We are spiritual beings in physical bodies. All humans have a connection to the spirit although it is mostly unrecognized and misunderstood. The spirit part of creation is every bit as complex as the physical, but not nearly as obvious, explored, or taught. Many who do accept some spiritual reality recognize God and angels as spirits but do not realize there is a whole other spiritual existence most of which is not made up of conscious beings. These spirits do, however, have considerable influence and we also influence them. God is in the process of revealing much more about this and is breaking down the separation between the physical and spiritual.

Part of this new understanding is that we interact with the spirit on different levels. These levels are the whole, the middle, and the specific. They could also be called the big, the middle, and the small. There is no dividing line between these categories. They are not separate “boxes” but a range from the specific to the whole.

The concept of the whole is both easy and hard to get hold of. It is the big picture, everything, truth, purpose; the place where every single piece of creation and existence fits together. This is where all the contradictions which appear in the middle and specific disappear. This where God thinks and the viewpoint from which He sees things. We need to learn to think in the whole just as He does. Learning to do this is neither easy nor quick, but it is possible.

The specific is where we deal with individual questions, beings (human or spirit), ideas, and problems. This is the realm of “it depends” in which you choose a particular action appropriate for the circumstances. Slightly different circumstances may require different actions. Trying to apply specific answers to the whole, or even the middle, can be confusing.

The middle is where we should be living but is the most difficult to really understand. To conceptualize the middle you must have a reasonably good grasp of both the whole and the specific. The middle is simply in between, but it is far from simple in application. This is where God makes directly contradictory statements, and it is difficult to learn how to deal with this. Real contradictions exist here and only disappear in the whole. God often makes statements like “yes and no”; “you can and you can’t’”; “it is and it isn’t”. These kinds of statements defy human logic because both answers are absolutely true in the middle. That is what He is talking about in Isaiah 55:8, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD”.

The whole is the context for the middle and the specific. God wants us to think in the whole. Live in the middle, and act in the specific. You have to keep these three in balance to properly operate in the spirit, and it is a foundation for understanding the spirit. There is much more involved but this is one of the key concepts you must have –

Think in the whole.

Live in the middle.

Act in the specific.