfections in the life of the believer or sin in the Church. This is true, but only the voice of God within our souls can ultimately reveal to us if we are guilty of them and how to rid them from our lives.

Doesn’t it make sense that if one wants to remain unspotted from the world and not be a friend to it, then the Spirit of God Himself would be the best informer as to where these spots, blemishes, and wrinkles are that are marring life’s existence in some way? 

The Bible explains that the spots and blemishes are more than just moral imperfections. The spots and blemishes are also false leaders, false teachers, and false prophets within the Church: “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you . . . They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you” (2 Peter 2:1, 13).

Ultimately, the purpose of teaching people how to experience “pure and undefiled religion” is so they can connect the believer back to God, which is where they originated. Otherwise, the believer ends up being “fathered” and “married” or in a covenant relationship with a traditional religious leader or organization as opposed to with God Himself.

To maximize our life’s existence, the most important thing we must master is to learn to hear from God every day of our lives. We master this ability by having a meditative mindset that is purposed to experience the Mind of God within our minds.

The sad reality is that much of what has spotted the world are religions that are not purposed  to help the believer discover and develop the kingdom of God that lies within the soul of every human being. Many times, their primary goal of these religions seems to be more to connect the believer to their organization than to God directly through the Holy Spirit that resides within. 

Now that we have taken A Deeper Look into the biblical concept of religion, questions worth asking to seriously are: Who would you want to continually get your religion (religious education) from concerning God, the Scriptures and how to live your life according to the will of God? Would you rather get this type of knowledge from other people, self-study or the Spirit of God Himself? 

This article contains content from The Mystery of the Kingdom of God Revealed chapter 10: Traditional Religion Versus Pure Religion.

Stay tuned for my next post titled: Human Indoctrination Versus Godly Indoctrination

Best Regards,

Julio Alvarado Jr.

According to the King James Version of the Bible, the concept of a “kingdom” is found in no less than 316 verses. Within these verses the Bible uses six basic terms for a kingdom: 

• A kingdom of priests [Exo. 19:6]. 
• Kingdoms of men [Dan. 4:25]. 
• Earthly kingdoms ruled by a human leader [examples include the kingdom of Israel (1 Sam. 24:20), the kingdoms of the Amorites and Bashan (Num. 32:33), the Queen of Sheba (1 Ki. 14:4), the kingdoms of Babylon and Greece (Dan. 4:29, 11:2)]. 
• The kingdom of Satan (Matt. 12:26; Lk. 11:18). 
• New Jerusalem, the city that comes down from the kingdom of Heaven (Rev. chapters 5-22). 
• The kingdom of God/kingdom of Heaven as an inner spiritual environment that resides within the soul (Lk. 17:20-21).

SPIRITUAL KINGDOMS

In contrast to the concept of earthly kingdoms, a spiritual kingdom was the central theme of Jesus’ teachings. This spiritual concept is referenced over 100 times throughout the New Testament books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

A cursory reading of the four Gospels mentioned above will reveal that one of the primary purposes of Jesus’ existence on earth was to introduce a deeper level of knowledge and understanding regarding the kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of God. Jesus introduced this spiritual kingdom as an environment that resides within the soul where every human being can experience full and unhindered access to the Spirit of God as their Creator, Spiritual Father, Counselor, and Instructor. This inner spiritual kingdom is what Jesus experienced as a human being.

 “And I appoint a kingdom to you, as My Father has appointed to Me” (Luke 22:29).

THE KINGDOM OF GOD DEFINED

Most people are more familiar with the concept of a kingdom as an outward environment. Many dictionaries define these visible earthly environments or governments as “a country, state, or territory that is governed or ruled by a king, queen, or other forms of leadership.”

The word “kingdom” that Jesus constantly used during His earthly ministry is traditionally known from a Greek perspective as the word basileia. According to Strong’s Concordance, it’s defined as “a realm or an environment.”

The Hebrew counterpart of basileia is the word mamlakah. From its ancient Hebraic perspective, mamlakah describes a Divine, inner-learning environment where one experiences God in the most intimate level possible. The foundational root word of mamlakh is melak, which is described as “a king that we are to take counsel from.”

The term “kingdom of God” as it relates to the realm of God’s existence within, which Jesus was referring to in Luke 17:20-21, was known in ancient times as the Bet Hammelekh (House of Counsel), which is defined as “a house, or temple of a King that is within.” Bet  is Hebrew for “house.” Hammelekh is described as “intelligence and counsel that comes from a King within.”

In other words, the kingdom of God that Jesus stated was within the human soul is the place we can ultimately go to receive the spiritual intelligence and counsel from the King of Kings: the Spirit of God!

Much of Jesus’ teachings have been integrated into our culture in a way that many people suppose they are familiar with, and have nothing more to gain from studying them. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

One of the biggest mistakes the people made when Jesus originally introduced the kingdom of God is still being made today. We tend to limit the kingdom of God by thinking of it as an external world government or a religious, ecclesiastical system. An in-depth study of the kingdom of God reveals that Jesus was primarily teaching about a God-consciousness experienced through a learning environment that resides within the soul of every human being.

When Jesus responded to the question from the Pharisees about when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ Or ‘See there!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Lk. 17:21). The first part of Jesus’ answer has been fairly easy to understand. Misunderstanding regarding the latter part, however, has given many an incomplete picture of the kingdom of God that Jesus was referring to.

