Understanding the Key Principles in Christian Mysticism

Mysticism is an experiential spiritual life that is tangibly known only to the mystic because it is exercised invisibly through the spirit and volition, which makes it difficult to be known and described by others. A Christian can take different paths during the pursuit of God according to God's call. All these calls can be accompanied by nurturing the spirit to experientially exercise the tangible power of God. The pursuit of God is an endless one, and similarly, the power of God experienced through the spirit can grow endlessly.

In the natural world, power could be related to the size of the object holding the power—the bigger it is, the more powerful it could be. Another perspective is speed, where momentum takes on the authority of power. The faster the object, the more powerful it will become. The third is sharpness. The effectiveness of an object to intrude or affect other objects depends on the pressure it can exert, which directly depends on the sharpness or pointedness of the edge of the object. In the same manner, different kinds of power and authority can be developed by a mystic people by applying specific spiritual wisdoms revealed to their inner self, which will depend on the kind of faith and sacrificial path taken.

The Word of God, which we are given through the Bible, holds a deep and hidden wealth of knowledge and wisdom for those who read it page by page regularly. On the journey of spiritual growth, it is these treasures that help the mystic person develop power and authority. Without continually acquiring these treasures of knowledge and wisdom from the Word, a person might not be able to sustain the journey of pursuing God. Throughout history, it is common to see servants of God fall behind because of their inability to align with the directives of God—either through lack of knowledge or lack of fear of God. But such fallings can be avoided by walking in His grace, which is available to us if we read the Word regularly. Look at the following verses that relate the Word of God with the life and authority promised by God:

Deuteronomy 4:4-6

4 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

Deuteronomy 5:1

Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Before starting the journey of pursuing God, it is important to understand that there is always a spiritual law that governs your life. No matter how favored you think you are in the eyes of God, your actions will be judged accordingly. And not only that, but once you start to work with God, as power begins to grow in you, the deep knowledge of this law will be crucially needed. This is because the power you exercise has the potential to affect negatively someone's life as well as yours if it is not handled with the right protocols.

In the physical world, the primary sources of power and life are water and fire. But they are also the most dangerous destroyers if they are not handled correctly. Hence, to state that something is a useful source of life can also imply that it has the potential to destroy. Peoples of God who have managed to experience the mystical power of God are usually those who spend considerable time with Him, but this is only part of knowing Him.

Therefore, besides seeking God through spiritual devotions, it is also important to set aside time to regularly study His Word in order to receive the protocols for handling this mystical power that has started to grow in you. God does not have a different rule for you; you must have power and knowledge together as you grow. Otherwise, delusions in your mind can deceive you and lead to your fall. You can confirm how much God is approving your life not only by the influence of the power you possess but also by the fruit of your character and the aliveness you show to the world by the grace of God. Here are some important parameters to consider while making your spiritual journey.

It is obvious that spending time with God is a fruitful spiritual business, as it rewards one with glory, power, and grace. For this reason, one may assume that investing as much time as possible in such a task is the right thing. While the motive seems good, it would be right only if God wants you to do only that. Therefore, with the limited time you have each week, list all the things that please God. Try not to replace some of them with prayer; instead, give all these God-pleasing activities their proper time. You have to make decisions about setting time by the counsel of the Spirit and by the guidance of the Word. Don’t let your emotions delude you. Besides reading the Word regularly and keeping the devotions of prayer and worship, other activities you need to maintain could include:

• Serving your family in different ways and spending time with them. You can behave prudently if you want to maintain your privacy. Such activities, though sometimes challenging for some people, are good exercises because they can purge the ego of its hidden sinful nature, which might not be accomplished only through prayer.
• If you are stationed at work, do not let spiritual exercises be an excuse to become an inactive participant in your responsibilities. Instead, set the necessary time to fulfill your obligations. It is not only the amount of time that matters in prayer but also the quality of the time. By keeping your responsibilities, you can please God and have quality time with Him.
• Such a journey of pursuing God may also involve depriving oneself of food. If fasting is done regularly, it might make the body lose its form unnecessarily. For this reason, set time to nurture your body well so that it can maintain the strength needed to be active in the world. In the Book of Ecclesiastes 7, God teaches us this way:

Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise—why destroy yourself? 17 Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time? 18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.

