Spirit Soul and Body
I am spirit, soul (mind, will emotion), and body. I can feel my body most easily. I can see and touch my body. I know when it feels pain, or heat, or cold. To experience my soul requires a little more effort, but I know when my emotions are excited or calm. I know the feeling of success, and the feeling of defeat. I know what disappointment and satisfaction both feel like. My thoughts I can hear, and if I really settle my heart and sift my thoughts, I can, to some degree, discover what is motivating me.
My spirit is much harder to relate to. I don't feel it much, and when I do, it is very vague. A deep sense of God's presence that makes me weep for no reason I can feel, or a deep sense of conviction I can't quite put my finger on. My spirit is my "inner-most" man. When I claimed Jesus death as my own, and put my trust in His leadership, the Holy Spirit came to live in my spirit:
John 14: 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
The fullness of God lives in my spirit, and if you belong to Jesus, He lives in your spirit, too. The trick is, because I don't feel my spirit much, I am challenged to let Him lead my body and my soul. At man's most base level, he lets his body, the physical appetites he feels, lead the way. This is disastrous, because we have an enemy that puts before our eyes things that make our body think it wants! God has good "food" for our body and soul, but it is not as obvious as the "junk food" the enemy would love to corrupt us with.
In a different way, and to a different degree, the same is true of my soul. As I press in to God, there are times I "feel", in my mind, will, and emotion, like I am connecting to God. I feel the rush of excitement of seeing Him move. I feel the power of getting a glimpse of His plans for me. There is joy in knowing I can hear HIS words. I FEEL successful when I pray for someone and they get well, or I tell them what God is saying to them and they respond with joyful laughter or tears. My feelings as I see God move give me feedback...satisfaction. This is really about how God allows ME to feel in my relationship with Him. This is good, but it isn't the fullness of what God wants me to live in. I LOVE the FEELING of being connected to God, but this has very little to do with what GOD is feeling or accomplishing through me. If I let feeling in my mind, will, or emotion define good and bad, or success and failure, I am mostly living outside of the Holy Spirit's leading.
God wants me to be led by my spirit, where He dwells, not by my soul. Because I don't "feel" my spirit much, it requires faith to walk led by it. To walk by the Spirit requires trusting that what God says is true IS true. I want to walk by "faith" and not by "eyesight" (my perception of how things look or feel):
2 Corinthians 5: 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Jesus said this:
John 14:13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Sometimes when I ask in Jesus name, I feel the accomplishment of the thing I ask for. Sometimes I see it...but Jesus said that I should be confident of it whether I feel it or not. This requires taking a risk and trusting that what Jesus says is true. Sometimes, Jesus calls me to do something, or say something, on his behalf. On occasion, it feels powerful to step out and take the risk. Sometimes there are visible results, or results I can FEEL. Sometime others tell me how well I am doing. But, a lot of the times there is no discernable result of my obedience. Jesus wants me to trust that whether I feel it or not, my obedience really matters. It moves HIM!
John 14: 15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
If I let feelings drive me, I am really focused on myself! This is a one-sided relationship. No healthy relationship is one-sided!
I Picture doing my leaves in the fall. My kids know that when I do my leaves, there is an opportunity for them to make a few bucks. When the rakes come out, I can get some takers. It is (usually) fun to work with them, and I like rewarding them for their hard work, but we all know why they are out there!
A couple of days ago, I came home to a totally shoveled driveway. They have never really shoveled the driveway, and there was no Stolz precedent for shoveling it and getting paid. My boys just wanted to do something they thought I would appreciate. I didn't reward them, and they didn't ask me to. But, this act of love for me on their part moved my heart in a way them helping me never has before. I got to see and feel how THEY cared about me, and they took the time to consider what would really impact me...this was huge.
When we pray or serve in a way that feels good, God loves it. But when we pray and feel like our words hit the ceiling and bounce back on us, Jesus is STILL moved, even if we don't feel it. Our feeling has nothing to do with the truth of our love being shown in obedience. In fact, when we get no feeling from our obedience, but just press in because of who He is, that is when HIS heart is most moved. That is when HE gets to FEEL it most. Our response based purely on who He is moves Him powerfully.
I want to live in a way that searches God's heart for what moves Him. He is faithful to always feed me rewards at the proper times to grow our relationship and mature me. I want to search for ways that will move His heart with fiery emotion. Only I can give Him my heart and obedience. I want to pour out the strength of my life on His feet, like the way Mary of Bethany did. I want to show Him with my choosing joy in the dry season, with my worship in the rough places, and my prayers that seem to travel nowhere, that He is my everything!
