Spiritual Education

Spiritual education is not a study in theology. Becoming more spiritual and closer to God is more like a process of maturing. Reading the Bible is only helpful if read through spiritual eyes or better stated through Spiritual experience. You can’t explain to a 4 year old how to act like an adult. It can only be done through experience. Our whole society is based on kids learning through mistakes. But our Christian society is based on imitation like a 4 year old imitating an adult. Some think the current philosophy that most Christians have was born in 300AD when Christianity became popular and actors of the time became preachers. That the Christians prior to that time were just over whelmed by the flood of people seeking Christ and the teachings of Christ’s experience that they handed down to the next generation was lost. So I wonder why God let this happen. The only answer I can find is He was not interested in a popular movement. He wanted Christianity to be spread to the ends of the earth for verity not quantity of Saints. I think part of the required cross is that we be small in number and not have a cross support group in every town. It is not possible for me to explain how to obtain spiritual depth because I would be doomed to mislead you. I would be like a parent trying to explain to a 4 year old how to be an adult. Guidance and teachings from other saints is only helpful if accompanied by experience.
When I was trying to find my way to Christ, I had been reading for a few years about the deeper Christian life. But I knew there was a barer that I had been unable to cross. I was unable to decide what thought was from me and what was from God. I also felt that I needed to fix things in my life in order for the relationship to grow. I had to ask God to meet me were I was and not were I though I should be. I needed to work my way to God and my theology had become the law. Then He had to teach me how he communicates with me. He did this through a collage friend’s mother, who I was distain to share a deep spiritual bond with. She was being deeply challenged by God and was having everything that was not God ripped from her. The only thing I had to offer was money so I would ask God what to do and from time to time I would send her whatever amount of money I though God impressed me to give. It was not long before my friend had guessed who was sending her mom money and gave me the feedback I needed to know it was God. My friend would explain how each time the money was received it was just the right amount for a need at the time. Later her mom figured it out and would share with me that every time she received the money that ether it met a desperate need at the time or she new in a few days an unexpected bill would arrive that would match the amount received. This was the kind of hard proof I needed to continue to trust my relation was with God and not from my own mind. It was not that I did not trust God but I did not trust my ability to understand how he was directing me. Over the past ten years He reinforced this experience from time to time, but expecting me to grow my trust in his leading. The point is you have to go through an experience like this to progress in the relationship.
Time is marching to God’s grand purpose and we are pulled into it. He does not have the same plan for everyone and much of what happens to use is meeting Gods purpose from a broad perspective and it is often our choice if God takes trials and uses it for his purpose. If we internalize it or blame others God is cutout. This is the extent we have over God's purpose we can do it easy or hard but God will have his purpose. For some reason some level of pain and suffering is required but we can give it to God to turn it into a cross that has more of a purpose.

I like to think of time as a long big pipe that stretches from creation and ends at Gods purpose. All of man kind and our experience are moving toward the purpose. We have free will to fight the flow or hang on to the side for a bit, but all we really do is tier ourselves and create pain for ourselves and those we rub up against. But the journey through the pipe is required to make His purpose. It takes hundreds of generations to travel the pipe to reach the purpose. God walks back and forth the length of the pipe that represents time. He manipulates the pipe at different points in time to produce the purpose. That is why he can talk about the future as though it had happened because it already has. He is setting at the "purpose" and looking back. His perspective by which he views everything is from the completion. He is all forgiving because of his perspective. We have consequences and repercussions while in the pipe, but after our role is completed we are set free. We are free from life and guilt because we have God's perspective. The good and the bad are intertwined to reach his purpose and can not be untangled. The pipeline which brought the "purpose" is good because that is the instrument he used to make his purpose.
I see our problems broken down into three groups:
Those that are our making or are part of the journey;
Those that are due to those fighting the flow and we bump into there consequences;
Those dictated by God.
While two of the three are not God directed, all of it is under Gods controlled and he could choose to prevent it. It is important to know that hard times are not punishment. Problems are just worldly struggles until we turn it over to God for the working out of His purpose. We need to recognize our struggle is with God’s purpose and our will to control our life.
So what I am trying to say is spiritual education comes from maneuvering down the pipeline with God and the Bible and other spiritual book is very helpful but not the focus. The focus is on the relationship with Christ and the pipeline is His tools to improve that relationship.