It is important to note that numerous modern translations of the Bible quote Luke 17:20 as, “the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Many have interpreted this to mean that Jesus was referring to a governmental system in the physical world. This theory couldn’t be further from the truth. First of all, Jesus clearly stated that the kingdom of God does not come with external observation; secondly, numerous ancient Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic scripts of the New Testament clearly indicate that the statement “within you” is the accurate term originally used. The significance and impact of this divine truth are found when defining the word “within” that Jesus used in this crucial monumental verse.

THE WORD “WITHIN” AND THE “ENGRAFTED WORD” THAT IS ALREADY INHERENTLY “WITHIN” YOU

The key to understanding the vital importance of the kingdom of God as an inner-learning environment is found in the word “within” that Jesus used. An in-depth search from its Greek perspective in the New Testament reveals that the word “within” is the term engrapho entos. The word engrapho is defined as “what is written,” and the word entos is defined as “inside.” In other words, to experience the kingdom of God is to experience a process in which something is either already written or is being written inside of you.

It is to experience the full essence of the covenant that God has with every human being. Because He created you for His purposes, it is He who must teach you regarding these purposes for every aspect of your life.

The word “Laws” in these verses, according to ancient Hebrew perspective, is the word Torah, which is defined as “teachings.” It describes the purpose of these type of teachings as “the direction and instruction that one is to take in life.” From the ancient Hebrew perspective, to experience the engrapho entos that is “within” you is to experience the ongoing narrative and teachings directly from the Spirit of God within you according to the details of the book God has authored on your life.

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put My Laws into their inward parts, and in their minds, I will write them” (Heb. 10:16; Jer. 31:33).

We see this reality documented in Scripture in Psalms 139: 16-17, which states: 

 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!” 

From its ancient Hebrew perspective, the word “book” in this supreme passage of Scripture is the term sepher-siphrah. Siphrah  is defined as “the act of writing based off an account that is given.” Sepher is the book or document that is produced from that writing. 

James 1: 21-11 refers to this as experiencing the “engrafted word” that is able to “save our souls;” of which we are commanded to be “doers” of this word and not just “hearers” of it. 

Experiencing this “engrafted word” directly from the Spirit of God within your soul is the same experience that Romans 12: 1-2 is referring to that causes you to “ be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God” for your life.

Many Christian religions teach that the Bible is the primary resource that one should use to renew the mind. Though there is of course great value in this practice, the Bible does not contain the specifics for your daily life. The “good and acceptable and perfect will of God” type of details for every aspect of your life can only be found in the mouth of God. This is a process that can only be experienced as we access the kingdom of God that resides within our soul through meditation to be personally indoctrinated by God concerning what His “good, acceptable and perfect will” is for our individual lives [See Deut. 32:1-3; Prov. 4:2; Ps. 139:16-17; Jn. 7:16].

The awesome privilege of getting the transcriptions of your God-authored book – which contains the will of God as you hear from Him daily – must not be taken lightly. It is the most accurate information that you can receive from God Himself as it pertains to the mandate to continually “renew your mind” with all of the knowledge that He has for your life.

This process is required to get to the stage where the perfect (mature and complete) will of God is revealed to you, which contains the works God has preordained for your life (Eph. 2:10). This process also protects you, as it will expose any contaminating worldly and limiting religious influences that may be keeping you from knowing and fulfilling God’s will and assignments for your life.

As previously mentioned in prior posts, Jesus Himself had such a book on His life: “Then I said, behold, I come in the volume of the Book it is written of Me to do Your will, O God” (Heb. 10:7). This is a crucial point that cannot be stressed enough. When Jesus was in prayer, He was experiencing a “reading” from the Spirit of God of what was already written about Him. 

This was the experience that empowered Jesus to acquire a level of knowledge and vision that caused Him to live out (and likewise empowers us to live out) these key statements: “As I hear My Father speak, I speak,” “As I see My Father do, I do likewise,” and “Then I said, behold, I come in the volume of the Book it is written of Me to do Your will, O God.” (See Jn. 5:19, 8:28, 12:49-50, 14:10; Heb. 10:5-7)

These details according to the volume of the book that was written about Him became scripture (the script) for His life. They were not found in the Bible, yet they led Jesus to fulfill what the written word (the Bible) prophesied about Him. 

Much more content regarding the book that God has authored for your individual life (the engrafted word), and how to experience this life-changing experience can be found in my book -The Mystery of Prayer Revealed – chapter eight “The Logos Book for your life” and in my book – The Mystery of the Kingdom of God Revealed – chapter three “Jesus’ Education and Maturing Process” and chapter nine “Logos and Rhema.” 

How does God fulfill His covenantal promises of Hebrews 10:16 and Jeremiah 31:33 of putting His “Laws” (teachings) and “writing them within the inward parts of your heart and mind?” And how do you acquire these “vast sums of thoughts” that are recorded in a book that only God has access to according to Psalms 139:16-17? The only way to experience such a life-changing phenomenon and Divine education is by hearing from Him personally within His kingdom that He has inherently placed within your soul.

Fundamentally, meditation is the silent forerunner that introduces God’s consciousness and teaching into our lives.

Meditation is what positions your body to function as an educative temple of God, your soul into the classroom of God and your spirit as a student of God.

PREACHING VERSUS TRUE TEACHING 

To preach something is to announce that something is available to experience. Today, countless ministers are preaching about the kingdom of God. But we need minister to teach us how to experience the kingdom of God that is inherent within our souls through a meditative mindset. We need to understand it at the same level that Jesus experienced it every day of His human life. 

