My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. (Luke 1:46-47 NIV)
I used to think that the words “soul” and “spirit” were always interchangeable, until more recently when I was taught that in the Bible “soul” often delineates our mind, emotions, and will, and “spirit” is often the place where the Holy Spirit lives within us. Obviously, these are very different areas of our lives, but God calls us to use all the areas of our life to love, honor, and worship him. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37 NIV) Irrespective of the labels applied to the parts of our lives, we are to love God with all that we are.
Last weekend I attended a conference that was so dense with spiritually “good stuff” that I’m sorting through it, piece by piece. Among many other things the keynote speaker talked about the difference between living from our spirit – the Holy Spirit placed within us when we become believers – and our minds – the place that can be the “devil’s territory.” I don’t really like to think of my mind as the enemy’s playground, but if I stop to measure every thought against Christ…. well, yeah. God gives us brilliant minds, but they can easily be ambushed, if we aren’t careful. When every thought is taken captive and made obedient to Christ, THEN and only then can our minds be fully used by God for Kingdom work. When our mind is not renewed, it will pull us out of a place of faith, but when it is renewed with the Word of God, it will agree with our spirit’s faith.
Our faith isn’t housed in our minds. It’s in our spirits.
When we become believers in Jesus as Messiah for our lives, God places Holy Spirit in our individual spirits. God doesn’t talk to the mind, but to the spirit within us because we are spirit beings and God intends us to be led by the Holy Spirit. If we intentionally tune out the noise of the enemy in our minds, we can hear the voice of God within our spirits. And as we grow in that ability to hear God, our faith will continue to grow.
Quieting my mind and being focused on God’s Voice in my spirit is definitely a growing edge for me. Perhaps for you, too?? There is a lot of “noise” in our worlds and it can take effort to “Be STILL” and know that God is God. Yet, when we are able to hear the Holy Spirit within us, we will have more of the Fruits of the Spirit – like love, joy, and peace. (Who doesn’t want more peace in this world?!?) When we come to him weary and heavy-ladened, he will give us rest. That free gift of rest and peace comes from recognizing the voice of God within us and trusting God with all of who we are.
More later on all this, but for now, let us pray:
God,
Help us quiet the amazing minds you’ve given us.
Help us hear and focus on your sweet Spirit within us.
Help us love you with all that we are.
Grow our faith and give us rest and peace, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NLT)
We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5 GW)
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10 NIV)
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)