LIVING IN THE SPIRIT REALM

Table of Contents

1. Opening Greetings and Christmas Appreciation
2. Pastor Lori’s Excitement to Read and Talk with the Lord
3. Hebrews 4:12: The Word as Living, Sharp, and Deep-Working
4. “The Message God Spoke to Us in Christ”: Grace, Reconciliation, and Oneness
5. “Cutting Like a Surgeon”: Sin Removed and Unbelief Cut Away
6. Piercing the Core: The Word Does the Deep Work, Not Us
7. Dividing Soul and Spirit: Living in the Kingdom Realm
8. Spiritual Eyes and the Reality of the Unseen Realm
9. Ending the Dominance of the Sense Realm
10. The Spirit as the Ruling Influence Again
11. The Word Detecting and Removing Every “Disease”
12. Closing Encouragement: Enjoy His Love and Live From the Spirit Realm
13. Opening Greetings and Christmas Appreciation

Opening Greetings and Christmas Appreciation

Pastor Lenny and Pastor Lori open by greeting everyone and sharing how thankful they are to be with the audience. They talk about the Christmas season and how they hope everyone enjoyed celebrating the birth of the Savior with family and loved ones. They mention the tension of being away from home while also loving time with family, and Pastor Lenny shares how he misses being back with the people they normally meet with, but they will be back soon enough.

They thank the viewers for cards, letters, gifts, and for supporting the ministry. Pastor Lenny specifically acknowledges those who give financially, explaining that the ministry can move forward because of the support. He mentions the “text to give” option and notes there are still a couple of days left in the year 2025, encouraging anyone who wants to bless the ministry.

Pastor Lenny then introduces the day’s message as a “special treat,” explaining that Pastor Lori wanted to share what was on her heart. He says many people want to hear from her, and he’ll “feed off” what she shares, believing everyone will be blessed.

Pastor Lori’s Excitement to Read and Talk with the Lord

Pastor Lori begins by describing something that happened “the other night.” She says she was unusually excited while brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed. She explains that she always reads something before bed, but that night she actually spoke out loud to the Lord, asking, “What are we going to talk about tonight, Lord? What are we going to read tonight?”

Pastor Lenny comments on how she was talking to Him like He was right there with her, and then he emphasizes why that matters: because He is right there. They underline the importance of relating to God as present and near.

Pastor Lori explains that she did something very simple: she opened the Bible, and right there she saw highlighted verses. She decided to stop and read those highlighted verses, and she says she has been “on these ever since.” She describes it as exciting and so good that you could live in it for weeks, because the more you think and meditate on it, the more it keeps opening up.

Hebrews 4:12: The Word as Living, Sharp, and Deep-Working

Pastor Lori says the passage she was drawn to was Hebrews 4:12. She notes she had been reading it from the Mirror translation and then reads a paraphrased rendering of it that speaks about the message God spoke to us in Christ being life-giving, dynamic, and like a sword that penetrates to the core, dividing soul and spirit, ending the dominance of the sense realm, and freeing the human spirit to become the ruling influence again.

Even though Pastor Lori read a paraphrase from another translation, the verse she explicitly cites is Hebrews 4:12, and the KJV wording is: Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

After she reads the paraphrase, she reacts strongly to how powerful it is. She says it is “so good,” and she describes how meditating on it kept producing more and more “wow” moments. She returns to the opening idea: “the message God spoke to us in Christ” is the most life-giving and dynamic influence in us.

She pauses and asks what that message is, saying she started thinking about it quickly because she also wanted to keep going through the passage.

The Message God Spoke to Us in Christ

Pastor Lenny answers what he believes “the message God spoke to us in Christ” is. He says he thinks of grace, and then he points to a specific scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 5:18 and 19. He explains that it tells us that in Christ, God was reconciling the world. He interprets the message spoken to us in Christ as: you have been reconciled to God, you are at peace with God, you are at oneness with God, and you are united to God because of Christ.

He also adds another statement of identity: “as Christ is, so are you,” emphasizing union and likeness because of Christ.