Sometime in the life of a mystic, there might come a disposition that working hard to make money is something to be despised. For this reason, the mystic may judge Christians and servants of God who work hard to serve in church projects. This wrong zeal originates from thinking that God must first be worshiped in a powerful, revivalistic way before focusing on other responsibilities. But such egotistic thoughts come from a heart that is not humble or grateful enough for the good spiritual experiences the spirit has attained over time. In such matters, the person should not think of others as less favored, judging them in pride.

God has commanded us primarily to walk by His will and to love others. Ministry, mystical journey, anointing—such subjects, no matter how powerful and useful they are, are grounded on these earlier virtues. Jesus repeatedly taught others not about pursuing power and authority but about the characters of love and truth, which need to be exercised distinctly from mystical exercises. It is a great thing to edify others through the spiritual grace God has given us, but that is only part of it. We also need to practice humbleness, kindness, and patience separately.

This does not undermine the greatness of mystical life, but it does signify the fact that without a strong foundation of virtuous living, it will not continue to be as fruitful as anticipated. Hence, never let the authority you receive through mystical power deceive you into assuming that you are better and more favored than others. Instead, with fear of harsher judgment, strive to be more humble and loving.

The reason for this is that, since a mystic has power, it might come into the mind that some people deserve to be punished for the “wrong way” they are following against the will of God. Such thoughts arise because power does not have only an edifying potential but also a destructive one. In the physical world, we use powerful tools all the time, but we don’t give these things to untrained people or children because they might harm others—or themselves—with these useful things. The same applies to mystical power, which inevitably comes with authority.

If this authority puffs us up and arouses the ego whenever we feel humiliated, it might deceive the mystic into using power wrongly—to curse others with it. But if we are equipped with knowledge and the fear of God, we will travel far in faithfulness, maintaining our stature in mystical life. Remember the kings of Israel and Judah in the Books of Kings and Chronicles; they were condemned for their ego-driven actions that led them to disregard the laws of God, hoping their power and authority would remain with them to the end.

It takes only moments to lose one’s glory and leak the power one has, but it takes years—and much sweat and blood—to nurture and grow the gift. For this reason, the dispositions of the heart and the actions a mystic chooses should be carefully considered, because the will of God and fleshly thoughts may get mixed in the mind as though they are of the same kind. This will lead the person astray. Do not assume God will hold your hand and drag you onto the right path; rather, it is possible to travel long in error, and only after learning through suffering will you develop the prudence to choose rightly between good and evil.

The inner ear continuously receives voices and counsel from God to reveal them to the conscious mind. The mind then enables the person to apply those voices, thereby helping the spiritual life grow toward greater fruit. But it is not simple or easy for the mind to understand these voices. The language between the inner self and the mind is not merely verbal but revelatory. For this revelation to take place, the mind and the heart need to be clean and pure before God. Often, the mind understands these revelations after spending time with people, and how loving or proud a person is will determine how easily the inner voices are decoded by the mind.

Therefore, develop the perspective that interactions with others are also a means for spiritual voices to be understood. Conduct your relationships with humility and gentleness so that the ego may not block your enlightenment, and the cost of hearing may not become too high. The Book of John in the Bible intertwines this inner light with the character of love. Hence, when you decide to walk in a virtuous life by sacrificing your ego for the sake of love, your interactions will produce light that helps you see clearly what the counsel of the Spirit is.

It is obvious that mystical life is born out of fervent prayer. But that is only part of the process. As you know, birth is accompanied by birth pains. Hence, having a mentor to watch over you will be very helpful in overcoming challenging times. Once you receive the gift and the power, what remains is to dedicate yourself; through time and devotion, it will grow stronger. But as it becomes more powerful, you will begin to notice that the gift you bear is unique. Others may not have what you have, just as you do not have what others possess. Your heart may then mislead you to think that you are more righteous or more approved than others. Furthermore, you might begin to scrutinize other people’s lives only to judge them in your heart. Such an attitude should be avoided as much as possible. Instead, crave for more power and glory as your way of showing people what the Truth is.

Therefore, besides abiding under a mentor with reverential love, always keep a humble heart—one that chooses to be humiliated rather than to curse. Jesus could have brought judgment upon His enemies, but He chose another path to victory, which granted Him eternal exaltation. So be like-minded.

The principle of the Cross has existed from the beginning. Jesus taught it well, and He also lived it perfectly—and so did the apostles. Yet we often resist it; we even hope to avoid it somehow in our lives. We want to grow without carrying it. But the Cross is the only way to bring the new life to maturity.

