The Soul of Man

Good people,

Unscripted, I just wanted to share a few quick bulleted thoughts inspired by my pastor's series of messages "As My Soul Prospers".

• The soul comprises the mind, will, emotions, and intellect. Spiritually, it is noted as the flesh.
• The spirit is what was saved upon one's acceptance of Jesus Christ. It is where the Godhead resides inside of the Christian. It was dead, but has been enlightened or made alive by the salvation of Christ. This process is also called being re-created or renewed. Literally, the spirit was re-created or renewed by God upon salvation.
• The soul is not saved. It must be renewed, specifically the mind, by the Word of God. It must be directed and retrained by the re-created spirit.
• Since the soul is not saved it holds on to the memory of wrongs and sins. It will hold on to sins and wrong done to you and by you. If you struggle with remembering wrongs, know that this is the activity of your unsaved soul. Depending on the situation, the soul suppresses the wrongs and sins it has done while magnifying the wrongs and sins done by another.
• The soul is not a friend. It is highly unstable. It is fickle. It changes several times in several ways. It is never constant or consistent. It must be trained stability by the re-created spirit.
• All negative, wordly, or sinful influences help confirm the pressure of the soul. The unsaved world is the witness for the soul, whereas the Word of God is the witness of the re-created spirit.
• Like Jesus Christ, the soul's desires and dictates must be sacrificed and abandoned. This is done on purpose by the spiritual force of the re-created spirit. You must command your soul to be obedient to God.
• You must take charge over the soul everyday and several times a day to maintain obedience to God.
• The soul is aggressive and relentless. However, the spirit is always willing to aid.
• The joy of God is in the spirit whereas happiness comes from the soul.
• Think up and not down because you're in control of what you think. You can think what you want to think.
• The soul must be controlled otherwise it will control you. It is demanding. It desires to have free course and range to do whatever it wants with your body. If you're not watchful, it'll make you feel how it wants and do what it wants.
• The body receives instructions from the spirit or the soul. Actually, either the spirit or soul will control the actions of the body. Which do you allow to control your body most times? You must answer this question to be more like Christ.
• God knows that humans can't be trusted due to the weakness of the soul. If it is too weak to be trusted by God, why would you trust it? Your mind: what you think can't always be trusted. Your will: what you want can't always be trusted. Your emotions: what you feel can't always be trusted. Your intellect: what you think you know can't always be trusted.
• When Adam and Eve fell in the garden the soul replaced the then dead spirit as the authority of the body. Satan's channel of influence for man's body is through the soul. When you do, think, or feel wrong it is happening through the soul.
• The soul wants to be worshipped. It forces worship for itself. The soul is controlling. Controlling people have controlling souls.

God bless,
DsW

The Shape of Anger: Part V

For the last post of this series on anger I'd like us to consider the term devil in verse 27 (Ephesians 4:27) - "Neither give place to the devil."

First, allow me to provide some background on who the devil or Satan is.

• He is not a devil, but the chief devilish or evil one. No one and no thing is more evil than him. All evil, wrongs, and humans ills can be traced directly to him.
• He is the great accuser- false accuser of the brethren (i.e. believers) - Rev. 12:10. This is the critical point we'll be discussing in depth later in this post.
• Banished from Heaven due to his pride, Satan has become the archenemy of God and mankind. He knows that He cannot harm God in any way but desperately seeks to hurt God's creation.
• He is intimately jealous of the human condition- being made in the image and likeness of God. He desired this honor for himself.
• As a result of his hatred of God and mankind he pursues their complete destruction on a daily basis. The devil does not sleep on this.

Consequently, he desires to destroy mankind himself, or for God to do it, or for men to destroy each other. Either way, he wants God's image (mankind), which he couldn't have, completely wiped out! One of Satan's most misunderstood approaches to do this is by accusation. The devil is the ACCUSER of all, particularly believers. The great theologian Dr. H.L. Wilmington, in his Guide to the Bible, notes that, "this is one of the most malicious and misunderstood present-day activities of the devil." Further, Wilmington notes that "the Bible informs us of one of Satan's most treacherous hatchet jobs, that of bad-mouthing believers. In fact, this was one of several key reasons why the crucified and resurrected Christ had to ascend back to heaven that he might function as our divine defense attorney." (See Week 6 of Praise: God's Advocacy) So, do you constantly accuse people? Have you been told that you do? Do you know anyone else who does this? The truth is always the truth, but accusations are the devil's handiwork. Any time you hear someone defaming someone else, through only accusations, it is of the devil...period! God doesn't do that.

