CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE SPIRIT
Learning to Discern What Is Seen and What Is Revealed
As I mature in the Spirit, I have come to understand that deeply spiritually sensitive human beings operate at least through two distinct streams of awareness: physical consciousness and spiritual consciousness. I do not claim that what I am sharing represents the fullness of human consciousness or the entirety of spiritual experience. Rather, it is the measure of understanding that the Lord has graciously allowed me to see and navigate thus far.
Physical consciousness tells what is happening around us. It concerns itself with what the natural senses perceive.
What the eyes see.
What the ears hear.
What logic concludes.
What experience has taught us.
Spiritual consciousness helps us perceive what God is saying within what is happening. It concerns itself with what the spirit perceives.
Revelation.
Discernment.
Prophetic insight.
Understanding beyond natural observation.
Perception of spiritual realities.
The Spirit of God does not depend on natural evidence before revealing truth. Often, spiritual consciousness becomes aware of something before it is manifested in the physical realm.
This is why Scripture says:
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Faith is not blindness to the natural realm. It is the ability to perceive a higher reality through the Spirit.
As far as the Lord has allowed me to understand, these streams were never meant to compete with one another. Rather, they appear to function together, each serving a unique purpose in our interaction with both the natural and spiritual realms.
A tension arises when these streams become misaligned and begin pulling against one another rather than functioning in harmony.
The Partnership Between the Two
These two streams of awareness were never meant to compete with one another but to function in partnership.
The physical provides context. It identifies the environment and recognizes what appears.
The spirit recognizes what is being revealed and provides the deeper meaning.
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Many people imagine spiritual operation as abandoning natural awareness. However, when God reveals something through the Spirit, He still expects the person receiving the revelation to understand and communicate it within the physical world.
Therefore, both streams of awareness remain active.
When the Streams Become Misaligned
Problems arise when one stream attempts to dominate the other.
If I become completely dominated by physical consciousness, I may suppress or dismiss what God is revealing because it does not make logical sense according to my natural understanding.
My eyes will speak louder than my spirit. My reasoning will override revelation. My experience will become greater than faith.
This is often why spiritual truths are rejected. The natural mind struggles to receive what can only be spiritually discerned.
Paul teaches:
“The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14)
However, conversely:
If I completely lose physical awareness, communication becomes difficult because I can no longer translate what I am receiving into language that people in the natural can understand.
The inability to immediately understand a spiritual truth should not lead to rejection or contempt. When the natural mind encounters something, it cannot immediately comprehend, its proper response should not be rejection but humility; not despising but seeking; not resisting but presenting the matter before God for understanding.
Spiritual growth often begins where natural understanding reaches its limits.
Peter received a revelation that challenged his existing understanding. Although he did not immediately understand the vision, he did not reject it. He remained open to God and followed the Spirit’s instruction. This shows that spiritual maturity requires humility when revelation exceeds our present understanding and sometimes understanding comes as we obey and continue walking with what God has revealed.
Acts 10:17–20
“For those who are with us are more than those who are with them” 2 Kings 6:16
Elisha and his servant demonstrate another example.
The servant looked and saw an army surrounding them.
That was physical consciousness.
Elisha saw the armies of heaven surrounding God’s people.
That was spiritual consciousness.
Neither was wrong.
Both were seeing accurately from different dimensions.
The difference was that Elisha understood that the spiritual reality held greater authority.
A Final Blessing
Heavenly Father,
We thank you for the gift of life, Holy Spirit and understanding. Thank you for allowing us to walk in a world that is seen while also granting us access to realities that are unseen. We acknowledge that our natural understanding is limited, and that without you we cannot rightly discern the things that belong to your Kingdom.
Lord, teach us to steward every measure of revelation you entrust to us with humility, wisdom, and reverence. Guard us from becoming so governed by the physical that we dismiss what you are revealing, and guard us from becoming so disconnected from the physical that we fail to communicate your heart with clarity and understanding.
Grant us grace to walk in harmony between what our natural senses perceive and what your Spirit reveals. Give us humble hearts that are willing to learn, patient hearts that do not despise what they do not yet understand, and discerning hearts that seek your wisdom above all else.
May the Holy Spirit guide us into greater understanding, greater maturity, and greater alignment with your will, in Jesus name.
Shared in stewardship and humility
~ I.Saho
