Month: February 2021

• For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh
• Rom 8:5a

The Body is the physical part of us as we have learnt, now what becomes of how we use our body is a result of the state of our Soul
The Apostle Paul Charged us to present our bodies a living Sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your Reasonable service.” Romans 12:1
You can only accept to present your body if the state of your Soul accepts to.
Since the Soul has three major components namely our mind, will and emotions. Our mind has a conscious part and a subconscious part.

The conscious mind is where we do our thinking and reasoning. The sub-conscious mind is where we hold our Faith and our attitudes. It’s also where we have our feeling, our emotions and retain our memories. Our will is what gives us the ability to make choices and decisions.
The function of your mind, will and emotions and how you respond to them will determine how your mind controls your lifestyle, how your decision determines your life and the effects of your emotions on daily living.
At the end of the day, the state of your soul is simply what determines your lifestyle as a Christian. It determines how you yield to the works of the flesh, if you allow your mind which is how you think, your will that is desire and your emotions which is how you feels to control your daily living.
The devil is a liar. Jesus called him … the father of lies and of all that is false (John 8:44.) He lies to
you and me. He tells us things about ourselves, about other people and about circumstances that are
just not true. He does not, however, tell us the entire lie all at one time.
He begins by bombarding our mind with a cleverly devised pattern of little nagging thoughts,suspicions, doubts, fears, wonderings, reasonings and theories. He moves slowly and cautiously. Remember, he has a strategy for his warfare. He has studied us for a long time.
He knows what we like and what we don’t like. He knows our insecurities, our weaknesses and our
fears. He knows what bothers us most. He is willing to invest any amount of time it takes to defeat us.
It starts with to being carnal.
Carnal mindedness doesn’t necessarily mean”sinful” mindedness. All sin is carnal, but not all carnality is sin. Carnal mindedness is allowing your mind, will and emotions to be dominated by what you can see, taste,hear, smell,and feel. You are carnally minded when your thoughts center primarily on the physical realm.
Through a very complex way, our mind, our will and our emotions are connected to the body through our endocrine, nervous and immune systems.
Health wise, if the state of your mind is not stable it sends a wrong signal to these system in your body.
Remember the scripture
Prov 23:7a “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
Which determines the state of your health.
Let’s look at these systems in the body.

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

The endocrine system is a network of glands in your body that make the hormones that help cells talk to each other. They’re responsible for almost every cell, organ, and function in your body.

If your endocrine system isn’t healthy, you might have problems developing during puberty, getting pregnant, or managing stress. You also might gain weight easily, have weak bones, or lack energy because too much sugar stays in your blood instead of moving into your cells where it’s needed for energy.

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

The Nervous System is a complex network of nerves and cells that carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord to various parts of the body
The nervous system is involved in receiving information about the environment around us and generating responses to that information and coordinating the two.

Immune System
A complex network of cells, tissues, organs, and the substances they make that helps the body fight infections and other diseases. The immune system includes white blood cells and organs and tissues of the lymph system, such as the thymus, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes, lymph vessels, and bone marrow.

With the above mentioned, you can relate with how your mind, will and emotions have Effects on your health.
Which determines how healthy, fit and active we become in your daily living.

From the Above we could understand that the states of our soul have effects on our thoughts, lifestyle and health either positive or negative.

The Dimension of man which deals with the
mental realm. Man’s intellect. The sensibilities and will. The part that reasons and thinks. With the body we contact the physical realm
and with the spirit we contact the spiritual realm, that left only
the soul to locate. Since the body deals with the physical realm
and the spirit deals with the spiritual realm, that left only one
other realm that man is involved in which is the mental realm. So with
the Soul we contact the intellectual realm.
The Soul is very important with the state of the body and also the spirit in the mental realm. The Soul which is the Mind helps to determine the actual state of the body and spirit based on your response to it.
Romans 12:1 we see in Paul’s teachings that we are to do
something with our bodies. “. . . Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” In the very next verse Paul goes on to say something
about the mind, which is man’s intellect, or his soul. He said that we are to do something with our mind also. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Verse 2).
Paul was writing here to believers. He was not writing to the
heathen. He was not writing to people of the world. He was
writing to born-again, Spirit-filled Christians. Yet their Christian
experience had not affected their bodies or their minds. He told
them that if they were going to have to do something with their
bodies; they were going to have to do something with their
minds.
The Soul is simply your mind.
Your mind plays a very vital role in your life as a Christian. It is your will, intellect, how you feel and your response to situations.