Often times, many ministers will say, “this is one of the most misunderstood verses in the entire Bible.” But when it comes to Jesus’ instruction to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” the claim is true. As Jesus made unambiguously clear, we can experience this inner treasure – and no experience could be more valuable. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” He declared, “and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). “For behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Lk. 17:21).

The foundational purpose that God inspired me to write the book “The Mystery of the Kingdom of God Revealed” is to look at what could be perhaps the most misunderstood and misapplied, and thus most neglected, understanding of the term “kingdom of God.” Jesus was referring to an inner-kingdom found within the human being. It is a kingdom that cannot be observed or experienced on the outside, but only within the soul.

When you learn to access the most significant learning environment you will ever find in life – the kingdom of God within your soul – you will experience the most excellent Teacher that you will ever find on this earth who will teach you all you need to know: the Holy Spirit of Truth.

Consider every great religious, spiritual, and wisdom tradition, and you will find the same precept – that life’s ultimate truth, its ultimate treasure, lies within us. From this inner plane of life, Jesus is saying; we will gain all that is needful for every aspect of our lives.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post as we took A DEEPER LOOK into these important biblical topics.

If this post blessed you, please consider sharing it with others so that they can be blessed by it as well. I sincerely thank you and greatly appreciate it!

Warmly,

Julio Alvarado Jr.

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Many people believe and teach that all Jesus’ knowledge was divine and God-given. In terms of how Jesus was to live His daily life and the full scope of the kingdom doctrine that He eventually taught as an adult, this is definitely true, yet few people are aware of how key components of Jesus’ traditional Jewish and rabbinical education prepared Him to acquire such divine, God-inspired knowledge within Himself.

Most people only focus on Jesus’ ministry and His living sacrifice on the cross. An equally important purpose for which Jesus came to the earth was to model how someone could be taught how to acquire a meditative mindset in order to personally hear and learn from God through what He referred to as “key of knowledge” (Luke 11:52) form of instruction that evidently was removed from the teachings of certain synagogues. 

JESUS’ EDUCATION

Since Jesus as a human being, is our model for spiritual development, there are vital realities about His education and what He ultimately experienced from its totality that we must recognize and consider. These crucial components of His education should parallel how the church (and any spiritual environment or leader) uses Scripture to teach people how to experience God as Jesus did when He was on earth.

Being over 2,000 years removed from Jesus’ day, it is challenging for us to project ourselves back across centuries to a culture, language, and education that is sadly foreign to the western mind of today. And yet, before we can even begin to understand the great words and teachings of Jesus or even the words written about Him, precisely this is what we must do.

Jesus’ education would have begun with his earthly parents. Besides sharing with Him the unique circumstances regarding His birth, the responsibility for the first level of formal education belonged to his earthly father, Joseph. 

As soon as the child could speak, he would have been taught critical verses from the Torah. The learning of the Hebrew Jewish alphabet, known as the alef-bet, also began at about age three. The focus at the start was to train the child’s memory and the pictorial meanings of each letter.

Since written documents were rare and accessible to only a few, memory was in many ways more important than the ability to read. The ideal student was compared to a cistern, which does not lose a drop. If someone forgot something he had learned, it was said that he was like one who had forfeited his life.

The student was to repeat what he heard, using the same words as his teacher. It should be no surprise, then, that some of Jesus’ sayings sound very much like sayings of other teachers around that time. This method of learning also helps us to understand why Jesus sometimes quoted only part of a Scripture: He knew that His audience would fill in the rest in their minds. 

This form of learning also gives us a significant clue as to the ultimate purpose of an earthly spiritual teacher. Though your religious education and development may begin with a parent or someone functioning in a fivefold-ministry capacity, their ultimate goal should be to connect you with the Master Teacher (the Spirit of God within you). This is what Jesus experienced and thus the reason He made landmark statements like, “… as I hear my Father (God) speak, I speak,” and, “… as I see My Father do, I do likewise” (Jn. 8:28, 12:49-50, 14:10).

This educative process also explains the disappearance of the further mentioning of Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, from Scripture. It’s the reason Jesus never mentioned or gave any praise to the human teachers who had been a part of His education. From a spiritual educative perspective, a father (biological or spiritual) should teach you how to experience your Heavenly Father as your ultimate spiritual Teacher:

“But you must not be called Rabbi, for One is your teacher, Christ, and you are all brothers. And call no one your father on the earth, for One, is your Father in Heaven. Nor be called teachers, for One is your Teacher, even Christ”(Matthew 23:8-11).

Beyond the education that Jesus would have experienced at home from His earthly father Joseph, what was Jesus doing in His early childhood, His adolescence, and His young adult life? 

From a biblical perspective, though we know almost nothing about Jesus’ actual education, we have strong proof from a chapter of the Mishnah, also known as the Jewish “Oral Law,” which is an authoritative collection of exegetical material embodying Jewish traditions and laws, essential stages of life and insights into the educational system of Jesus’ day:

“At five years of age, one is ready for the study of the Scripture (Bet Sefer); at ten years of age, one is fit for the study of the Mishnah (Bet Midrash); at the age of thirteen for bar mitzvah, at the age of fifteen for the study of Talmud (Bet Talmud), at the age of eighteen for marriage, at the age of twenty for pursuing a vocation, at the age of thirty for entering into one’s full vigor”(Avot or Aboth 5:2l).

