Soul
Have you spoken to your soul today? We tell our bodies to line up with the Word of God. We also need to tell our souls (minds, wills, emotions) to line up with the Word of God. Our minds are to be in alignment with the mind of Christ. Our emotions are to yield to the fruit of the spirit. Our wills are to be conformed to God’s Will (His Word.).
The challenge is not in our spirit man, and the body does whatever it is told to do. Our challenges in life come from souls that are not in alignment with the Word of God. We live in the world; there is a world system; satan is the god of this world. As Christians, we are no longer equipped to live according to the world system, and if we attempt to “do battle” the world’s way, we will be defeated every time. We no longer have the weapons of the world. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. We have moved to a different way of living; we are living in the Word system. Unfortunately, many Christians do not know how to live according to the Word of God when the world is screaming: “Live my way; do it my way.”
The world says that when someone does evil to you, get even with them. The Word says that we are to bless those who persecute us and say all manner of evil against us. The world says that we are to hoard up material goods in hard times. The Word says: Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down,shaken together and running over. The world says that money is the source of all good things. The Word says that all good things come down from above, from the Father. The world says that we must learn to be self-sufficient. The Word says that we are to lean on and trust completely in the Lord. The world says that we love those who love us. The Word says that we are to love our enemies.
The Word of God has much to say about the soul. One of the scriptures I think about immediately is Luke 1:46: “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,….” Mary said that her soul magnified the Lord. In other words, she was enlarging God in her mind, her will and her emotions. She saw God as larger than anything in this world. She saw the Word that had been spoken to her as larger than the world’s impossibility. Mary’s soul magnified, enlarged, increased, expanded and exalted God. She made Him bigger than anything else in her life. She lifted up her voice in adoration of Almighty God.
There is a scripture which I enjoy so much in the book of Acts in the Amplified Bible which uses the word “soul.” Listen to this: “You have made known to me the ways of life; You will enrapture me [diffusing my soul with joy] with and in Your presence” (Acts 2:28). Our souls need to be saturated with the joy of the Lord, especially when we live in times where fear and trepidation seem to be escalating. Speak to your soul right now: “Soul, magnify the Lord. Let His joy envelope and penetrate to every cell of your being.” Your soul hears you and obeys you.
There are so many scriptures in the Psalms that use the word “soul.” One of the greatest ones is Psalm 103:1-5.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: (I make it positive and say: Remember all his benefits.) who forgives all thine iniquities; who heals all thy diseases; who redeems thy life from destruction; who crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; who satisfies thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” There is enough here in this verse to live on the rest of our lives. We are to speak to our soul and tell it to bless the Lord and to remember all His benefits. Wow! As I have said before, the benefit package is “out of this world.” It is beyond any other benefit package, as illustrated in the verses above.
David spoke to his soul much. It is as if he knew where the source of his weakness or strength was in this life. The soul is the determining part of our being that causes us to go God’s way or another way. The Word of God is full of instruction for the soul—renew the mind, conform the will to God’s Word, and take authority over wrong emotions. Repeatedly in the Word of God we see that the Word keeps our soul, that the Word is an anchor to our soul, that the Lord redeems our soul, and that the Lord keeps our soul in peace.
The soul of man is the place which needs constant surveillance. We are to allow the Holy Spirit to direct us in our souls, to think as God thinks, to act as God acts, to choose what God chooses and to enjoy what God enjoys. Our spirit has already become new in Christ Jesus; we have God’s nature in us once we are born again. It is that soul that needs a continual conforming to the ways of God and cleansing by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our bodies will come into line with the spirit and soul in agreement. If there is division between the soul and the spirit, the bodies have no place to align. There is division. Oh, but when there is agreement between the spirit of man where the Holy Spirit dwells and the soul of man which is conformed to the Word of God, the power of God is released to bring divine life to that body.
Today, start speaking to your soul. My soul does magnify the Lord.
The challenge is not in our spirit man, and the body does whatever it is told to do. Our challenges in life come from souls that are not in alignment with the Word of God. We live in the world; there is a world system; satan is the god of this world. As Christians, we are no longer equipped to live according to the world system, and if we attempt to “do battle” the world’s way, we will be defeated every time. We no longer have the weapons of the world. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. We have moved to a different way of living; we are living in the Word system. Unfortunately, many Christians do not know how to live according to the Word of God when the world is screaming: “Live my way; do it my way.”
The world says that when someone does evil to you, get even with them. The Word says that we are to bless those who persecute us and say all manner of evil against us. The world says that we are to hoard up material goods in hard times. The Word says: Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down,shaken together and running over. The world says that money is the source of all good things. The Word says that all good things come down from above, from the Father. The world says that we must learn to be self-sufficient. The Word says that we are to lean on and trust completely in the Lord. The world says that we love those who love us. The Word says that we are to love our enemies.
The Word of God has much to say about the soul. One of the scriptures I think about immediately is Luke 1:46: “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,….” Mary said that her soul magnified the Lord. In other words, she was enlarging God in her mind, her will and her emotions. She saw God as larger than anything in this world. She saw the Word that had been spoken to her as larger than the world’s impossibility. Mary’s soul magnified, enlarged, increased, expanded and exalted God. She made Him bigger than anything else in her life. She lifted up her voice in adoration of Almighty God.
There is a scripture which I enjoy so much in the book of Acts in the Amplified Bible which uses the word “soul.” Listen to this: “You have made known to me the ways of life; You will enrapture me [diffusing my soul with joy] with and in Your presence” (Acts 2:28). Our souls need to be saturated with the joy of the Lord, especially when we live in times where fear and trepidation seem to be escalating. Speak to your soul right now: “Soul, magnify the Lord. Let His joy envelope and penetrate to every cell of your being.” Your soul hears you and obeys you.
There are so many scriptures in the Psalms that use the word “soul.” One of the greatest ones is Psalm 103:1-5.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: (I make it positive and say: Remember all his benefits.) who forgives all thine iniquities; who heals all thy diseases; who redeems thy life from destruction; who crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; who satisfies thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” There is enough here in this verse to live on the rest of our lives. We are to speak to our soul and tell it to bless the Lord and to remember all His benefits. Wow! As I have said before, the benefit package is “out of this world.” It is beyond any other benefit package, as illustrated in the verses above.
David spoke to his soul much. It is as if he knew where the source of his weakness or strength was in this life. The soul is the determining part of our being that causes us to go God’s way or another way. The Word of God is full of instruction for the soul—renew the mind, conform the will to God’s Word, and take authority over wrong emotions. Repeatedly in the Word of God we see that the Word keeps our soul, that the Word is an anchor to our soul, that the Lord redeems our soul, and that the Lord keeps our soul in peace.
The soul of man is the place which needs constant surveillance. We are to allow the Holy Spirit to direct us in our souls, to think as God thinks, to act as God acts, to choose what God chooses and to enjoy what God enjoys. Our spirit has already become new in Christ Jesus; we have God’s nature in us once we are born again. It is that soul that needs a continual conforming to the ways of God and cleansing by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our bodies will come into line with the spirit and soul in agreement. If there is division between the soul and the spirit, the bodies have no place to align. There is division. Oh, but when there is agreement between the spirit of man where the Holy Spirit dwells and the soul of man which is conformed to the Word of God, the power of God is released to bring divine life to that body.
Today, start speaking to your soul. My soul does magnify the Lord.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 6:14 PM
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