Your Soul Is Very Important To Your Walk With God And Your Success In Life

BRING YOUR THOUGHTS UNDER CONTROL
It is said that every battle is won or lost in the mind. Well this applies too to the battle against the flesh. Let the Spirit govern your thoughts. Before you dwell too much on any thought, ask yourself if that is going to lead you to sin. If it is, dismiss it before it goes beyond being a simple thought to becoming a sinful act.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”

EMBRACE QUITE TIME DAILY

This is a Time you are alone with The Holy Spirit. It is usually a Time of intercourse with the Holy Spirit. A moment of INTIMACY.

The fellowship with the Spirit is so important because we are united to Christ in the bonds of the Holy Spirit. We communicate with Him and He with us. He is our teacher and guide. He leads us. He is our advocate within who interprets the desires of our heart and the will of God. He gives us the power to do the will of God. He convicts us of sin and exhorts us to go to the cleansing fountain.
Set A Consistent Time With The Holy Spirit And Just Fellowship with Him.
Make a deep Worship and wait let Him speaks.
It is always an awesome Moments In His Presence.

MEDITATE ON THE WORD OF GOD EVERYDAY

Reading and Meditating the word daily gives you a daily reminder of the standards by which you should live. It refreshes your mind and Spirit and keeps you focused.

Life could get really busy and hectic at times and we could neglect studying the bible. You don’t have to read very long portions of the bible at a time; meditating on a few verses a day is alright. Just create the time and be committed to it. Just don’t skip a day!

Joshua 1:8 “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

MAKE PRAYER A HABIT
Let prayer be a habit. Fall in love with prayer! Pray at every moment, at any place and at all times! Practice saying quick prayers in your mind or out loud when faced with a temptation; ask the Holy Spirit for help.

Remember the battle against the flesh is not a physical battle; it is a spiritual battle so you have to use the right weapons to fight.

Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Don’t overestimate yourself;
You might think you would not give into any temptation because you are strong and have overcome the flesh through Jesus – which indeed you have – but as long as you live in the corruptible body, you are prone to the sinful desires of the flesh. So it’s better to avoid anything that will lead you into sin. Watch what you look at, the places you go to, the people you hang out with or anything that will bring temptation your way.

Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

BE ACCOUNTABLE TO SOMEBODY

You could find someone or a small group of people who are strong in the faith and are committed to spiritual growth to be accountable to. Make sure these people are able to hold you accountable.

Creating accountability for yourself makes you more careful not to sin and keeps you alert. God uses others to rebuke and discipline you when you are wrong because he loves you.

Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”.

1Cor 9:27
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

What does it mean to Subdue?
To Subdue means to put under control. Looking at our text for Today, Apostle Paul puts his body under subjection meaning that he recognised the works of Flesh and choose to subdue it.
We are called to walk in the Spirit for the bible says we are Spirit. However since the Spirit has a home in this tent, the flesh, we have a tendency of ending up walking in the flesh. So, in order for us to subdue this flesh and bring under the subjection of the Spirit, certain things have to happen and a lot of shifts of a divine nature have to occur. By subduing the flesh means it will be under the control of the Spirit not the flesh Reigning.

Jesus in Mark 14: 38 said that “the spirit indeed is ready, but the flesh is weak”.

The principle here is that the spirit is the driving force behind anything we do.

However, the weak flesh can impede the desires of the spirit man and that is why we must bring the flesh under subjection. When you get to a stage of purification (there are glory to glories of purification), your fellowship with God and His heavenly sons will intensify. This is when we begin to see what eye hath not seen and hear what ear hath not heard.

While we are sons of God, we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity according to Ps 51: 5. The imagery is that of a mold (for example jello). If you put the liquid in the mold, the solid product takes on the exact shape of the mold that it was placed in. In other words, we were born in a mold of sin and took on the shape of sin. We acquired this mold because Adam abandoned the mold God had created for him.
Galatians 5:17
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

The Son of God becomes Son of Man so that you can be born as a son of God (John 1; Hebrews 2; 1 John 3). So, you change places. He takes your place in death, freeing you to take a place with Him in life.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says He takes our sins so completely that we “become the righteousness of God.”

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.… For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:10,14)

Are you at the center of your religion? Do you depend on yourself, and trust your own works to please God? If so, step away from such and depends only on the grace of Christ. Let Him into the center. He has already received the full blast of God’s judgement for you. Let Him now give you “rebirth” and a new life.
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit… (Titus 3:4-5).

