Are You “Maintaining” a Healthy Soul ? (Part 1)

My “Life Experience” has always been affected by my curiosity with how and why things work the way they do. In my life path I quickly discovered that life doesn’t get better just because I introduce “New Things” into my life but also and, more importantly, because I learn to treasure and maintain what I have already been blessed by.

Everyone receives blessing into their life from the moment they take their first breath. In fact, some parents have learned that they can affect their baby’s development in the womb prior to birth. Studies show that what their parents speak to the child, what kind of sounds they expose their child to can affect them even before birth.

We use our God-given ability to shape our future by how we “Maintain” these blessing and the future blessing to come.  When I read my bible God is constantly attempting to motivate us to guard our souls and maintain them. The problem, however, is that we don’t even understand we have a soul and we don’t know what benefits or hinderances there are that affect our soul. It is most important to remember that ignorance is not a blessing and ignorance about our soul will surely create pain in this life and the life to come.

When I worked as a master mechanic I learned all about diesel engines and rebuilt many of them. When a diesel car came into the shop with problems the service manager would often give these cars or trucks to me to diagnose the problem. One owner came into the dealership who was very mad and yelling at the service writer about what a piece of junk his vehicle was.  It was a diesel and he paid extra money to get this vehicle. I was given the car and started to analyze what the problem was and in about ten minutes I went to the owner and asked him just one question. When was the last time you changed the oil? His response was eye-opening to say the least and I have never forgotten his answer. It’s a diesel I shouldn’t have to change the oil! The car had 40,000 miles on it and he had never changed the oil.  What he “Believed” was one of the benefits of paying more for a diesel car was you don’t have to change the oil.  Where he got this “False Idea” I don’t know but it was going to cost him dearly!

In the next number of articles I intend to explore the different elements of the soul to hopefully explain how we can “Consider” its make up and its function, thus enabling us to “Plot” a more precise course for our lives and thus enjoy how God made us rather than feel like God messed up when he made man the way he did. Life can be a puzzle unless we allow the Holy Spirit and the word of God to guide our daily lives.

So, here are the basics. Man is made up of three distinct parts, “BODY-SOUL-SPIRIT“, and these three, when working in tandem, help to give us a balanced approach in life as God intended. That being said, there is a lot of complexity to these three parts and we will only be scratching the surface here in order to get a bird’s eye view of how God made us.

Originally man was complete when he was created in the Garden of Eden.  According to the book of Genesis man loved God and God loved man. This harmony was broken when man embraced the counsel of Satan and man “Died” spiritually.  We have forever been dealing with that choice. So man was “Alive Spiritually” and then God made a way for man to be redeemed and to become “Alive” again with the great price Christ paid on the cross. Look at the progression with these three short passages.

Genesis 2:15-17                                                                                                                                     

Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. [16] The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; [17] but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Ephesians 2:1-5                                                                                                                                      

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, [2] in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. [3] Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. [4] But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 

John 3:3                                                                                                                                                    

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

When I was a new believer I knew I needed God and needed forgiveness but the idea of me being “Dead” spiritually was a hard concept to grasp.  I knew what the scripture said but I needed help understanding it. Here is the simple explanation.  When the bible says you were dead it’s referring to you and I being separated from the spirit of God. It’s not talking about there not being any existence. When a person dies naturally their soul and spirit are separated from their body but they still exist. Adam and Eve were created to have a continuous “Connect” to God but that was severed when they rebelled. That “Linkage” in our lives now must be chosen where with them is was in their creation. When Jesus talked with Nicodemus and said he needed to be born again Jesus was saying that we were born naturally by a choice and if we are to be “Connected” to God as he intended it also must be chosen.

When God created man he created us with the ability to “Recognize” things that were wrong in our lives, whether they were natural or spiritual. It is up to us to investigate these things to correct them with God’s help. These things will not correct themselves.

The next article in this series will briefly explore “Our Soul”,   the key not only to our redemption but to our life course corrections that God set us up to find “IF” we seek the Lord with all our hearts.  Within the Soul there are three parts which are “MIND-WILL- EMOTIONS” and these three also need to work in tandem or there is great sorrow. Get ready to be transformed by the renewing of your mind to unlock the keys to the kingdom in your own life.

Questions:

When you embraced Jesus did you understand his desire for you to be born again? If not, read the first five chapters of the gospel of John and ask the Holy Spirit to unpack the truth inside.

Are you struggling with sensing a disconnection from God? It could be that an area of your soul is out of alignment with the            word and will of God. Get ready to be released in the next few articles.

Loving God and loving the hunt for truth and freedom.

Pastor Dale