Although the above passage cannot be dated with certainty and may come from 70 to 150 years after the time of Jesus according to biblical historians, it does reflect what a Jewish boy in Jesus’ day would have been doing in each stage of his growth and development. Jewish scholars believe that the Mishnahcontains oral traditions that were present during the 1st century BC to 1st century AD and therefore would reflect what was true during Jesus’ lifetime.

The above Mishnaic passage is interesting as it clues us into the type of education that Jesus would have gone through as a boy, adolescent, young man, and rabbi. Many people have almost automatically given Jesus a free pass by thinking that because He was the Son of God, that He didn’t have to go through the traditional education that was available during His time on the earth. 

Many have not considered His education because they are not taught about it, much less any of the critical components of His earthly education. When looked at closely, our understanding of Jesus’ education should parallel how churches today should use Scripture, coupled with training the mind to meditate to hear and learn from the God of the Scriptures, just like Jesus experienced as a human being.

THE EDUCATIVE PROCESS OF JESUS

Many people referred to Jesus as Rabbi. He was recognized as such by his peers. Many passages in the New Testament illustrate this recognition. Here are a few: lawyers (Matt. 22:35-36), ordinary people (Lk. 12:13), the rich (Matt. 19:16), Pharisees (Lk. 19:39), Sadducees (Lk. 20:27-28), and His disciples (Lk. 7:40). 

Jesus fit the description of a first-century rabbi, especially one at the most advanced level, the one sought by those wanting to be wise disciples. A Rabbi of Jesus’ stature was classified as a master of all teachers who had what was called Shmikah. This meant he was “one who had the authority to interpret scripture.”

A Rabbi who taught with Shmikahwould say things like, “You have heard it said… but I tell you…” He was basically saying, “You have heard people interpret that verse this way, but I tell you that this is what God really means in that verse.” A study of Jesus’ yoke and ministry illustrated this unique and authoritative mastery of teaching [See Matt. 5:21, 27, 33, 38, 43].

In the above passages, note the diversity of those who recognize and address Jesus as Rabbi: private individuals, lawyers, the rich young ruler, the Pharisees, the Sadducees – a broad cross-section of the people of His day.

Most Christians know that the synagogue is the traditional Jewish house of prayer and worship. Few Christians are aware that each synagogue usually had its own school that was known as the Bet-Sefer, which meant “The House of The Book,” for children from 5 to 10 years old. The next level, a form of middle school, was known as the Bet-Midrash, which meant “The House of Learning.” This went from 10 to 15 years old. 

The next level of education was more advanced learning for those who academically qualified and who also desired to pursue the vocation of a rabbi. It was known as the Bet-Talmud, which means “The House of Study/Seeking” and also referred by some assemblies as “The House of Interpretation.” This began at the age of 15 and continued until the age of 30. 

It was Jesus’ completion of the Bet Talmudic level of education that, according to Jewish rabbinic custom, would have prepared Him and given Him the right to acquire disciples as students. A careful reading of the New Testament undoubtedly suggests that as an adult, Jesus was a rabbi and scholar learned in the Scriptures and in the religious literature of the period, which was vast and varied.

Why is it important to understand that Jesus was a rabbi? Because, in Jesus’ day, certain rabbis were accustomed to using foundational and pertinent methods of instruction classified as “key of knowledge” (Luke 11:52) type of teachings that can be traced back to the spiritual educational process that was a part of the ancient “school of prophets” mentioned in the Old Testament. This type of knowledge is quite foreign to the western mind of today but is of vital importance since it demonstrates how churches of today should teach and train people to hear and learn from God personally.

These foundational methods of instruction involved the use of a four-level hermeneutical method of biblical interpretation called Pardesand the teaching and practice of the mental discipline of meditation that accompanied much of this type of learning.  If accurately taught, these forms of scriptural instruction combined with mental meditative training led the student to unlock and enter into the inherent inner learning environment within their soul that Jesus called “the kingdom of God” (Luke 17:21) where the Spirit of God functions as a personal Counselor, knowledge Revealer, and life-path Instructor.

MEDITATION IN ANCIENT TIMES 

“This book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it by day and by night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall act wisely.” 

In religious settings, if the biblical concept and practice of meditation is taught, it is commonly taught from the above Joshua 1:8 perspective. A person is instructed to pick a portion of Scripture and to think and quote the passage repeatedly to internalize the Scripture. This form of biblical meditation is object-oriented. It begins with reflective reading and rereading of Scripture and is followed by a reflection on what has been read and committed to memory. While there are benefits to this practice, it’s certainly not the full scope of meditation. Though this practice may help the student memorize the verse and extract valuable principles from it, this application is only one form of meditation.

What must be captured in Joshua’s instruction to meditate is that it was the Lord who gave Joshua the direction to do so. In other words, it wasn’t up to the student or the instructor to pick the Scriptures that they were to meditate on. Biblical meditation was not originally self-directed.

Originally when Joshua 1:8 was used to teach the students to meditate they were taught how to discipline their mind to be sensitive to an internal instruction of the Spirit of God leading them to a specific portion of Scripture so that God might communicate and or teach something specific about what was written.

In other words, this form of using Scripture through a “key of knowledge” form of instruction was to prepare the student to experience God as a teaching Spirit. 

Initially, spiritual teachings on the concept of “the book of the law” used specific portions of Scripture that revealed that God had a specific will for their life that was coupled with the mental training of meditation. This form of teaching was purposed to teach the student how to acquire specific thoughts from God within their mind that were classified as “laws.” 

