Saturday, December 11, 2010

The Soul-the Fulcrum of Life - by Traci Carson


“Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things,“Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not (Jer.33:3).”

Father’s riches are unsearchable. Moment by moment He is unfolding His glorious ultimate intention to those who seek Him diligently (Heb.11:6). Presently He is revealing why His people have floundered about in their vision, perspective, calling and purpose for the last two millennia.

Our Lord is more interested in what is going on within us than what is going on around us. When the inside of man is taken care of, the outside automatically follows into His Divine order. The natural man works from the outside in, but the spiritual man understands that the Lord works from the inside (the spirit-man - the real man), through the soul (our mind, will and emotions) to the outside (our body).

Our spirit-man is the New Creation, born again by the Spirit of God. Our spirit-man has the capacity to hear and obey the voice of God, it is washed, sanctified, justified and glorified, it is a treasure in the vessel of our bodies, and it is empowered by the “Resurrection Power” of our God (1 Cor.6:11; 2 Cor.4:7;-18).

Time and again we have seen great men and women of God rise up and fall down. How can this happen? It doesn’t just happen without warning. It’s a click by click thing that takes place within the soul, destroying the destiny and purpose of an individual. If it came straight at us like a freight train we would see it, but when it’s click by click, here a little, there a little we don’t see it as easily do we? - Especially when we are busy “doing” rather than “being” in the character and nature of Christ through our doing.

Our Lord desires for every Believer’s soul and body to be strengthened with power by the Spirit within the spirit-man. We are three-part beings. We are Spirit beings with a soul, and we live in a body which is spiritually known as a tent (2 Pet.1:13,14). We are made in the image of God who is also a three-part being (Gen.1:26). He is a Three in One God. There is the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. He is One God, not three. Just as looking in the mirror you see one person, there is also the spirit and a soul that make up the person you are.

The problem with most of God’s people is they live from their soul and flesh rather than their spirit and therefore double-mindedness is the result (James 1:8). The Lord wants to dwell in all three realms of our being, not just one. His desire is to possess us, spirit, soul and body (1 Thess:5:23; 3 Jn.2; Rom.8:5-11).

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and opens the door, I will come in, and sup with him, and he with Me.”

The Lord is not talking to the world in this passage; He is talking to His people. He is knocking on the door to our soul. His goal is to be Lord over our mind (our reasoning and imagination), over our emotions (healing, peace, joy), and our will (our day to day decisions). He not only desires to live within us, but also fill us with all of His fullness. He has a deep desire to move from the inside to the outside.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matt.7:21-23)

For far too long the soul has flowed through the flesh as it worked the gifts of God. The gifts are given freely by Him, but the fruit must be grown, and it is grown as we allow His workings in our lives, it is grown by intimate fellowship with Him. It is here in this place of intimacy that we come to know Him and experience Him face to face.

The Lord allowed me to experience working through His gifts without Him for a very long and tormenting season. I was greatly disturbed by this and stopped. Ministry didn’t halt for me, I was in ministry and had responsibilities of ministry; however, the flow of His Spirit was not manifesting in my life and the temptation to flow from my flesh was smack in my face! What looked like failure and loss of anointing to some, and even to my self, was a vastly in depth working within my being for the greater works He has purposed for me.

Our spirit is automatically in line with God - our soul however must decide from moment to moment whether it will go with the desire of the flesh or the way of the Spirit. Our soul is the mediator between the spirit and flesh. When our soul (mind, will and emotions) follows the spirit-man - our body will follow.

Just as Jesus is the mediator between us and Father, so is our soul between our body and the spirit. There is no way that we can reach Father without Jesus. He is the only way to Father (Jn.14:6). There is no way our body can reach our spirit and line up with our spirit without the soul. The soul is the mediator. Our body is the physical manifest presence of our spirit and soul. The Holy Spirit is the physical manifest presence of the Father and the Son.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor.4:16-18).”

The only way we can apprehend this most amazing and incredible reality is to comprehend the love of our Father. It is then that we are able to receive the gift of promise, which is the fullness of our God. It is ours, but condemnation has kept many from this promise.

“… For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment (1 Jn.3:20-23).”

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Rom.8:1).

The spirit of man knows that God doesn’t have love, He is Love. He never runs out of Himself, and never stops loving and giving Himself; however, the soul that follows after the things of the natural man often times builds a wall up that keeps “Himself” away from them.

Now before we go on here, I do realize there are those who control others in abusive and manipulative ways; in this case I’m not talking about controlling people, I’m talking about sound/mature people giving love.

Have you ever tried to love someone who refuses to be loved? You are gentle and kind, patient and giving, but they reject your kindness and wonder what hoops they have to jump through to please you, so therefore they reject what you’re giving. In case you don’t know what I mean by “hoop jumping”, it is likened to those little dogs you see in a circus show that jump through fiery hoops in order to get a treat from their master. This is what many do with Father; they reject His love and kindness. They reject His gift of promise by either jumping through hoops like a little doggy in hopes of being received or they may be fearful of rejection because they know they are a failure at performance, so why bother.

