Soul

Good Morning!  No other word really communicates the depth of humanity, as much as the word "soul." The Greek word for "soul " is psuche, from which we get the words "psyche " and  "psychology." The study of psychology, is the study of our soul, and "psyche " is used a lot of different ways in Scripture,...but it can be summarized this way: it is the combination of our mind, our emotions, and our will. It's our total personality. So when we make a decision, it is our mind and emotions informing our will. Our mind is the processor of information. Our emotions are the feelers. The will is the decision maker.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.—Matthew 11:29 (NIV)

Our soul is going to be constantly tired because of the regular trials of life. Everything tugs at us,...some days it will be our mind harassing us, on others our emotions will rage out of control. Our will is tossed and turned, like a ship in a storm. Jesus calls to us out of that storm, offering a different way to live:

Only God understands and tenderly loves your soul,...so give it to Him today. He will take care of it!

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Our Father in Heaven, we want rest for our soul. We want to take up Your yoke, and toss off the ones we now carry. You promise that Yours is light and easy to carry,...and it seems like our souls are always exhausted. Thank You for Your promises. Amen.

" Gods' divine love has only one target group,...the entire human race!"

Wake Up! Come To Yourself

Good Morning! The story of the Prodigal Son describes us all, as children of God. We are all unfaithful children of our benevolent heavenly Father. We all have squandered the abundant inheritance He so graciously has bequeathed to us. And we all, at one time or another, have known what it is to finally "come to ourselves ". Sin is insanity,...it's an unreasoning, illogical, and self-destructive way of life. It ignores the plain hand of our heavenly Father, full of every provision we need, and follows after the hallucination of worldly pleasures and fulfillment.

" When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!—Luke 15:17 (NIV)

But when we finally come to ourselves, we realize that starving out in the pigpen is not what our Father planned for us. We are the King's children! No one in His house is hungry or wanting, and yet here we are in the mud pit of sin because we forsook the house of our Father. When we finally come to ourselves, we finally come back to Him.  We forsake the miserable quest for self-gratification and begin to seek the abundant life that is found in God alone.

Just know that there is always a warm welcome for those who come to God,...by way of His Son Jesus Christ.

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Father God we Thank You, for not turning Your back on us,...even after we've turned our backs on You. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

" Gods' divine love has only one target group,...the entire human race!"

Not Who We Use To Be

Good Morning! Contrary to popular belief, You are not a sinner saved by grace. Oops, sorry there. Didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers. Let me explain. At one time you were a sinner, but now that you are saved, your sin-driven past is behind you. You are currently a saint who sometimes sins. There is a big difference between the two!...And the difference is in how God looks at you. Look at how Paul describes you who are in Christ:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters, in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.—Colossians 1:1-2 (NIV)

The term "holy " is the same word used for "saint." If you continue to say that you are "just a sinner saved by grace," you are saying that your identity is still that of a sinner. Not true!...At the very moment you trusted Christ, you stopped being a sinner, and started being a saint. You were indeed saved by grace from your sin, but your identity as a sinner,...which we all inherited at birth, is gone. Because Christ saved us, we are now God's sons and daughters. (see John 1:12-13).

If we walk around constantly identifying ourselves as sinners saved by grace, we are communicating to ourselves and to others, that we are still defined by our past.

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Lord Jesus, You have given us a new identity,...and we are not defined as being sinners any more. We are saints,...who sometimes sins. We still mess up, but we are new creations in You. Give us the strength and courage to recognize this and to begin to live in the victory that it proclaims! Amen.

" Gods' divine love has only one target group,...the entire human race!"

A Reason To Suffer

Good Morning! "Bad guys" come in many forms today, and bad guys bring suffering of many kinds. It might be physical, emotional, or even spiritual. And no, God does not scare them all away, or make them all stop. Suffering was Jesus' reality;...and suffering will be our reality, as well.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.—Hebrews 4:15, 16 (NIV)

I think God may even allow suffering to gently move us toward Jesus, so that we might better identify with Him.That's definitely worth thinking about, as we closer to our next big holiday, Easter. Our suffering is a shared experience with Jesus,...something that can bring deeper intimacy in our relationship with Him. He may not rescue us the way that we wish, but in His goodness, I believe He offers some things far more valuable. He invites us to "approach the throne of grace" and "receive mercy." He's really offering Himself to us,...welcoming us into intimacy.