These “laws’ that God would reveal to the student were related to His will and life-purposes for their specific life that would explain the works for which God created them to fulfill so that the person would be careful to do according to instructions found in the book that God had authored for their specific life. That way, they would prosper by fulfilling the will of God for every aspect of their lives.

Jesus followed a very similar process. He would have been taught to meditate using Scripture through this key of knowledgeform of instruction coupled with instruction of the practical steps as to how to still His mind to experience the Kingdom of God within His soul in order to get “laws” from God that were purposed to establish order for aspect of His life.

He meditated on the knowledge that the Spirit of God revealed to Him concerning the “volume of a book” that was written about Him (Heb. 10:5-7), which was the personal kingdom book on His life. As a result, He did all that was written in it, which caused Him to act obediently and wisely with all that God had ordained for His daily life.

JESUS MODELED A MEDITATIVE LIFESTYLE

Among Christians, there are a wide variety of opinions concerning meditation. Some see it as beneficial and practice it occasionally. Some practice it daily. Others see meditation as “the work of the devil” and avoid it like the plague. What would Jesus say about the practice of meditation? What would Jesus do? Did Jesus meditate?

Meditation was a huge part of Jesus’ prayer life. Jesus would have been no stranger to meditation. He was a master meditator. He was listening more than He was talking. I also believe that this was one of the main reasons that Jesus rarely prayed in groups. He chose instead to go to a place that was absent of any form of distraction, especially other humans. 

When I began to think about this, I asked God, “What was Jesus doing when He would go and pray on earth?” God’s initial response to me was to take a more in-depth look into the practice of meditation. Once I did this, I began to gain insight and understand why Jesus’ prayer life was so disciplined, consistent and effective. Through the lost art of meditation, He spent hours listening and little time talking. Christianity has reversed this process in praying for hours and listening very little or not at all.

Meditation as a foundational practice of prayer is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, and as mentioned before, in some synagogues, it was a discipline that was taught as part their ancient Jewish and Rabbinical education. Jesus would have never taught something that He wasn’t doing, especially anything related to prayer. Since He knew how to hear and learn from God effectively, He would naturally have taught about His meditative experiences and techniques so that others could experience it as well.

In the Gospel accounts, Jesus rose from sleep before His disciples so He could go to a quiet place. If Jesus believed in not repeating vain prayers and in keeping spoken prayers short, what would He have been doing for hours on end? In retreating to these places for long hours of solitude, Jesus was engaged in what today we would call “meditation.” He was spending time listening to God. In short, Jesus meditated. Jesus stilled His mind to enter into a state of complete God-consciousness. When Jesus positioned Himself to learn from God meditatively, He was hearing and seeing with the ears and eyes of the spirit. This level of spiritual proficiency can only be effectively accomplished through meditation. 

Jesus modeled this activity before His disciples and throughout His public ministry for approximately 3 1/2 years. This would have been approximately 1,277 consecutive days of showing His disciples how He would start His day by preparing His mind through meditation to hear and learn from God. 

The ultimate and primary purpose of the activity of prayer taught in Jesus’ time was not to speak to God, but to first hear from God.  Although a prayer session would have included the student talking to God, much of the dialogue was based off what the student heard from God. The student was taught to ask questions that would create a dialogue between themselves and God. The questions were concerning what God spoke to him or her to gain a full understanding.

Unfortunately, the importance of mental preparedness using the discipline of meditation to communicate with God inwardly is rarely taught today. This is the type of teaching and discipline that Jesus would have been exposed to in His Jewish and rabbinical training. This was the reason Jesus had the habit of beginning His day by going out to a solitary place, absent of human distractions according to the following prophetic and profound passage of Scripture concerning Jesus’ prayer-life:

“The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD has opened My ear, And I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away”(Isaiah 50:4-5).

Each morning and at crucial moments in His life, Jesus would find a solitary place so that He could reorient Himself by positioning His mind to hear the Holy Spirit inwardly and discover His daily direction. He went as far as considering the absence of this practice as a form of rebellion (v5). During these moments, Jesus was acquiring insight that couldn’t be communicated through any ordinary educational process. 

“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Numerous Greek study resources and dictionaries typically define the word for “prayed” that is found in Mark 1:35 as “to talk to God,” “to supplicate, petition, to ask, and to request,” and “to intercede on one’s own behalf or for another.” These definitions are traditionally viewed and applied from the perspective of someone talking to God. A more in-depth study of this vital word reveals that it is God who desires to do the supplicating, petitioning, asking, requesting, and interceding to produce specific outcomes. 

God communicated more towards Jesus than He prayed (communicated) towards God. This is God’s primary desired outcome and purpose for prayer as it relates to meditation. 

The continual breath of God was inspiring Jesus through His meditative process. He then exhaled back towards God the works that He was daily being inspired to do. This is worshipping the Father in Spirit and in truth in its purest form (John 4:23-24).

The key to understanding the full extent of what Jesus experienced when He started each day in prayer is found in the root word understanding of the word “prayed” from its Hebrew perspective, which is the term palal hithpa.It is described as “to meditate to acquire God’s thoughts in order to intervene by performing great works or actions.”  And “one authority speaking to another authority in order to produce certain outcomes.” 

According to the ancients, once a student learned how to pray at this level, its practice was classified as a sacred and holy event where unique information was dispersed through the revealed thoughts of God – thoughts within the mind described as wonderful and marvelous – classified as secrets or mysteries. 

