Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.
**********
“With the collapse of their spirit, there was a vacuum, a hole inside Adam and Eve that had to be filled. The soul took over where the spirit was once in charge.”
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 110.
The story of Adam and Eve is an interesting look back as well as a look ahead in the lives of the human species. Historically, the lesson we can learn from Adam and Eve is that depending on our own abilities and the results of our efforts is a victim charged way of doing life. Looking ahead, we can see how our lives can be just as challenged as we let our soul be the part of our being that determines how we will move through this world. We had better have both the past and the future in mind when it comes to Adam and Eve or we too will be stuck wondering who we are.
It is when Adam and Eve chose to go against God that all the trouble began. Their eyes were opened and they saw that they were naked. It was then that they did something that never had been done before. They killed! The very first death in all the world was a lamb that gave up its life to cover the shame they felt at being naked.
Crazy thing is that this death was a foreshadow of another death in the future that would also work to cover shame. Jesus is called the lamb many times in the Bible. His death was to cover the shame of sin we all have in our lives. The first blood shed by Adam and Eve foretold of blood that would be shed to save the world. Even in the wrongdoing of our ancestors, God works for the good of those yesterday, today and forever.
That's our history lesson for today. Now for what is before us. Not only was that first death something of significance in the world, so was the collapse of Adam and Eve's spirits. You see, we still suffer from the results of this event today. It was when the identity of shame set into their lives that Adam and Eve felt something akin to a death in side their being. Their spirits, the very part of them that communed with God every day shrunk and their souls - the will, intellect and emotional part of their being came to the forefront.
Much of what I talk about in these presentations is the result of working to overcome the soul's power so that the spirit can take its rightful place in my life. It is when the spirit is in control of the soul that we have the best chance for our victor status to have its way in our lives. Staying in a place where our soul is dominant is where failure can influence our lives in such a way as to make victim thinking a real possibility.
Today's Bible reading highlights the importance of our spirit in all that we do.
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26 (NIV)
Without our spirit we are as though dead. When we let our soul's be in control, when the powerful force of our wills, intellect and emotions are running the show, it's something similar to being dead. Our beings need the spirit - it's the only complete connection to God we have in this world. Relying only on our souls to get to God is a mistake of enormous proportions.
Even Jesus had to fight the soul's influence in his human life. In the Garden he said, "Not my will, but yours be done." Basically Jesus was saying, "Soul stand aside - I need the power of God to be what leads me or I will never be able to do the work my Father has for me."
That's what our reading today is also saying. Just as the body is dead without the spirit, so is our faith without the things God leads us to do. Important thing to remember that without Him, without that connection from our spirit to His, the works will be just as dead as well.
If you are like me you have a lot to do today. There are a lot of deeds you will need to tackle. It will take amazing feats of will, intellect and emotion to take on some of the deeds that you will come against today. That's totally OK. It isn't wrong to use the power of the soul to get done what needs to be done today. It is that the spirit is to be in control.
Before you get your day going take a second and ask the spirit to come alive. Give your soul permission to take a back seat and be driven by that connection to God that resides in you each and every moment you are alive. Let your spirit take on the role of guide so that the power of your soul can be unleashed in ways that makes your victor status something that God guarantees in your day today.
No comments:
Post a Comment