"We cannot close our eyes to the reality of suffering, for it is the reality chosen by the one we name Lord and Christ. And the path he walks here is the one he bids us to follow." —Theodore W. Jennings, Jr.

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Lord, we ask You to open our hearts and my minds this week. Allow our suffering to help us more closely identify with Your suffering,...so that we can share these experiences in unity. We need Your mercy and grace, in our time of need. I thank You for becoming a human, so that You can sympathize with our struggles. Thank You that we can enter into Your presence with confidence, because of what You've done for us on the cross. Amen.

" Gods' divine love has only one target group,...the entire human race!"

What Is Your Faith Rooted In?

Good Morning! It’s fashionable to have "faith", and pretty much noncontroversial. We have faith that our chair will hold us when I sit down, without looking back at it. People have faith that things are going to get better. They have faith in higher powers, themselves, the economy,...and depending on the results of the last election, faith in government. The concept of faith is warm and cozy, and daytime talk shows ooze happiness when discussing it. “Having a hard time? Just have faith!” Yeah, faith is back in style. You are cool if you have it. The sticky part of faith is this: What is your faith rooted in?

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.—Colossians 2:6-7 (NIV)

Faith has to be rooted or grounded, in something. It’s just goofy when we have this vague concept of faith, and fuzzy feelings, that have no basis in reality. Scripture teaches us that we are built up in Christ Jesus,...the firm foundation. We are not to have faith in humanity, because that almost always goes badly. We are to have faith in Jesus,...because He is worthy of it.

Our faith in God is what allows us to live in Him,...and be empowered for missions from Him.

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Jesus, You are the only one worthy of faith. We don’t want to put our faith in false promises of men, or temporary highs. We choose You, and the refuge You offer. Amen.

" Grace and Acceptance, to be known fully, and loved just the same,...that's God."

Acting On Faith

Good Morning!! It may help us understand what faith is, by occasionally "breaking down" who we are. This will help us avoid being taken captive through deception, as Paul warns. Our spiritual anatomy, you may recall, consists of a body, a soul, and a spirit. In the soul, we have our minds, our emotions, and our will. In our spirit, which is our true inner being, we have our life in Christ. So we receive life in the spirit, we experience life in the soul, and we express life in the body. Unfortunately, we also have flesh,...the desire to do things in our own strength, ingenuity, and skill. Indwelling sin, dwells in us too, and encourages us to make poor choices.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.—2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV)

So, what, then, is faith? It is a decision of the will to act on what the mind believes is true.The mind reads something in Scripture, and in our spirit the Holy Spirit says, "Yes, that's true," and we say, "Yes, that's true," and then in our will we make a choice to step out in that truth. That step is faith. There is no power in faith itself,...the power is found in the object of faith: Jesus Christ.

" Faith is not trying to believe something, regardless of the evidence; faith is daring something, regardless of the consequences."—Sherwood Eddy

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Father God, thank You for forming us and forging us into special creations of Your mighty hand. You have given us the capacity to have faith, and we want to have faith in the proper way,...in Your son, Jesus Christ. Teach our will to act on what is true, as revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. Amen.

" Grace and Acceptance, to be known fully, and loved just the same,...that's God."

Staying Strong Even As Our Bodies Weaken

Good Morning!! Imagine you're sitting in the office of your family physician,...but this isn't just any doctor, it's the office of the Great Physician. You thought it was just a routine visit to make sure everything was okay with your body, but with gentle and serious eyes, God asks you to sit down. "I've got good news, and bad news," He starts,...and deep inside you know He isn’t making a joke. Might as well start with the bad news? "Your body is deteriorating. You can't keep doing what you were doing."

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.—2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV)

So what's the good news? "You're not alone,...I've got you." The time, money, and energy that you've invested in your relationship with god, has not been wasted. You will not have to worry about what you will eat, or where you will stay,...just as He takes care of the birds of the air, and flowers of the fields,...He will surly take care of you. There is more to come, that surpasses all that has passed before,...a greater life than any we have known.

" He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose."—Jim Elliot

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Great Physician, thank You for our life-sustaining bodies. Use the reality of our deteriorating body to teach us about life. We don’t want to lose heart. We also don’t want to live in denial of the inevitable outward wasting away of our mortal body. Renew our souls daily, Lord, as we look toward our future on earth, and beyond,...without fear. Amen.

" Grace and Acceptance, to be known fully, and loved just the same,...that's God."