Give me more God, whether I feel it or not!
My spirit is much harder to relate to. I don't feel it much, and when I do, it is very vague. A deep sense of God's presence that makes me weep for no reason I can feel, or a deep sense of conviction I can't quite put my finger on. My spirit is my "inner-most" man. When I claimed Jesus death as my own, and put my trust in His leadership, the Holy Spirit came to live in my spirit:
John 14: 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
The fullness of God lives in my spirit, and if you belong to Jesus, He lives in your spirit, too. The trick is, because I don't feel my spirit much, I am challenged to let Him lead my body and my soul. At man's most base level, he lets his body, the physical appetites he feels, lead the way. This is disastrous, because we have an enemy that puts before our eyes things that make our body think it wants! God has good "food" for our body and soul, but it is not as obvious as the "junk food" the enemy would love to corrupt us with.
In a different way, and to a different degree, the same is true of my soul. As I press in to God, there are times I "feel", in my mind, will, and emotion, like I am connecting to God. I feel the rush of excitement of seeing Him move. I feel the power of getting a glimpse of His plans for me. There is joy in knowing I can hear HIS words. I FEEL successful when I pray for someone and they get well, or I tell them what God is saying to them and they respond with joyful laughter or tears. My feelings as I see God move give me feedback...satisfaction. This is really about how God allows ME to feel in my relationship with Him. This is good, but it isn't the fullness of what God wants me to live in. I LOVE the FEELING of being connected to God, but this has very little to do with what GOD is feeling or accomplishing through me. If I let feeling in my mind, will, or emotion define good and bad, or success and failure, I am mostly living outside of the Holy Spirit's leading.
God wants me to be led by my spirit, where He dwells, not by my soul. Because I don't "feel" my spirit much, it requires faith to walk led by it. To walk by the Spirit requires trusting that what God says is true IS true. I want to walk by "faith" and not by "eyesight" (my perception of how things look or feel):
2 Corinthians 5: 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Jesus said this:
John 14:13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Sometimes when I ask in Jesus name, I feel the accomplishment of the thing I ask for. Sometimes I see it...but Jesus said that I should be confident of it whether I feel it or not. This requires taking a risk and trusting that what Jesus says is true. Sometimes, Jesus calls me to do something, or say something, on his behalf. On occasion, it feels powerful to step out and take the risk. Sometimes there are visible results, or results I can FEEL. Sometime others tell me how well I am doing. But, a lot of the times there is no discernable result of my obedience. Jesus wants me to trust that whether I feel it or not, my obedience really matters. It moves HIM!
John 14: 15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
If I let feelings drive me, I am really focused on myself! This is a one-sided relationship. No healthy relationship is one-sided!
I Picture doing my leaves in the fall. My kids know that when I do my leaves, there is an opportunity for them to make a few bucks. When the rakes come out, I can get some takers. It is (usually) fun to work with them, and I like rewarding them for their hard work, but we all know why they are out there!
A couple of days ago, I came home to a totally shoveled driveway. They have never really shoveled the driveway, and there was no Stolz precedent for shoveling it and getting paid. My boys just wanted to do something they thought I would appreciate. I didn't reward them, and they didn't ask me to. But, this act of love for me on their part moved my heart in a way them helping me never has before. I got to see and feel how THEY cared about me, and they took the time to consider what would really impact me...this was huge.
When we pray or serve in a way that feels good, God loves it. But when we pray and feel like our words hit the ceiling and bounce back on us, Jesus is STILL moved, even if we don't feel it. Our feeling has nothing to do with the truth of our love being shown in obedience. In fact, when we get no feeling from our obedience, but just press in because of who He is, that is when HIS heart is most moved. That is when HE gets to FEEL it most. Our response based purely on who He is moves Him powerfully.
I want to live in a way that searches God's heart for what moves Him. He is faithful to always feed me rewards at the proper times to grow our relationship and mature me. I want to search for ways that will move His heart with fiery emotion. Only I can give Him my heart and obedience. I want to pour out the strength of my life on His feet, like the way Mary of Bethany did. I want to show Him with my choosing joy in the dry season, with my worship in the rough places, and my prayers that seem to travel nowhere, that He is my everything!
Give me more God, whether I feel it or not!
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