I ran across this short, repetitive video yesterday. It was embedded in an article lamenting the current overuse and misunderstanding of the word "quantum".
"Fifteen senses" was new to me.
Of course, I knew about the five physical senses. We "live in a body"...
The Body
- Sight
- Sound
- Smell
- Taste
- Touch
We "have a soul"...
The Soul
- Mind -- "Your mind: what you think."
- Will -- "Your will: your drive to act."
- Emotion -- "Your emotions: what you feel."
- Affection -- "Your affections: who you feel it for."
- Imagination -- "And your imagination: your ability to see what isn't visible yet."
We "are a spirit"...
The Spirit
- Prayer -- "Prayer: speaking truth to the divine."
- Praise -- "Praise: declaring truth to your reality."
- Worship -- "Worship: aligning with the highest version of yourself."
- Faith -- "Faith: belief beyond evidence."
- Meditation -- "And meditation: pure focus."
The video suggests "spirit" is the most important, and I agree. It says we are spirit, and I agree.
But, the things listed under spirit do not define existence, they define things we do. They are all actions.
Actions do not define us. Actions are what actors do. The root of those two words is "act".
The Greek word for actor is hypocrite.
The Book says we are made in the image of God (Genesis 9:6).
It says God is a spirit (John 4:24).
If God is a spirit, and we are made in God's image, then logically we must be a spirit, too. We are a spirit, which is what the video says.
God created our spirits to live with him, and he gave us the ability to choose to be with him. Unfortunately, the first man chose to go his own way and that messed up the entire creation. What if that had not happened? I wrote a fantasy about the first people doing the right thing: Standing Firm.
God's spirit exhibits these characteristics:
- love
- joy
- peace
- patience
- kindness
- goodness
- faithfulness
- gentleness
- self-control (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV 1984).
Those are "fruits". Just like a pear tree produces pears, God's spirit produces those kinds of results.
People can act in those ways some of the time, but can they do it all of the time? Can they naturally do it without thinking; are they always consistent? Or do they produce bad fruit? ...
- sexual immorality
- impurity and debauchery
- idolatry and witchcraft
- hatred
- discord
- jealousy
- fits of rage
- selfish ambition
- dissensions
- factions and envy
- drunkenness
- orgies, and the like (Galatians 5:19-21 NIV).
The Book says people who exhibit those manifestations will not be able to approach God.
Performing the actions attributed to the spirit's "senses" in the video has nothing to do with experiencing the traits produced by God's Holy Spirit living inside of us.
There is only one way to get there: Apprentice of Jesus.
All glory to God
UPDATE, May 16, 2025...
Some thoughts about the so-called "senses" of our Spirits mentioned in the video:
"Prayer: speaking truth to the divine."
God already knows the Truth. He is the Truth. He does not need our help.
"Praise: declaring truth to your reality."
Praising what or whom? Ourselves?
What is being declared as "true"? Is it really true and how do we know?
What exactly is our "reality"? Is our reality based on facts or fiction? Are we joyful or are we depressed? Our reality could be one of a plethora of vastly different states.
What does this statement really mean?
"Worship: aligning with the highest version of yourself."
We are wired to worship something, and this video is encouraging us to worship ourselves. Yeah, that's gonna work.
"Faith: belief beyond evidence."
My faith is based on evidence; it is based on truth and what I have actually observed. Believing in something without any evidence is simply foolishness.
"And meditation: pure focus."
Pure focus on what? Truth or lies? It matters.
In my opinion, these behaviors do not reveal anything to us, as actual senses do. They are attempts to find the Creator we are all wired to be with. They are gropes in the dark.
We must be "born from above" as described in John 3:3 in order to find God and see The Kingdom. Otherwise, we will not see anything.
Being "born" is something we cannot control. It just happens to us. God is the one who makes it happen.
But, we can ask Him to let us see the Kingdom. He will do it if we are serious.