This is how Jesus experienced the kingdom of God within Himself. The word “prayed” in the above verse encapsulated a daily experience where Jesus emptied Himself of distractions through the discipline of meditation to receive a daily education from His Father’s thoughts according to the volume of the book that God had written about His human life, which is one or best-kept secrets of Jesus’ prayer life (Heb. 10: 5-7). These thoughts revealed God’s will for His life, which were already written and predestined for Him. 

It is of the highest importance that we understand what Jesus meant when He said, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). He was telling us exactly what He was doing with His own life, which serves as an uncompromising model of how we are to experience the presence of God within ourselves. 

FROM WRITTEN WORD TO SPOKEN WORD 

One of the most unsought and thus undiscovered fundamental truths to your life is that the written Word of God (the Bible) should only be used through a key of knowledge form of teaching that results in your experiencing the Spoken Word of God (Truth). This experience will eventually result in God revealing to you to another book of vital importance to your life besides the Bible. 

In other words, “Truth” in its purest form, which is the language of God when experienced consistently, eventually reveals to you another form of Scripture that you are to live your daily life by, which contains God’s detailed and perfect will for your life. Biblically this unique form of oral Scripture on your specific life is biblically referred to as a “book,” that God has authored for your life that can only be revealed to you by your inherent ability to hear God thoughts pertaining to its content within your mind through the mental activity of meditation.

 “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them” (Psalms 139:16-17).

As mentioned before, Jesus also had such a book on His life:

“Therefore when He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, You have had no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I come in the volume of the Book it is written of Me to do Your will, O God’” (Hebrews 10:5-7).

One of the secrets about Jesus’ prayer life is that when He positioned Himself to pray by preparing His mind in meditation, His purpose was to hear the thoughts of God that were already prescribed for His daily life through the Spirit of God that resided within. The volume of the book that was written about Him was His personalized kingdom book that established the order for every aspect of His life according to God’s preordained will.

This is the secret that gave Jesus a precise awareness of all the events He encountered before they happened. In other words, in Jesus’ prayer sessions, He was doing a lot more hearing and envisioning than speaking.

This is a level of prayer-and-life-preciseness that we have all have the inherent right and ability to experience. But unfortunately, very few people experience it due to a lack of teaching on the importance of meditation as a preparation to hear the voice of God and to receive vision from Him about His purposes that He has already predetermined and envisioned for your life through prayer-meetings with Him.

Because God created you to fulfill His purposes that are predetermined (Eph. 2:10), He is obligated to provide you with the details of your life, which requires an obligation on your part to intentionally meditate so that you may experience the mind of God within your mind to get a page from your book read to you on a daily basis. 

This process is similar to an actor or actress getting a script from the screenwriter for a part they are about to portray in a motion picture. The script will contain words that they must repeat as well as details of the scenes that will take place. The script equips them with foreknowledge and visualization. They are given previews of their future before it comes to pass with further guidance from the director as to how to bring it to pass.

The passage explaining, “He awakens My ear to hear as the learned” (Isa. 50: 4-5) describes the meditative process Jesus experienced every morning in order to get the daily script for His life. Any other result would not have fulfilled the original intended purpose and impact of God’s Kingdom within Jesus’ soul and likewise within our souls.

Where there are no secrets or mysteries revealed, there are no questions. Where there are no questions, the mind is not free to roam. As a human, Jesus created a dialogue with God as secrets were revealed to Him about His life. The depth and understanding of the mysteries of His life were revealed to Him as He asked questions with a focused, meditative mindset. Once again, this is an experience that we all have an inherent right and ability to experience as well if we are accurately taught how to do so and apply it every day of our lives.

MEDITATION’S FOUNDATIONAL PURPOSE

To many people the term “meditation” brings forth the image of someone sitting with their legs crossed in a lotus position, their eyes closed in serene concentration, perhaps chanting some words.

Though meditation has numerous benefits and purposes, the primary purpose and benefit to meditating should be to experience God’s presence, to hear His voice and teachings clearly and to receive vision from His mind. 

The original purpose that God created your human mind is to connect with His mind within your mind. The original purpose of meditation was to experience this deep level of God-consciousness. 

Meditation simply defined is “to mentally become familiar with something.” This “something” that we all have to become familiar with is what has been inherently placed within our souls. It is the greatest and most accurate learning environment that we will ever find on this earth concerning acquiring knowledge about God, the Scriptures, the book that God has authored on your life and His revelations and teachings concerning these areas of vital knowledge. This learning environment is “the Kingdom of God” that Jesus intentionally stated (Luke 17:21) is found within our souls and that is experienced within our minds.

Meditation prepares your mind to hear and see from God. Meditation will set you free from other people’s ambitions and agendas, things that are not God’s purposes for your life. Meditation brings a personal awareness of God’s detailed plan for every aspect of your life. 

It requires no special equipment and is not complicated to learn. Though the best environment to meditate is in a quiet place, it can be practiced anywhere, at any given moment (though I highly recommend disciplining yourself to begin your day with a meditation session as Jesus did), and it is not time-consuming. 

MENTAL AND PHYSICAL BENEFITS

Medical practitioners and scientists who study human biology and psychology are discovering the impressive mental and physical benefits of meditation. It is a useful practice that has multiple benefits including relaxation; decreased or eliminated anxiety; greater awareness of destructive habits; learning healthy disciplines; controlling one’s thought life; boosting the immune system; removal of depression and anger; changing the gene activity or expression (epigenetics); greater focus ability; less chaotic or uncontrollable thoughts; whole brain thinking; improved coping and healing from post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD); better sleep patterns; inner peace; fostering greater levels and expressions of self-love and love and compassion for others; elevated concern for overall health and many more benefits.

