TheHolleringStump.com: Perceptions

We can't help it. We really can't! We humans live in a physical world that can only be experienced by one or more of the 5 senses our bodies (as well as many other life forms) are designed with. It is through our senses that we register an experience. All that we experience comes from our perceptions, that which we perceive through our senses and stored in the "hard drives" of our brains. They are Sight, the ability to sense light. Hearing, the ability to sense audible vibrations. Touch, the ability to sense temperature and pressure. Smell, the ability to sense odors. And Taste, the ability to sense flavors. Not being from Missouri, it is my humble opinion that ... for the most part, even though I would agree the 5 senses are most miraculous... humans rely way too heavily on them.

Think about it. Everything we learn comes from an experience. We humans... born of body and soul into a physical realm, receive all learning through our senses. Ever since birth every individual learns from sources outside itself taking in these experiences through the senses. Although some may be born without a sense of humor, there is no medical record of anyone ever surviving birth with none of the 5 senses. (Here's a story of the worse case I've found.) If one did survive birth with none of the 5 senses there would be absolutely no learning available to that individual. Therefore that individual would not even know it's alive. Now. Keep in mind no one can go any farther than where one's taught, or led. Trouble is... the senses are limited and can be deceived. Worse yet, pride can get in the way and hinder accurate learning. When someone puts their own experiences, their own perceptions above that which is true they deceive themselves. It's because of these wrong perceptions people get hurt, relationships are strained, wars get started!

"Optical illusions are often described as visual images that differ from reality - the eyes and brain 'sees' something that doesn't quite match the physical measurement of the image. Optical illusions can work in various ways, they can be images that are different from the objects that make them, they can be ones that come from the effects on the eyes and brain through excessive stimulation, and others where the eye and brain make unconscious inferences." - From BrainBashers.com

A Vase? Or 2 Silhouettes?

Example: You're standing on railroad tracks. (The term railroad "tracks" is misleading as it leads you into error as we know they are rail roads, not "tracks." Trains don't leave tracks!) You look down the "tracks" and you see the rails come together in the distance. Do you believe the rails come together in the distance? Or have you been taught, or led correctly? Or... Yell "Hello!" at night across a lake with a thick woods on the other side and it sounds as though someone is yelling "Hello!" back at you. Do you believe some smart ass is over there mimicking everything you yell?! And yet, people the world over will hang onto error even when shown a more accurate understanding is available. How long did cultures of old believe the world was flat? Or that the earth was the physical center of the universe. Or that the wandering stars (what we know today are planets) were gods?! It's because of this over relying on the senses, the trust they place in their personal perceptions, that people are led into error. On a side note, it amazes me how hard it is for some to just admit it if they don't know something about a perrrticlular subject. Is it really so hard to be honest and say, "I just... don't... know?!"

It is because of our having to rely on the senses God gave us His Word. His Word in concretion in written form. The rightly divided Word of God is God just as a completely understood letter from you is you. He gives His Word to us. Us being His people. God doesn't give His Word to the unbelievers. He makes it available to them but He gives His Word to His believers. It is our responsibility to study His Word as individuals that one's own personal perceptions are truly one's own. This is how we show ourselves approved before God. God's Word rightly divided is a believer's standard for Truth. One's touchstone. Our senses cannot register spirit. Humans however can see the effects the spirit realm has on the physical realm when manifested. Without a standard for Truth the natural person, one with only body and soul, doesn't stand a chance to understand what is going on spiritually. They may see levitation, talk to the dead through a medium, see tarot card readings come true, get hypnotized to lose weight or quit smoking, even see acts of physical healing but it takes a knowledge of the Truth and the spirit of God within to "see" where the source of this power is coming from. Without knowing the origin of the source, people are continuously deceived, led down the wrong path. It is even God's Word that teaches a body/soul person how to receive His gift of holy spirit on a level that a person can understand and receive that gift today. It is a gift because #1... You didn't earn it and 2... You are free to do with it as you please. Once a person receives holy spirit he/she is complete again being a body, soul and spirit human being which is how man was first formed, made and created. When Adam sinned he brought to him, his wife and every generation since, the consequences God had warned him about when He stated, "...for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:17 And they did. They "died" spiritually having lost the spirit that God created upon them. Why?! Because they chose to believe the serpent's word which is direction for wrong living, or unrighteousness over God's Word which is direction for righteousness, right living. "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked". Genesis 3:7 They both realized they just... experienced... disobedience, that they were no longer clothed in righteousness and set out to make their own righteousness attempting to clothe themselves with "aprons", a man made form of "righteousness". They rationalized their mistake! They lost the spirit that was given them upon condition of following God's lead. The very next verse is the first recording of man having to rely on his senses, the sense of hearing... to notice God's presence. The loss of their spirit is why they were "driven" out of paradise. Because of their failure to follow what was best for them, paradise... the fullness of a spiritual relationship with God... by their own free will choice, was forfeited. However, fellowship between man and God was restored the best available as Adam and Eve did own-up to what they did. And received the promise of a redeemer.

Ever since then people have set out to form their own right way of living. Religion. They're own righteousness which in God's view is "filthy rags". "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor percieved by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember Thee in Thy ways: behold, Thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isaiah 64:4-6. Our righteousnesses makes us unworthy to stand in His presence which make them pretty worthless... wouldn't you say?! This is NOT a negative statement but a true assessment of man's predicament. But! Today... in this administration, once one receives the gift of holy spirit, rightly divides the Word and lives by what is learned, "He meetest us!" One is forgiven, which ushers in redemption, justification, sanctification, the ministry of reconciliation to tell others and being "clothed" in righteousness!

Without the Word of God rightly divided by an individual and the gift of holy spirit that is available to us living in this administration, this period of time The Word refers to as "The Grace Administration", a person is left with only his 5 senses to make his way in life. You see? We can't help it! People are going to get led down the wrong path! God not only knows that but has made a way for His people, the ones that come to Him with a meek and tender heart to not only recover themselves but to learn how to live this life He's given us the way He always intended for us! A life that is overflowing with abundance in every category! Through Christ!