Understanding Spirit, Soul And Body (4)

And have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge – Colossians 3:10

In continuation of our series on the differences between the spirit, soul and body, today we shall dwell on how to cultivate these three aspects of human for optimal performance.

Growth is a natural process for most living beings; and by virtue of being a living, the body, the spirit and the soul of human are susceptible to a growth process from a smaller state to a higher or bigger one.

Whilst the body develops through a biological or natural process; the same cannot be said of the other entities making a human. The spirit and soul do not grow or develop through a detached biological process. On the contrary, they have to be consciously cultivated before they can develop.

Even the human body needs more than the workings of biology to blossom and remain fit; as it needs constant attention to be at its best and serve its owner optimally. The same way the spirit and soul require dedicated attention to develop.

For the soul, which has a bearing on the mind and thoughts, it derives its nourishment from knowledge. The best way to develop the human soul is to expose it to learning. The extent that one is exposed to information is the extent his soul will be able. For the soul, the saying, ‘information is power’ is most apposite, as a soul derives its ability to process information and arrives at a course of action based on the exposure it has to knowledge on the matter in hand.

A soul that is not informed will be prone to make bad decisions; while the enlightened soul will most likely make wise choices. Information is the nourishment of the soul. That is why our reference passage above says that the new man within is “renewed in knowledge.” Meanwhile, the depth of bearing of the soul is usually determined by the level of exposure it has to knowledge.

To be continued…

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Understanding Spirit, Soul And Body (3)

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12

Of all the three entities that make a man, the most complex to explain or understand is the soul. Perhaps, that is why it is often confused for the spirit, or its activities misrepresented as that of the flesh.

The soul is the part of man that constitutes his real personality. It is what is otherwise called the inner man. The inner man is not the spirit; it is the soul. The soul is the summation of the personality of man, with direct bearing on the mind, and dictating the pattern and kind of thoughts, desires, feelings, choices, impulses, preferences, peeves, decision making, and other such complex inner workings and processes of man.

The soul is the real person that is powered by the spirit to operate through a body form. Simply put, the soul is the nature of the spirit projected through the flesh. It is what is referred to as the “nature” of man. It is the one that influences individual behaviours and peculiar ways of doing things. The soul is the real person; the expression of the spirit inside through the form of flesh.

Perhaps, this analogy will help us to understand the three entities better: imagine a car; on its own, a car cannot do much without an engine. Even when it has an engine, it cannot drive itself unless there is someone to drive and control its courses. The human spirit is the engine that powers the car; the human body is the built of the vehicle; whilst the human soul is the driver that steers the vehicle in whatever direction he chooses. These three are interdependent and cannot function adequately without one another.

To be continued…

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Understanding Spirit, Soul And Body (2)

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.” – Matthew 12:43

The spirit is the entity that animates the body and supplies it the energy to live. Spirit gives life (read John 6:63 and 2 Corinthians 3:6). Blood is the tangible representation of the spirit. That is why the Bible says ‘the life of every creature is in its blood’ (Leviticus 17:11, 14). Once a creature is drained of blood, the spirit departs from such being and he/she/it becomes a lifeless body.

However, even while the spirit is emblemised by blood, it is nonetheless an invisible entity. It takes more than the physical eyes to see a spirit. It is not a tangible thing, and it can do little on its own except through a physical form. That explains why the spirit is accommodated in a body, through which it lives and operates.

The body is the physical container that houses the spirit, and the spirit is the power source that gives life to the body, without a spirit in a body, the body will be lifeless, the same way a spirit without a body may just be a nuisance all over the place and may not realise its full potential because a spirit is at its best when it is inside a tangible form. That is why the legion of unclean spirits that Jesus cast out of the man at the country of the Gadarenes earnestly begged Him not to render them homeless, but allow them to enter a herd of swine nearby (Mark 5:1-13, Luke 8:36-33). If Jesus hadn’t given them permission to go into the swine, they would have been floating frantically in the air looking for a willing or unguarded vessel to enter.