Spiritual meditation has the potential to introduce these same mental and physical benefits, as well as spiritual insights and benefits that many are not even aware of. If practiced daily, these benefits are continually revealed to you through a forum of truth directly from the Spirit of God through Him educating as to what these particular benefits for every aspect of your life are.

“Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah” (Psalms 68:19).

Practice makes permanent. I have found that consistency is the key. We must remember that in ancient times, meditation was taught as early as five years old. It became a permanent practice in their lifestyle. Learning to meditate at a later age can be challenging, but it is definitely doable. Not only that, but it can be the most rewarding activity of your day.

Best of all, meditation has NO negative side effects. Bottom line, there is nothing but positive to be gained from it! With such a vast list of benefits, the question that we should be asking is, “Why am I not meditating yet?” or “Why isn’t meditation being taught at the house of worship that I attend?”

Meditation is what positions your body to be an educative temple of God, your soul into the classroom of God and your spirit as a student of God.

Fundamentally, meditation is the silent forerunner that introduces God’s thoughts and consciousness into our lives. In prayer, meditation is the prerequisite that causes our words to cease so that the words of God can begin to present themselves. It creates an environment where “Truth” from the mind of God is manifested in the posture of silence rather than the often compromised and supposed “truth” concerning God and the Scriptures that many are claiming to preach and teach about.

Once experienced on a consistent basis, the Spirit of God is more than qualified to teach you about Himself, teach you His interpretation of the Scriptures found in the Bible and how He wants you to apply its principles to your life, and most importantly the Scripture (the book) that He has authored for your specific life. Most Christians have never experienced this level of teaching from God unfortunately due to the diabolical mind-altering and life-limiting spiritual force of iniquity that so many of today’s church teachings are infected by, without them even being aware of it.

Meditation should be the foundational practice of prayer time with God. 

Meditation is crucial in the development of our inner ears and inner eyes – the senses of the spirit. The proper understanding and application of meditation create the atmosphere of the secret place that Jesus referred to [Matt. 6:6, Lk. 8:10] where the mysteries (secrets) of the Kingdom for your life are revealed to you.

Meditation was foundational for spiritual transformation in ancient times. The practice of meditation was mainly lost when the church became institutionalized in the centuries following Jesus’ teachings. Meditation is clearly specified in Scripture, yet due to the mysticism that has been added to its practice – combined with the limited understanding of the original meanings of keywords that specify meditation from a Godly perspective through a key of knowledge form of instruction – the art of meditation has been lost in the church today.

MY PRAYER-TIME JOURNEY AND DEVELOPMENT

I have been a practicing born-again Christian for almost 30 years. For the first 20 years of my Christian life, I used many methods and tools to help and guide me in my prayer time. One of main tools that I used to use was what are called “prayer wheels,” which break up an hour of prayer time in segments such as: thanking God, asking for things, asking for forgiveness, singing to God, praying for other people, quoting scripture, meditating on scripture, and praying in tongues. I’ve also prayed using lists and backing up each request on my prayer list with scripture. 

I’ve read numerous books on prayer and have used their recommended strategies, which included portions where I would plead the blood of Jesus over my life and circumstances and dispatch angels to work on my behalf. In my church experiences, I have heard many sermons and series on the topic of prayer. I have also purchased courses on prayer and have attended discipleship courses on prayer. Many of these experiences were taught from the reference point of that particular denomination’s beliefs on prayer, or from the perspective of a person considered an expert on the topic of prayer. 

Though all of these experiences taught me various things that seemed to improve my prayer life and relationship with God for a time, I later came to a shocking conclusion. None of these resources taught me, from a biblical perspective, how to hear the voice of God. They mentioned hearing God’s voice, but they didn’t teach how to do it. 

For the last ten years, my personal experience with meditation has introduced to my life a level of hearing the voice of God that I was not previously experiencing during my first 20 years of being a believer. It has caused me to listen to the voice of God at a frequency free from distracting static or lack of focus. 

In retrospect, what I found interesting was that much of my defocusing during my past times of prayer, and not having my prayers answered, had to do with my applying prayer techniques that I was taught. These resources focused primarily on what I should be saying or doing in prayer rather than how to hear and what I should hearing while in prayer. 

When it comes to prayer, most people have never been taught how to effectively silence their mind to intentionally and purposefully hear and learn from God within His Kingdom that He has inherently and intentionally placed within their souls to experience Him personally.

The extent of most prayer education and experiences has been reduced to verbal activities that are taught and thus practiced, which result in busying the mind by talking to God and asking for things from God that Jesus clearly taught that we should not even ask for.

God desires more to talk to you than you always just merely talking to Him.

God’s expertise is more experienced in His ability and desire to function more as a speaker and teacher than just merely just a listener. The more you learn to listen to the voice of God, the more you will learn what you should be praying for.

Personally, since learning to pray the way that Jesus as a human being experienced and taught, 100% of my prayer requests have been answered so far. The following portion of scripture has become an actual reality in my life:

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

It is impossible to pray for the will of God for your life if you are not hearing from Him what His will is for every aspect of your life!

I have learned to pray only for what God verbally tells me what to pray for. Then I further my journey to get that prayer request answered by getting continual instructions from God on what my responsibilities are, if any, to have the prayer request answered.