The gift of promise is free; although we must understand there are consequences for our lack of maturing our soul towards the things of the Spirit (3 Jn.2; 1 Thess.5:23; Heb.10:39). Just as a person who desires good physical shape needs to exercise their bodies daily, so it is in the spiritual. In the natural if we put a sweat band on around our head, sit down in front of the Television, and eat junk food while we watch “exercise shows”- nothing would happen would it? We may be given exercise equipment with attractive sweat gear, but if we don’t apply what’s been given we will never see the results, nor will we experience the joy of being physically strong and healthy. This isn’t hoop jumping, this is just called the reality of life. Some people are spiritual blobs and expect a magic wand to flow over them and change them instantly into His image. How nice that would be, however, that is not reality.

When we follow the principles of God, our soul and flesh are no longer in torment. Our spirit is automatically in line with God, even in tribulation and trials our spirit-man is full of peace and joy. This is why Apostle Paul says to “Walk in the Spirit (Gal.5:16).

In Psalms 42 David writes an incredible revelation that I don’t think he was fully aware of. At the time of his writing the soul was often spoken of as the spirit; however, at that time the spirit of man was not saved. As we read this Psalm we see David taking authority over his soul and commanding it to line up with God.

The following Scriptures point out the prophetic revelation given and the joy and peace that followed as they flowed with the Spirit of the Living God.

As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night,

While they continually say to me,

“Where

is your God?”

When I remember these things,

I pour out my soul within me.

For I used to go with the multitude;

I went with them to the house of God,

With the voice of joy and praise,

With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him

For the help of His countenance.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me;

Therefore I will remember You from the land of the

Jordan

,

And from the heights of Hermon,

From the Hill Mizar.

Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;

All Your waves and billows have gone over me.

The LORD will command His loving-kindness in the daytime,

And in the night His song shall be with me—

A prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God my Rock,

“Why have You forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

As with a breaking of my bones,

My enemies reproach me,

While they say to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.

In Luke 1:46, 47 Mary glorifies God by saying, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior…” Notice Mary says her spirit “has”, and she speaks “presently” of her soul. Our spirit always rejoices in the Lord; however, our soul must be taught and matured to follow the things of the spirit. Although I doubt Mary and David understood the fullness of their words, it is profoundly prophetic as they identified their soul lining up with the things of God. It’s easy for our soul to rejoice when we receive a blessing, but when going through difficult times it is a whole different story isn’t it?

We can go through healing and deliverance all day, all week long, but if we don’t understand the operation of the soul and how the flesh attempts to determine how the soul will flow, then healing and deliverance will never fully come into fruition.

We have seen incredible men and women of God pass away from deadly and debilitating diseases. These men and women have been beaten up horribly by condemnation. They have confessed, repented, and turned away from sin and continue being sick. They go deeper within examining, deeper beyond and no change in their physical condition. I believe we must come to a place where we know Father loves us, has healed us, and has forgiven us because we have humbly asked Him to.

When we have confessed our sins from the heart, turned from our sins, then we must have faith to know He isn’t making us beg. We are not beggars; we are the sons of God (Rom.8:12-14; Gal.5:18)! God forbid that any son of God pass away and have his brethren say, “He didn’t have enough faith… he had hidden sin in his life… he gave up, etc. Yes, there are those who would not repent, or turn away from; I’m not talking about such people, I’m talking about those who are upright in heart and love God with all their all their heart, with all their soul, with all their strength, and with all their mind, and love their neighbor as them self.

There is a rest in our Lord that some are coming into a fuller understanding of. They rest in His Love, Mercy and Grace. They don’t spit on His grace, but honor and respect His precious gifts. They know His Love experientially. When others accuse, they know His Truth and feeling toward them, and nothing can take that away from them. This pleases Father because they receive His gift without hoop jumping from the soul to the flesh, and the flesh to the soul, like the little dog jumping through the hoops with a spin, back and forth with the direction of the force exerted by another spin that never ends.

As we rest in His Love, Grace and Mercy, we know that when we do fall, and we will, it is His Love that pulls us up, heals our wounds, and encourages us to walk forth in and through the righteousness of Christ Himself, given to us from our Father by faith (Phil.3:9).

We must always remember that we are changing from glory to glory, we are not to remain the same.

All of us, as with an unveiled face, because we continue to behold in the Word of God as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Cor.3:18 – Amp).

What I was yesterday is not who I am today, and what I am today is not what I will be tomorrow.

As we bring our soul into subjection to our spirit-man, the real man, we will come to realize the true peace and joy of knowing wholeness and power in His Oneness; no longer double-minded, but whole with our spirit who is automatically in line with the Trinity and flowing together in unity likened to the image of the One True God.

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