The passage he explicitly cites is: 2 Corinthians 5:18-19: And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Pastor Lori then shares something else she has been doing over the last couple of weeks. She says she was reading the Song of Solomon (also called Song of Songs) in the Passion translation, and she mentions that the Passion translation suggests reading the whole book in one sitting, which she did. She describes the impact as “wow,” and says ever since then she keeps saying, “I’m his lover. I’m his lover. He loves me so much. I’m his lover.” She uses that as an example of living from love and closeness rather than distance and doubt.

Pastor Lenny later returns to the idea that the message God speaks to us is “in Christ.” He explains that if you want to know what God is telling us, look at what He spoke to Christ. He references the Father speaking words like “You are my beloved Son” and “I am well pleased,” and also references the mount of transfiguration where the voice said, “Listen to him.” His point is that the message we see in Christ becomes God’s message to us about who we are and how we are to follow Jesus, not law and legalism, but grace and Christ.

“Cutting Like a Surgeon

Pastor Lori focuses on the “cutting” language from the paraphrase she read and compares it to a surgeon’s scalpel. She acknowledges that at first it might sound intense, but then she explains how she sees it: the Word and what Jesus did “cut away the old,” and that the issue of sin was dealt with. She says the sin nature was taken care of, it was done, it is gone, and there is no issue anymore. She compares it to what a surgeon’s scalpel does: it goes in and removes what needs to be removed.

Pastor Lenny adds another layer by connecting Hebrews 4 to the verses earlier in that same chapter. He says the chapter begins by talking about failing to enter rest, and he references the nation of Israel failing to enter rest because of unbelief. He uses that to interpret the “surgeon” idea practically: if you have been combating unbelief, the Word will cut it out of you and cut it away from you, surgically removing it from your soul, mind, and thinking, so that you can fully act in the belief God intends.

He clarifies that nothing truly hinders God from moving in our lives except the things we believe will hinder Him from moving in our lives. But he still emphasizes that the Word addresses unbelief by cutting it away.

Piercing the Core: The Word Does the Deep Work, Not Us

Pastor Lori moves into the phrase about “piercing to the deepest core” and connects it to how people often say you have to peel away issues “like an onion,” layer by layer, to reach deep-rooted things. She contrasts that with what she sees in the Word: if you allow the Word of God to do it, it can pierce right through. It does not have to peel layers slowly; it can go right in.

She and Pastor Lenny stress a repeated theme: you are not doing it, and they are not doing it. The Word is doing it. The Word pierces through and goes to the deepest core, and the Word brings healing.

Pastor Lenny then references another explicit Bible verse: 2 Corinthians 3:18. He uses it to describe the transformation that happens by beholding, not by striving. He says that when we behold the glory of the Lord “as in a mirror,” we are changed into that by the Holy Spirit.

The verse he explicitly cites is: 2 Corinthians 3:18- But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

He ties this back to the earlier point: the message God spoke to us in Christ is God’s message, and the movement is toward being as Christ because, in their teaching emphasis, God has made you as Christ.

Dividing Soul and Spirit: Living in the Kingdom Realm

Pastor Lori then highlights the phrase about “dividing of soul and spirit.” She explains how she understands it in simple terms. She says the soul is mind, will, and emotions. Then she contrasts that with the spirit, which she calls “the real me.” She says we live in the kingdom realm, we live in the “super,” that is who we really are and where we really are.

So to her, dividing soul and spirit means separating mind-will-emotions from the spirit-life reality. She describes it as getting rid of the sense realm that people live in so strongly (what we see, feel, hear). She says it is about getting rid of that dominance and realizing who we are in Christ, what Christ really did for us, and who we really are.

Spiritual Eyes and the Reality of the Unseen Realm

Pastor Lenny responds to the “kingdom realm” and “spiritual eyes” idea by bringing up a Bible story: Elijah and his servant. He describes the scene where the servant was scared because armies were coming, but Elijah was calm. Elijah prayed for God to open his servant’s eyes, and when his eyes were opened, he saw an army of spiritual reality—chariots of fire and weaponry.

Pastor Lenny uses that story to make his point: Elijah saw the real world and operated in it, while the servant did not until his eyes were opened. He then connects it back to Hebrews 4: if we allow the Word of God to act on our souls like a surgeon’s scalpel, it will remove dependency on the natural and fleshly realm and reveal the spiritual realm that is all around us, where we live and dwell.