1 John 5:6
“This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.”

The life and image of Christ take shape in us step by step. The fact that you are filled with the Spirit and can do wonders through the anointing you have received does not guarantee growth into glory, nor is it sufficient on its own. This is because the journey of imitating Christ is pursued not through spiritual devotion alone, but also through the bleeding of the soul. The oracle of God that crowns a person with the glory of Christ is squeezed—out of the inner being through both devotion and suffering, not devotion alone. This is why the apostle John emphasized that Christ came to what He is through water and blood, not through water only.

God raised Him and exalted Him to the highest place, giving Him a Name above every name, only after He went through the Cross unto death. That is the formula established for us: the way to succeed in bringing forth the life of Christ within our own lives. Such a life, which carries power, is adorned with glorious simplicity that you will not need to toil in prayer or fasting in order to exercise the power. The covenant of Death and Resurrection makes this possible after we get mature by faithfully sacrificing the old self or the ego by carrying the Cross.

This ego, which arises to dictate our lives through impatience and pride, stands on the side of darkness and sin. It is blind to the consequences of its actions because it is self-centered and self-righteous.

The pursuit of God’s will, through the Word, will purge our life of the ego’s nature step by step. We do not become free of it overnight; rather, it is peeled away one layer at a time throughout our life. And along with that, the life of Christ will also sprout and grow with its full package: power, glory, wholeness, freedom, prosperity, authority, and more. The challenging thing about the Cross is that it can dim the great things God has done and will do in our life, and we may become filled with despondency and hopelessness. We might think we would be better off without this journey, grumbling about how unfair everything seems. It is also possible for the soul to fall out of the track because of the heartbreak caused by these situations. But sooner or later Christ will come to the soul holding the promised reward, bringing great and worthy good news. However, when He comes, it is best if we have remained faithful to His will; otherwise, our fate will be not only a reward but also a judgment.

When you pursue God with such great dedication, your target will be—directly or indirectly—to imitate Christ. This great spiritual project will be the shared work of both you and God. The life that grows in you will be instrumental for God to accomplish His kingdom-related agendas, because you will literally become the dwelling place of the revealed God. Anything you do or choose will affect both you and God. For this reason, you will learn detailed protocols of life that will help you build the perfect life. These protocols are the will of God—His specific oracle for your life. Hence, each day you will be expected to hear these oracles of life with your inner ear. But it is not easy to hear these precious and life-transforming messages. The voice that carries these oracles does not come from outside to inside; instead, it comes from the inner-self to the mind. The Word of God that you read, learn, or hear with your mind will be important input for drawing this wisdom out.

Isaiah 28:9–13
“Who is it he is trying to teach?
    To whom is he explaining his message?
To children weaned from their milk,
    to those just taken from the breast?

10 For it is:
    Do this, do that,
    a rule for this, a rule for that;
    a little here, a little there.”

11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues
    God will speak to this people,
12 to whom he said,
    “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;
and, “This is the place of repose”—
    but they would not listen.

13 So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:
    Do this, do that,
    a rule for this, a rule for that;
    a little here, a little there—
so that as they go they will fall backward;
    they will be injured and snared and captured.

To develop mystical experiences, the power must be born through a birth process that accompanies patience and endurance of pain. Such experiences of longsuffering will probably come to the life of the mystic in different forms and at different times throughout life. The mystic might graduate from one kind of purgatory, but another kind—which will bring forth a different fruit—will come in its own time. Such painful experiences teach the person to take a side in right and wrong choices. After that, the mind will not be able to compel the person to walk on the path of sin.

1 Peter 4:1
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.

But the more challenging part about such times is the ability of the person to stay put in the place where the promised growth takes place. Such times cannot be endured by one’s strength alone. They will require the aid of spiritual fathers. This is a very important subject because to live humbly and harmoniously with such a spiritual family is not only important to you but also to God. Christ works through His Body as a whole, not individually with separate body parts. This might not seem clear enough for us, but that is how the spiritual reality is. So when you want something or ask God about it, you might not—or never—receive it directly from God, but it might be given to you through a simple intercession or the goodwill of your spiritual father or family. There are a number of things God can do but will not do for you without your spiritual family. Therefore, holding onto this principle is mandatory. Be always wise to love your mentors. Be kindhearted toward them because God, with His grace, has put on them the responsibility of looking after you as long as you live in harmony with them.

Hebrews 13:17
Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.