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God… (1 Peter 1:22-23).

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7).

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother (1 John 4:20-21).
Our relationship with God is one of faith. We cannot see Him, but we believe in Him. We cannot touch God, or hug Him, as children do to show love for their parents. But God gives us a way to express love for Him by caring for His family members.

We show respect for the Father by respecting His children. We give priority to God by giving priority to His spiritual family. We smile at God by smiling at His children. We hug our Father by treating His children with warmth and kindness.

A little kindness goes a long way, some people only needs word of encouragement (soul lifting words). Love can be shown in divers ways;

If you see anyone around hungry or needy in one area or the other don’t just ignore because the person is not your blood relation- because some people can only help their family members which is not supposed to be so, always remember that the blood of Jesus was shed for all mankind(John 3:16) Is it written in the Bible passage that for God so loved some set of people NO! It says “For God so loved the world”. Show kindness to people around you either big or small just try to bless the lives around you.

The story of five loaves of bread🍞 and two fishes 🐟 just popped into my mind (Matthew 14:15-21) Jesus didn’t say because it was 5 loaves and 2 fishes let me discharge the multitudes and eat with my disciples alone, No! Jesus multiplied the food and it was more than enough for five thousand men aside from women and children, they were all fed. Jesus should be our example we can’t be proclaiming that we are Christians when our lifestyles are different from that of Jesus. God is love and every children of His should reflect the love of God.

To look at Christ dying for our sins is to look into the face of perfect love. Nails do not hold Him to that wood. He can come down. He can call heaven’s armies. Instead He drinks every bitter drop of suffering. Only the deepest love for you and me holds Him on that cross. Listen to the kindness uttered from the depths of His agony. We might expect Him to care for His mother (John 19:26-27). But what about His enemies? Even as nails are tearing, bleeding His life away, He says,

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth (1John 3:16-17).

A NEW KIND OF LOVE
That phrase, “just as Christ loved us” (Ephesians 5:2), reveals the key to what Jesus meant by His “new command.”
“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
“Love” itself is not new, for the Old Testament emphasized it. But John 13 records “a new command” in its greater measure, in its deeper level of sacrifice, in its sheer intensity! Love as Jesus loves! Imitate the sacrificed Son so closely that the world can recognize your family likeness.

Bible Text:
1 Thessalonians 5:23
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”

The human being consists of three parts – body, soul, and spirit.

In other words, Man is a spirit who have a soul and dwells in a body.
The body is that physical part of us referred to in the Bible as “the flesh” (Galatians 5:16) and our “earthly tent”
(II Corinthians 5:1). It is our temporary home, and is not the real “us” – it is only the place in which the real person lives while on earth.
At death it will return to the dust and rot in the ground.

The soul is the “living” part of us. It is the soul which sees, feels, hears, and thinks – forever!

The soul includes the mind, will, and emotions. Therefore, we contact the intellectual and emotional realms with the soul.

Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body (see Acts 2:27). Though the body is dead – though the eyes no longer see, for example – the soul continues to see in Hades (the temporary resting place for the souls of the dead). In Luke 16:23 the rich man is described as “in Hades he lifted up his eyes”- a figure of speech meaning that he continued to see.

The soul is the life of the human being. When the soul leaves, the eyes no longer see and the ears no longer hear. The eyes and ears were merely physical means through which the soul operated while on earth.

The spirit is the deep inner part of a person. When God made man in His image (Genesis 1:26), He made him a spirit being. Since God is Spirit (John 4:24), neither the physical part of man, nor his soul, is in the image of God. It is in being a spirit that man is made in God’s image.
In being a spirit, man is a moral being. He is not to operate by instinct (see II Peter 2:12), but he has a choice of doing right or wrong.

It’s easy to define what our body is, because it’s the part of us that’s visible. It contacts the physical realm—the realm we can touch and observe.

It’s more difficult to distinguish between our soul and spirit. We can’t see or touch either of them physically. But it’s important to understand the difference between them. If we don’t, we won’t be led by the Holy Spirit. Instead, we’ll be led by our soul in the situations of life.

We see that the soul and spirit can be separated by God’s Word: “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow” (Heb. 4:12 NLT).

The Word of God can “cut between,” or separate, the soul and spirit of man because they are different.
It is the spirit that God uses to communicate to our soul.

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