Pastor Lori adds another personal example that reinforced this for her. She mentions a children’s book Allison gave her to read to Wilder. In the story, there was a little boy and his dog, and there was an unsafe situation, but the book showed an angel behind them. As she read it, it got into her mind again that this is true—that spiritual reality is present even when we cannot see it with natural eyes. She says it is a reality: the kingdom realm, the spiritual realm.

Ending the Dominance of the Sense Realm

Pastor Lori returns to the line in her paraphrase about “ending the dominance of the sense realm” and its “neutralizing effect” on the human spirit. She emphasizes how powerful that is.

She applies it to common thoughts people have: “I don’t see it, so it’s not working,” “I don’t feel Him, so He can’t be there,” “Where are you?” She contrasts that with what she gained from reading Song of Solomon: “I am his lover,” “He’s ever so close,” “He’s right here,” “He’ll never leave me,” “He loves me so much,” “I’m a new creation.” She connects those kinds of declarations to living from the spirit realm rather than being neutralized by the sense realm.

She also laughs and notes she had said it would be “a quick one,” but now they’re flowing with it, and Pastor Lenny jokes that now she knows what he faces when he starts talking and gets going.

The Spirit as the Ruling Influence Again

Pastor Lori then focuses on the phrase about a person’s spirit being freed to become the “ruling influence” again in the thoughts and intentions of the heart. She reacts strongly to the idea of “ruling influence.” She says the sense-filled realm becomes “gone” as the ruling authority. What we see, hear, feel, taste, touch—those things do not rule anymore. Instead, what rules is the kingdom realm, the spiritual realm, and our reality “as Christ,” as she phrases it.

Pastor Lenny brings in a worship song reference (“Way Maker”), quoting the idea: even when I don’t see it, He’s working; even when I don’t feel it, He’s working. They use that to reinforce the theme that you live from spiritual reality, not from sensory confirmation.

Pastor Lori then encourages a simple confession: keep saying, “I live in the heavenly realm.”

The Word Detecting and Removing Every “Disease

Pastor Lori arrives at the last portion of the paraphrase she read, about the “scrutiny” of the living word detecting every possible disease and discerning the body’s deepest secrets where joint and bone marrow meet. She admits openly that she still needs to chew on that and let the Holy Spirit talk to her more about it. She says she worked on the earlier parts more, but this part still sounds powerful.

She interprets it as meaning the Word can fix everything. She connects it back to the earlier picture of the Word cutting like a surgeon’s scalpel and going down deep. She wonders out loud whether “disease” means physical, spiritual, everything—anything that is not good, anything “going on inside of us.” Pastor Lenny agrees strongly, saying yes, anything. He affirms the idea as “detects, removes,” and repeats that it discerns every possible disease.

Pastor Lori repeats the language about “deepest secrets” and again suggests it could be physical and spiritual. She returns to the opening truth again: it started with the message God spoke in Christ being the most life-giving and dynamic influence in us. She describes how that night she went to bed with a clear desire: she wants the sense-filled realm out, and she wants the life-giving reality of Christ in her to become the most dominant. She says she wants to live in that.

Pastor Lenny responds by grounding it in identity: He is in you. That is the reality. And it is the realization that He is living in you, and you are living from Him.

Closing Encouragement: Enjoy His Love and Live From the Spirit Realm

As they close, Pastor Lenny affirms Pastor Lori’s earlier statement again: you are His lover. He says God wants you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt how loved you are, who you really are, and how much you mean to Him. He says God wants you to realize you don’t have to live in the sense-filled realm. He acknowledges the natural realm is there for us to enjoy, but he emphasizes it’s not where we are supposed to be ruled from or live from. He says we are in that kingdom realm, and God wants you to enjoy Him just like He enjoys you.

Pastor Lori encourages everyone that today is an awesome day and to enjoy being out of the sense-filled realm and in the kingdom realm, enjoying His presence and His love. Pastor Lenny affirms it as a good word, and they thank everyone for joining them and say they’ll see them again in a couple of days.

Thank you for reading, and we hope this article blessed you and strengthened you to live from the spirit realm instead of being ruled by the sense realm. If this message