Before my learning to pray this way, I was asking God for stuff that I had no business asking for, hoping that God would answer my prayers, which resulted in the majority of the things that I asked for not being answered. 

Now when I pray, I have 100% confidence in knowing that God will answer my prayers because I’m praying and asking for His stuff (His will for my life).

These discoveries have changed my thinking patterns and have opened up to me a portal to a level of prayer where I can now accurately hear the voice of God and pray according to the thoughts that He thinks towards me. 

This life-changing revelation has freed me to posture my mind and heart to be a primed environment to learn from God personally. Now I know how to as Jesus mandated, “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” within my mind and soul for every aspect of my life. I am blessed to find and experience His presence, counsel, and teaching every time that I position my body and mind to do so! 

JUST ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE AND DISCLAIMER

Is it wrong to question the authenticity and effectiveness of many of today’s current religious teachings and systems? No. You must, especially when considering the magnitude of what’s at stake. All of the most significant religious figures in history did it — even Jesus.

Providing constructive criticism is an essential part of the human improvement process. When God inspired me to write this three-book series and create other forms of teaching, it never was, and still isn’t, my intention to destructively criticize Christendom for the lack of understanding concerning the topics found within them. 

God has simply commissioned me to share another perspective concerning them. I don’t claim to be a Bible expert. I don’t preach nor do I teach “truth” as other spiritual teachers claim. I preach and teach so that others may learn to hear and learn from the purest form of “Truth,” which is the language of God within their souls.

My only claim in proficiency is that I have discovered the “key of knowledge” form of instruction that evidently was removed from the teachings of certain synagogues in Jesus’ day (Lk. 11:52) and that unfortunately is still missing from the teachings of some of the today’s churches.

This form of biblical study when viewed and applied through the lens of the foundational purpose of the Written Word of God and coupled with the mental practice of meditation, are ultimately purposed to experience the Spoken Word of God within our souls.

I am personally under the conviction that if the Bible is inspired by God (a belief that is held historically and universally among Christians), and if man or a woman is intended to live “not by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), then the very teachings of Scripture constitute a revelation: 

Scripture’s primary purpose has to be used only as a resource to teach people how to hear and learn from God just like Jesus experienced as a human being. If the Scriptures are being used for any other reason, then manmade doctrines, philosophies, and religious practices are being taught. Although valuable in many respects and varying degrees, these cannot compare to the infinite wealth of knowledge that comes directly from the mouth of God that can only be experienced within His kingdom that He has inherently and strategically placed within our souls.

Much more content regarding:

Accurate biblical meditation that is purposed to experience the Kingdom of God within your soul, the ancient Pardes and the key of knowledge learning systems, the education of Jesus as a human being, an in-depth study of Jesus’ prayer life and teachings on prayer, the book that God has authored on each of our live, a more accurate and effective application of the five-fold ministry and the Great Commission, a deeper understanding of the born-again water and spiritual baptism experience. Also in-depth knowledge concerning iniquity, which is the root cause as to why people aren’t being taught to hear and learn from God just like Jesus experienced as a human being and how its diabolic grip continues to affect much of today’s false and limiting spiritual teachings. And much more content regarding these important topics can be found within my three books “The Mystery Revealed” series with over 380 footnotes that reveal the definitive root word perspectives and sources from where the knowledge was obtained.

For the archaeologist of truth who mines the caverns of Scripture and for the hungry souls that cry for a deeper understanding and experience concerning the kingdom of God within that Jesus experienced as a human being, I pray that the content found within my books, blogs, videos, personalized mentoring, future webinars and in-person seminars that transcend much of today’s limiting religious teachings will help you to facilitate such a life-changing experience.

Julio Alvarado Jr.

To maximize our life’s existence, the most important thing we must master is to learn to hear from God every day of our lives. We master this ability by having a meditative mindset that is purposed to experience the Mind of God within our own minds.

In the Gospel accounts, Jesus is said to rise from sleep hours before His disciples so He could go into a quiet place. If Jesus believed in not repeating vain prayers and keeping spoken prayers short, what would He be doing for hours on end, or even days on end, such as when He went into the wilderness for 40 days? In retreating to these places for long hours of solitude, Jesus was engaged in what we would call “meditation.” He was spending time being with God, listening to God, and learning from God. In short, Jesus meditated. Jesus stilled His mind to enter a state of complete God-consciousness.

To preach something is to announce that something is available to experience. Today, countless people are preaching about the kingdom of God. But we need these people to teach us how to experience the kingdom of God that is inherent within our souls. We need to understand it at the same level that Jesus experienced it every day of His human life.

The kingdom of God within has, for centuries, been shrouded in the veils of flawed understanding. Unfortunately, the mystery of the kingdom of God within has either been ignored altogether or redefined and misappropriated in ways that have neutered it of its significance.

One of the most significant needs of our time is for people to have an intimate, personal relationship with their Creator – God. More than ever, there is a need for believers to learn about God directly from Him through the avenue of the kingdom of God within. Our spiritual journey may begin with us learning about God from other humans, yet at some point, there should be what I call “the transfer of teachers” where we experience a shift in the way we learn. 

This transfer is where we make the shift from learning through instructors God has placed on the earth to learning directly from God as our Spiritual Instructor within our souls through the mental discipline and practice of meditation. 

The purpose of my website, books, and other teaching resources is to provide vital knowledge and practical meditation instruction that unfortunately are not offered in much of today’s traditional Christianity.

Julio Alvarado Jr.