Find Substance In The Spirit

When I was in high school, I liked science subjects very much. I believed the word substance had almost the same meaning as matter. In fact, I thought everything was physical, and I had almost no faith in God. Several years later, I came to realize that what can be seen, heard, and felt materially cannot actually tell us anything about God, whom we cannot see materially but can only know spiritually. Moreover, I realized that what cannot be seen with the eyes is actually what is permanent, dependable, and the only real substance.

I came to realize that “Substance is that which is eternal and incapable of discord and decay”. Truth, Life, and Love are substance .The real substance of each of us is not a physical combination of flesh and bones but the expression of Soul, Spirit, or God. I’ve been learning how important it is to understand and value Spirit and spiritual ideas and qualities rather than matter as true substance.

The Bible tells us that God appeared to Solomon—a new, young king—in a dream and told Solomon to ask anything of Him. Solomon chose to ask for something truly substantial instead of something material. He said, “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” God was pleased that Solomon had made this choice rather than asking for something material, such as money.

Christ Jesus taught valuable lessons about true substance being spiritual. In Jesus’ parable of a rich man who chooses to build himself bigger barns to store his abundance, the rich man fails to ask himself, “How can I bless others and serve God with my abundance?” God rebukes the man: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” and the parable concludes, “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

What I came to value, and now recognize as substance, was the kingdom of God. If I may describe it in my own words: I understand the kingdom of God to be like growing up with a wonderful mother. During my childhood, I could get whatever I needed from my mum. Whenever I was physically or emotionally hurt, she comforted and calmed me. On the other hand, when I made mistakes, she would rebuke, discipline, and chasten me. I learned that this was just meant to help nurture my moral uprightness. I accepted that in every way I had lived with a mother who really cared for me. And in reality, God cares for us as a mother all the time, and we can never be outside of that care.

In my early twenties, I left home in search of employment. The number of people looking for jobs in Kenya, many of them college graduates, was increasing, and job opportunities were few. I faced a difficult time, for years looking for a better employment opportunity. Sometimes I was unemployed, and other times I was underemployed and underpaid. To be honest, during all these years my desire was not just to get a better job. I also wanted wealth and prestige, but I never would have admitted this out loud.

I gradually gained a more spiritual consciousness and discovered that the material wealth I had been wanting was not what I actually needed. I discerned the fact that divine Love, God, has given everyone, including me, the ability to feel God’s blessings for ourselves and to bless others, since He has given us the substance of Spirit, Soul, which we can demonstrate in our lives. I had been wanting earthly, material things, but I needed what was really substantial—something I could depend on now and eternally to bring happiness and satisfaction.

Today, I depend on God for guidance, and I have found peace, joy, and meaning in my life. I later found a job, before starting a Christian Ministry, and even though the salary was not very good, the job was a good opportunity for me to develop and grow. I pray regularly, yearning to know the truth that God is reflected in me, and that God gives me joy, health, intelligence, and an ability to both develop myself and encourage development in others.

God expresses Himself through each one of us, so we have an eternal job description and purpose: to glorify God in our expression of truth, health, and happiness. God gives us abundance in the form of spiritual ideas that come to us in our prayers, meeting our needs. This proves we all have an abundance of spiritual riches in God’s kingdom.

Isaac Otieno was born to schoolteacher and a peasant mother. Once he finished school he found steady jobs to be scarce in Kenya. After several years of unsteady work he became depressed and developed a habit of drinking. By the grace of God he rededicated his life to Christ. While attending church he discovered that God had made him for a purpose. He was called to begin the ETERNAL FATHERHOOD CENTER in 2006. Isaac is married to God-given, Purity Jackline Otieno and has two grown daughters.Image by

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