Such is the extent that spirits depend on a physical form to function.

To be continued…

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Understanding Spirit, Soul and Body (1)

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Thessalonians 5:23

In the following days, we shall meditate on the much confusing issue of the spirit, soul and body of man. We will explore the differences between these entities, their individual operations and functions, how each can be enhanced and cultivated, as well as the final destination for each of them.

In Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” The Bible later introduced God to us as a tripartite Being: “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). Therefore, when God set out to create humans in His image and likeness, He also made a tripartite creature, just like Himself. He created a spirit being who has a soul and lives or operates through a body.

Some scholars usually interpret the spirit and soul to mean the same thing or perform the same functions. No, they are not the same, nor do they do the same thing. As our reference scripture above states, the spirit, soul and body are separate entities, and they perform functions unique to each of them.

The spirit is the entity that animates the body and supplies it the energy to live. Spirit gives life (read John 6:63 and 2 Corinthians 3:6). Blood is the tangible representation of the spirit. That is why the Bible says ‘the life of every creature is in its blood’ (Leviticus 17:11, 14). Once a creature is drained of blood, the spirit departs from such being and he/she/it becomes a lifeless body.

To be continued…

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

PUSH

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room was filled with light and the Saviour appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, day after day.

For many years, he toiled from sun up to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore, and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, the adversary decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man’s weary mind: “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn’t budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it.” Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. “Why kill myself over this?” he thought. “I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort and that will be good enough.”

And that is what he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.

“Lord,” he said, “I have laboured long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimetre. What is wrong? Why am I failing?”

The Lord responded compassionately, “My son, when I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push, and now you come to me, with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so?

“Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition, you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done. I, my son, will now move the rock.”

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves the mountains.

Author Unknown

Meditation: But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Where To Look For Business & Career Success

Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. – Proverbs 20:5

When seeking the roadmap to sustainable success and significance in your career or business, you should essentially look in three directions for resources that will help you accomplish your objectives:

LOOK UP: You should look up to God for the instructions and blueprint of what you are meant to do. Then the direction detailing how you are to go about it, when, where, how, with whom. You should also look for His favour in your endeavours, so that you don’t run in vain.

LOOK INWARD: the second place you look is inside yourself. You should do a written inventory of your strengths, your skills, your flairs, your talents and the gifts of God in you which have commercial value or potential you can trade in the marketplace. Finally, you should

LOOK OUT: for opportunities in the marketplace where the application of your endowments will prove both useful and profitable; look out for the appropriate environment or context where your skills can flourish or be best utilised. You should also look out for books and resources that can help you to grow or master your trade, as well as people who can be useful to you as mentors, coaches, strategic partners, service providers, amongst others.

These three steps are by no means exhaustive in accomplishing your business or career objectives. But they sure can start you on the right path if you adhere to them rightly and diligently.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Finding Peace and Fulfillment

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:41-42

Fulfilment is achieved only by fitting into the slot where you belong. That is another way of saying filling the hole you are cut out for, or that is customised for you to occupy in the socio-economic scheme of things of your environment. A better way of putting it is saying that you meet the pressing needs of people and corporate concerns around you.

Although your doing that may not be financially rewarding at the beginning, the gains and other gratifications that come from doing what you are cut out for would certainly come with time, that is in addition to the fulfilment you derive from doing what really matters and making a difference.

Then, the more you sharpen (develop) yourself to enable you fit into your niche more perfectly, the better and the more valuable you become such that you not only develop in your niche, but you are further empowered to offer greater value to more people at a higher level nationally or globally. This comes when you are patient, diligent, industrious, and you look at the big picture.

Most people usually consider the immediate picture and thus jump ships so frequently, moving from place to place without taking time to settle into one thing to explore the depth of it and see if that is where they are really called. By being thus shifty, they subject themselves to a lifetime of frustration and an unsettled spell.

You find peace and fulfilment by filling your own hole in your vocation, career, business, marriage, ministry and so on.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!