Now, let's take another look at our keystone scripture. Ephesians 4:27 - "Neither give place to the devil." The Greek present imperative of this verse means: Do not have the habit of giving place to Satan. Uncontrolled or unjust anger is an open door invitation for Satan to enter in to disrupt and corrupt whatever he chooses (See Part IV). Note, the term devil in this verse means a traducer- one who speaks maliciously and falsely of; to slander; to defame: to traduce someone's character. (2) A false accuser, (3) A wicked slanderer in the original language. Further, Fausset's Bible Dictionary surmised the following concerning Satan as an accuser: "The devil slanders God to man, man to God (Genesis 3; Zechariah 3), and man to man (via hatred, jealousy, envy, wrath, etc.). His misrepresentation of God as one arbitrary, selfish, and envious of His creature's happiness, a God to be slavishly-feared lest He should hurt, rather than filially loved, runs through all pagan idolatries. This calumny is refuted by God's not sparing His only begotten Son to save us. His slander of good men, as if serving God only for self's sake, is refuted by the case of "those who lose (in will or deed) their life for Christ's sake."

The central thought here, particularly the man to man part, is that when a person is angry at someone, Satan will continue to slander and defame the offender in one's mind until they're bubbling over in anger. He wants retaliation by any means necessary. This is why it is important that we are not too soon or too long angry with anyone. Satan always seeks to take the offense further than the offense itself! He provide you with false reasons, motives, and conclusions for why the person committed the offense against you. He'll have you trying to connect dots to an offense when no dots really exist. Even if the offender has told you the truth, Satan wants you to accept his ideas as the real ones. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL OF SATAN'S ACTIONS AGAINST MANKIND ARE OUT OF RETALIATION AGAINST GOD. Remember, Satan lost his honored position in Heaven due to his pride. He wanted to be like God as we are. He did not take his expulsion lightly. Although, not visibly angry with God, he does take out his hatred of Him on mankind. 

Now, let's see how the devil accuses someone before God in a familiar Bible example. In the book of Job (Job 1:6-12) we are invited into a heavenly scene where Satan begins accusing Job to God. As you read the story, it is clear that Satan has nothing good to say about Job. Satan falsely accuses Job and seeks to get God to believe that Job's character is reproachable. Further, Satan attempts to explain to God what the real condition of Job's heart was towards Him. Satan claimed to really know that Job only seemed zealous toward God. Ultimately, he accused Job of having non-genuine worship and respect for God. In this way, he claimed to know more about Job than God. NOTE: Like Satan, an accusing person will always claim to know something negative about a person that's unseen or unproven. If you continue to follow Job's story you'll notice that even Job's friends were of no help to him. They too were false accusers under the influence of the devil in their own right. They claimed to have the real reasons for Job's sufferings. Consider this: If Satan was brave enough to falsely accuse Job before God and use his friends against him, are we any different in this age? This is part of what's being conveyed in our keystone verse via the term "devil." The devil wants us to believe the worst about other people so that we treat them negatively. Unfortunately, some of these people may be in God's plan to bless us in some way later in life. This is especially true when we are angry at someone. Whether the anger is just (righteous) or unjust, the devil will always try to accuse the other person further than the act itself. This is one of his deceptive schemes to cause 'just' anger to easily slip over into 'unjust' anger.

Now, although beyond the topic of anger, you must be aware that the devil doesn't only want to accuse people you're angry with. Just hearing something, usually negative, about another person can become grounds for Satanic accusation. Also, think about who and/or how many people you don't like? What are the reasons? Are the reasons right and/or proven? Have you allowed the devil to paint a picture in your heart of someone that is really not true? Has Satan painted you negatively in someone's heart that you know is not true? Either way, your heart condition towards people will determine how far and how fast you progress in this life. God designed our lives to be interconnected. It's the human channel of connectivity, by His design.

Notwithstanding, it is true that sometimes people choose not to like other people because something was done or said that wasn't liked. In this a feeling of justification arises for not liking them, and, in many cases if a wrong was committed then it should indeed be made right. However, sometimes people choose not to like people and have no real proven-basis for it. They allow the devil to subtly accuse others in their minds until they've derived a reason for the dislike. Some believers have even went as far as calling this 'spiritual discernment'; especially when they've chosen not to like someone for a reason that they can't really 'put their finger on'. With this, I must say that there are real times that God will cause us to spiritually discern certain individuals of which we need not associate with. In these cases, they are not scheduled to be a part of God's plan for our lives. However, not liking a person for no real reason, a false reason, or an unproved reason is not sanctioned anywhere in the scripture. We have been commanded to love; dislike and like of others is mankind's behavioral variations from this command. In fact, Jesus hates sin but still loves people that do sin. Moreover, if Jesus could associate with the likes of Judas, knowing the evil he was up to, please know that we're no different. Life will bring about necessary associations with people we feel we have reason to dislike. It's part of the walk of faith and maturity. God, in Jesus name, help us all : >) Besides, it is possible to not like what a person does or says and have no negative feelings about them as a person. This is how Jesus responds to you and your sin.

