Spiritual Process Improvement
Intro:
I spent over 36 years improving processes in the business world. Now He has me working on processes as they operate in the spiritual world. It is exactly the same but totally different. He has helped me develop a wonderful understanding of His grand design, some of the processes at work on earth and in heaven, and how to align with those processes to get better results. The following discussion shares some insights into how this works, some key process principles, and how you can lead a better life by aligning with them.
Proceess Improvement in the Spiritual world
Folks who work process improvement in a manufacturing environment have the advantage of being able to touch the product and observe the physical step by step process with their eyes. Folks who work business processes often claim it is harder to see the process; It sometimes takes a bit of imagination to see those processes as a sequence of steps with flow. The spiritual processes take even more imagination to envision, and they take inspiration to understand.
Some aspects of the spiritual process are explicit in the bible, but others require insight. He tells us in James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” And just as you are instructed to let the Lord lead you through life, I let Him lead me into an understanding of His kingdom and it has been a wonderful experience.
Just like in the physical world, there are process that control how things work. He has led me through development of dozens of process maps and flow diagrams to describe several aspects of His kingdom. I’m not sure any of those specific diagrams would help others, but they helped me understand His will, key principles that control its execution, forces that help it work better and those working against it.
Several Key Spiritual Process Principles
Building faith is a process
The Bible provides information about the kingdom in the form of stories, prominent characters, parables, commandments, and proverbs/psalms. Each piece has surface meaning when read, There are layers of meaning available to those who choose to objectively dig deeper.
We turn information into knowledge by choosing to study it, listen to others share what they have learned, choose to actively discuss it with others, and reflect on how it all fits together.
We turn knowledge into wisdom by reflecting on how our understanding fits with reality and then choosing how to apply that knowledge to our life.
This process requires an interaction between our free will and our brain; We have to choose to read/study, we have to choose to listen and discuss, and we have to choose to reflect. Without this purposeful choice to invest our discretionary personal energy we do not build a deep understanding.
This process accelerates with inspiration as soon as you ask the Lord for insight and open yourself to receive it. The word Inspiration describes something literal flowing in from the spirit. He has direct connections to your Mind and to your Heart. He will point you to sources of information as you start to seek it; He will help your mind organize the infomraiton and build useful images as you contemplate how it all fits together.
We are designed with a receptor in our heart. This receptor resonates when you are contemplating a truth. It is our “knower”. You know when you know that you know.
Looking beyond the surface and finding the deeper meaning in the bible is called “Having eyes to see”.
Receiving and accepting Gods inflow in your mind and in your heart is referred to in the bible as “having Ears to hear”.
Belief is formed when we know in our heart that something is true. Faith is formed when we choose to act on a Belief; Speaking or Doing.
The flow of value is a useful lens for the spiritual world.
Value is defined in terms of “Usefulness”; Things that provide a practival benefit.
The flow of value takes follows a basic equation of the form: “Love” flowing through “Truth” generates “Usefulness” and then “Growth”.
Love is the source of power for all things. God is love (1 John 4:8). God’s love is the power created the heavens and the earth. God’s love powers every breath you take.
Truth is the structure necessary to convert Love into constructive action. Truth is the master craftsman that turned chaos into the heavens and the earth (Proverbs 8:30). Truth is structure, knowledge of right from wrong, wisdom and discernment. The opposite of Truth is Falsity.
Usefulness is the desired result; Goodness that allows someone to benefit and improve. Our individual value comes by being useful to others; by doing Good works that benefit others.
“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter (dishonor), he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:20)
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
This equation operates as a cycle, the more you choose to flow Love through Truth to generate Usefulness, the stronger the flow becomes, and the more Love becomes available to flow into the next cycle; That is where we experience Growth. It is not a closed system; it is an expanding system.
Free will is a really big deal and is key to the entire cycle. In order to achieve the desired growth, You have to make a conscious choice to initiate the flow of love. If you are forced to take the action, you are not vested in the entire cycle, and will not experience the growth to expand the cycle.
Pushing truth without love creates resistance or animosity. This is a classic failure mode of highly committed folks who impose thier interpretation of truth on others rather than finding a compassionate way for otheers to discover the truth.
“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13)
The opposite of Truth is Falsity. Love operating through falsity creates a false impression of goodness, but will end with undesired consequences. Adding another layer of nice new pavement on top of a flawed roadbed will feel like progress but will spend a lot of money and just make deeper potholes.
The opposite of Love is Hate. Hate operating through falsity creates destruction. Hitler hated the Jews, He propagated a falsity that they were an undesirable element of society and should be eliminated. That combination cost 6 million lives.
You can tell if we are on the right track, The fruit of your labor will not lie. If there is goodness flowing and growth, the Love was operating through Truth. If not, either the Love or the Truth was not pure.
Our job is to ensure our motivations are rooted in pure love. Then make sure we have the Truth to convert that love into productive actions.
There is a spiritual pull system.
Your spiritual development is pulled by the goodness of love. If you attempt to push you create waste. If you push Truth without Love you become a zealot and force your version of doctrine on others; If you push Love without Truth you end up with well-intentioned efforts which are often counter-productive. It is only when you pull truth with the goodness of love that you get sustained flow of usefulness for others and the desired growth. In practical terms, people need to appreciate the goodness that can come from doing things which help others before they become receptive to discussion of spiritual truths. This becomes an interesting framework to view the world to see some of where/how/when we get off track
We live in an expansive system not a closed system.
Each cycle of generating usefulness reinforces the process and makes more fuel available to further increase production of usefulness. The system continues to grow and expand as it operates.