Monday, August 8, 2011

My Soul

My soul.
The central part of me that contains my will, my emotion, my intuition, my conscience, etc.....
Defined by God as the part that also contains my willful disobedience.
The sin nature.
I'm not smart enough to figure all this out. I'm sure there is someone out there who will read this and say, "Bless his little heart..he is so misguided."
Am I?
I don't believe so.
I know that there is such a thing as sin nature or, as apostle Paul called it, "The Flesh."
It is the bent in me to do the wrong thing.
The thing that leads me to be rebellious against God. To want to be independent from God doing what I want to do.
Romans 7: 14-17
For we know that the Law is spiritual. But I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For that which I am doing, I do not understand. For I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the law, confessing that it is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me.

I don't know all the theological terms for this nature, but I do  know this.
If I look at my life, I see a lot of wrong and damage that I have done by the choices I have made. This has nothing to do with my intellect or education. It has everything to do with me being a slave to sin. See the sad part in all of this, I thought I was in control I thought I was the one running the show. I thought I was the one in control. Turns out I was wrong, I was a slave to sin, sold into bondage. Without Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I will continue to make choices that are contrary to the will of God. I have to bring my soulish nature under this Lordship I desire Jesus to have in my life.

In Luke 1:46, we read where Mary, the mother of Jesus, has been told about God's plan to birth Messiah through her. Mary has gone to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who also has been visited by God and now carries a baby, John the baptizer, who will be the one who proclaims the Kingdom of God is at hand. In verse 46, Mary says, "My soul exalts the Lord." My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My soul magnifies the Lord. In other words, Mary realizes the power and ability of God to bring the sin nature under His authority and power.

With the birth of Jesus, the old way of doing things was numbered. Redemption was here Salvation was coming to a hill called Calvary and, like an atom bomb, His death and resurrection would explode and destroy the penalty of sin, the power of sin and the presence of sin. It would create a ripple that would span down through the ages, all the while never losing power or ability. The salvation that is offered today is the same as the day Jesus declared "It is finished!"

"My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regard for the humble state of His bondslave."

God on you....
mb



1 comment:

Bobby said...

God will restore (Ps.23) our souls if we will just let Him. God saved my soul, and it is presently being restored!

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD

Listening to Keith Green this morning as he sings "How Majestic Is Your Name". I had to  ask myself, "Do I truly unerstnd the...