Take Off The Limits!
Marsha Deveaux Johnson
1st Thessalonians 5:23
“And the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly; and I pray your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” KJV
For the Believer these words recorded in scripture are critical in our understanding of who we are and what God can do in and through us. First of all, we are charged to know that we are spirit (communicator with God), we possess a soul (intellect/mind, will, & emotions), and live in a physical body (flesh, blood, & bones).
When we enter this world through birth, we are sensitized in the area of our soul and body. Our soul dominates our existence and also governs the actions of the physical body. Our spirit, which is really who we are lies dormant until something happens to give it life. This life giving happening for the spirit is recorded in Ephesians 2:1 by Apostle Paul. It is encountering and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Here is what takes place when you receive Jesus. Paul says, “And you hath He quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”KJV
When your spirit receives Christ and comes alive, you have finally activated the part of you that allows the thoughts, intents and purposes, of God to flow. Your spirit can now begin to govern your soul and body. The challenge is that up until this time the soul has been in power and wants to remain in power.
The new message is to live out of your spirit that is now activated by God’s word. The soul must be dethroned. The spirit (human spirit) with the thoughts, intents, and purposes of God should now govern the soul and body. This process takes place over time under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
As you continue to walk with God, daily conforming to the image of Christ, your soul through your intellect hears and processes God’s word. The final resting place in you for this compilation of God’s word is in your spirit (human spirit). Your spirit is as vast as Eternity and it knows, retains, and comprehends God’s word.
Your soul is limited and cannot consciously deliver all that you have learned at any one given time. Your spirit on the contrary can deliver to you the word of God that is needed for your life circumstance instantly.
Your spirit is not limited in its comprehension of the power, purpose, plan, and will of the Father for you. Therefore, the Believer must allow the spirit to govern the soul and the body will follow the soul!
As a Believer I struggled with my desire to please God and walk fully in His presence. I would agonize over circumstances and choices wondering if I made the “right choices” or “discerned clearly”, or “heard God”, or “pleased Him”. God is Father, He knows His children and comes to our rescue even when we are not aware that we need to be rescued. He comes to our soul only in rescue mode (when you are totally exhausted). He desires to communicate with us Spirit (God) to spirit (human spirit).
He rescued me so simply by speaking to me. My paraphrase of what He said is this, “You are trying to wrap your brain around and comprehend Me in your soul and it will never happen. Your soul is limited. Your spirit is not. The mechanism in you for communication with Me is your spirit. Live out of your spirit. I am Spirit, communicate with Me Spirit (God) to spirit (human spirit) (John 4:24).
Anyone who does laundry will understand the illustration that God gave to me. There are washing machines that load from the top of the machine and others that load from the front. His clear word to me was you cannot load a machine that opens on top from the front. There is no opening in the front to load the clothes. Duuuhhh! Your spirit has a purpose and it is to govern the soul and body with the vastness of God, the unlimited power and possibilities of God, the word of God, & the desire for truth. In short, your spirit reveals to you the vastness of Eternity right here on earth. Your soul does not have this capacity.
This “living out of your spirit” allows eternal peace to prevail in your life. It allows eternal joy to prevail in your life regardless of circumstances around you. It always whispers to you that God is not the “great I could be”, He is the “Great I AM”. You will discover that you can have His same peace and joy on both sides of Eternity.
A maturing Believer knows that sooner or later the soul operation is inadequate to deal with the vastness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Growth can only occur as you begin to live out of your spirit. Here are some practical entrances to accomplishing living out of your spirit. The greatest way of course is to listen to the Holy Spirit in you.
· Start by daily confessing before Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that you live out of your spirit.
· Feed your spirit God’s word. Use your intellect and will in this process (2nd Timothy 2:15).
· Speak God’s word, God’s plan, God’s purpose, God’s will or say nothing at all. You are accountable for your words (Matthew 12:36).
· Do not fight with negative thought patterns. This only gives power and attention to the soul.
· When intruding, negative, godless, self-seeking, thoughts occur in your soul, silence them by deliberately turning to meditate or to say whatever is just, lovely, pure, positive, and of good report (Philippians 4:8). The good things will arise from your spirit if you use your will. Make a deliberate decision to meditate, say, and sing God’s word.
· Make a deliberate turn (use your will) and focus on truth, justice, love, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Start your “gaze” upon these things and the power of the negative in the soul will diminish.
· Cease to reason, mull, and agonize over your decisions and actions. Submit them to Father and out of your spirit will come proper responses in all circumstances that you face. Your intellect was given for you to embrace the knowledge needed in life. However, a successful life is totally dependent upon your Father’s presence, not your intellect.
Take off the limitations of your soul!
Living out of your spirit is the way to experience Eternity right here and
right now!
0 comments:
Post a Comment