Psalm 101:5a - "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour him will I cut off...
I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors... (NLT)

Until next time...peace be unto all of you.
DsW

Quick Word: "Don't Eat It OR Feed It"

Don't Eat What You Don't Like or Need and Don't Feed What You Don't Want to Grow...it's simple really! God doesn't have a desire to make things difficult for anyone. Allow what's written below to minister to your life and pass it along.

(1) You cannot overcome the devil that you're in the bed with. Put it out the bed of your mind and life!

(2) You cannot overcome the devil you feed. The devil I'm referring to is the 'devil-trained' flesh. The devil-trained flesh is fed primarily through these mediums: eyes (what you look at), ears (what you listen to), mouth (what you say), and mind (what you think). A person voluntarily chooses how to use each of these mediums. What you look at, what you listen to, what you say, and what you think is ALL your choice. Satan himself doesn't even choose for you. You must choose wisely and never blame others for your choice of medium, use of that medium, and the results from the usage. The mediums do not change but you control what information, positive or negative, that constantly flows thru them.

(3) Now, more on the flesh: Your flesh is not saved. If or when you accepted Jesus Christ, your spirit was saved/renewed, but your flesh held steady. The flesh is the old, unregenerated man, the sin nature which was inherited from our first father - Adam.

(4) Don't feed or feed on what you don't like or need. Recognize and/or allow God to reveal to you your fleshy appetites. You can't stop feeding what you don't realize that you have been.

(5)  Don't feed or feed on past hurts. The creation of the wound may've been someone else's fault, but the continuation of the wound is up to you.

(6) A damaged mind likes damaged things! According to Scripture we should allow our minds to be renewed by the Word of God. So, renew and reuse your mind by the Word!

(7) Whatever causes a fire sustains a fire and whatever extinguishes a fire prevents a fire! It has been said that "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires." You can extinguish and prevent fires in your life.

For more insight on this, review blog labels: Discipline, Flesh, Mind, Old Man, Sin Nature, Soul, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Warfare, and Thoughts. See below.

DsW

Kingdom Gym: "Proper Exercise"

Are you getting enough proper exercise?

The apostle Paul said:

Acts 24:16 - And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

I Timothy 4:7-8 - But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

To exercise means to practice or perform a similar action repetitiously for the purpose of training and discipline. Some of the basic objectives for exercising include: the development of a habit, a strength, a skill, or adjustment of body mass. Scripturally speaking- exercise in the Greek is the word 'gymnasia', which is where we get our English words gym and gymnastics from. The central idea of the word is to exert one's energy in a certain direction.

As citizens of the Kingdom of God we’ve all been called into the gym of life so to speak. We’ve been commissioned by God to literally ‘work out’/exercise/bring out/express - what He has 'worked' (deposited) and is working in us. Notice Paul’s commendation to the Philippian church:

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12-13).

Well, when we were born-again we received again God's nature. So His express nature resides in each of us, specifically inside our re-created spirits (spirit man). Praise God- we possess all that He is! Therefore what comes forth out of us should resemble His nature, right? Yes! But wait, with the fall of man (I Cor. 15:22) and the conception of the sin-nature/flesh/old man (which is 100% counter-God) we have some opposition to contend with (Gal 5:16-17).

Now for those of you that exercise (or used to) - you know that exercising is not always easy. It is sometimes called resistance training when weights are involved. Well, both our flesh and spirit man desire exercise (to be used). So which should get the work out? Now remember, as mentioned earlier - exercising a thing will cause it to develop and grow stronger. So if we exercise our flesh it will grow stronger and if we exercise our spirit man it will grow stronger.

Simply put - the one that gets the most exercise becomes the strongest!

How do we exercise our spirit man then? Well, exercise involves repetitive actions so lets see what James (the 1/2 brother of Jesus) can tell us. James 1:22 says "Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only... So hearing the Word, then doing the Word is exercise for our spirit man. Now we see that in order for our spiritual exercise to be labeled as 'proper exercise' it must be our spirit man that gets the work out. When our flesh gets the work out - it is 'improper exercise'. Either flesh or spirit- we're always exercising something, but those that exercise know that improper exercise can be more harmful than no exercise. Folks, it is safe to say that our flesh deserves death- not exercise!

Note Hebrews 5:14:
"But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age (mature), even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." For maturity sake our spirit man needs exercise. Self-examination will reveal to us where we need the most spiritual exercise.

Even God exercises. Take a look:

"But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment (justice), and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD" (Jer. 9:24).


Blessed regards,

DraperW

P.S. Everyone, check out Min. Josh Harvey's blog "Kill That Old Man" at revelatoryword.blogspot.com (The Sword of The Spirit) as a companion blog to this one.