Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: soul

  • Above the Golden Rule

    Above the Golden Rule

    Jesus said: “This is the great and first commandment.”

    Do you know what it is?

    You do not have to be a Christian to know the golden rule. We have heard it quoted by unbelievers as a standard of behavior that we should love one another.  But do not fall into the trap of the world in giving a commandment of God and an emphasis of Jesus a misplacement in your priorities.

    In fact, that is the trap the Pharisees and Sadducees often tried to bait with their questions to Jesus. Whatever His answer, they had a better one… or so they thought. In fact in this instance they probably had the Ten Commandments in mind.

    Matthew 22

    The Great Commandment

    34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

    36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

    37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.

    39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

    What is Jesus saying here?

    In context of the Ten Commandments, the first four Commandments relate to our obedience to and worship of the Living God. These are the MOST important, yet even Christians have a tendency to overlook their importance.

     Deuteronomy 5:

    6“‘I am the Lord your God…

    7 “‘You shall have no other gods before me.

    8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them…

    11 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

    12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God…

    The second is like it… The ‘golden rule’ is a summary of Commandments IV – X, which all relate to how as God’s family we must love one another; yet first: You shall love the Lord OUR GOD!

    Matthew  22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

    37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.

    Worship God with ALL your heart, soul, and mind!

    What does this “greatest Commandment” mean to followers of Christ Jesus who have a personal relationship with the Living God?

    Understand what Jesus tells us about our worship of the Lord here:

    • Heart -‘ kardia’ – ‘denotes the centre of all physical and spiritual life’
    • Soul – ‘psychē’ – the breath of life; the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.); the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body)
    • Mind – ‘dianoia’ – the mind as a faculty of understanding, feeling, desiring; way of thinking and feeling; thoughts, either good or bad

    Does JESUS mean to say that GOD should be the center of our physical and spiritual life? Does our ‘lord’ mean to say that the seat of our feelings, desires, affections ought to focus on God? Does Christ imply that a Christian should think first about God and what God desires for our life?

    Yes. Yes. And yes.

    “You shall love the Lord your God

    with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

    This is the great and first commandment.

     

     

  • spirit

    spirit

    Genesis 6:3a And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man…

    Flesh is that which we can see. Bones is that which we can almost touch – bones which will decay once more into the dust of time.

    Spirit is quite something else: inexplicable, incomprehensible, immeasurable, untouched, unheard, misunderstood and mysterious to the simpleness of our complex minds.

    Shall we complicate or clarify by equating to our spirit the very soul of our being – a human being, that is?

    Genesis 2:7c … and man became a living soul.

    “Hi, Roger,” a fellow man greets me. He is not talking to only the flesh of ears or the sore sight of his eyes. He speaks to my soul – my heart – my being in the image of the Living God.

     God IS and we are created in His Image. In the image of His Spirit, our spirit is created.

    Dear Father God, for this and for your Son and Holy Spirit I give you thanks.

    Yet a Holy God cannot always strive with mankind, sinful in the flesh and decaying by the unholiness of our worldly soul.

     

    Increasing Corruption on Earth

    3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years…”

    5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

    6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart…

    Do you grieve your LORD God, o man?

    Do you grieve Jesus Christ whose Name you claim, o christian?

    Christ Jesus also speaks of ‘spirit.’ Hear the Word of God in your heart and soul.

    John 3:3 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 4 Marvel not that I said to you, “You must be born again.”

    IN Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, you must be born again. The LORD God will not forever contend with your soul, dearly beloved lost one.

    Repent of your sin! Do NOT contend with Christ our LORD.

     

     

  • Growing into Christ

    Growing into Christ

    The Christian community is built with fellowship, the Christian heart with prayer.

    Let’s consider the community of believers we call ‘church’ for a moment. Paul addresses some of the ‘issues’ of worship style in his letter to the Corinthians [ch.14] and his first direction of guidance instructs: “Pursue love… agapē.” 

    1 Corinthians 14:20  Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

    John writes to the churches in Asia a similar caution:

    1 John 1: 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

    Peter in his first letter addresses Christians of churches in an even larger area:

    1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

    The King James Version states: Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

    • be of one mind
    • have compassion one of another – sympathēs 
    • love as brothers – philadelphos

    Do these words of the Apostles instruct any to be a lone chrisitian? Certainly not. The instruction to Christians is for fellowship.

    The Apostles teach the nurturing of a loving community, believers who spend time with one another, who worship together, and believers who truly love each other as Christ Jesus loves us.

    The Christian community is built with fellowship…

    How is it that most of our busy 21st century churches don’t get this?

    Does it take just a little more than an hour on a Sunday to build a relationship? to build a community? to establish a church in the love and fellowship of our Lord, Christ Jesus?

    “christians” we call ourselves. Is your relationship and community with your fellow brothers in the Lord (your fellow sisters in the Lord) a loving commitment such as this?

    The Christian community is built with fellowship, the Christian heart with prayer.

    So let us repent of the busyness of our public lives and sacrifice a little more Christ-like love to embrace His love through the relationships of our church.

    Which brings us now to our private lives:

    How is your prayer life?

    I must confess that I have never been one to think of prayer sufficiently. It was not until recently (by measure of years) that I finally engaged God in conversation through prayer every morning and throughout my day.

    Do you suppose the mention of “prayer” 114 times plus “pray” 96 times in the ESV suggests its importance? Of course.

    IF Jesus is our Lord and Master, we being His servants: certainly we must be obedient to His command:

    Mathew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

    Jesus said: “when you pray,” not ‘IF you pray.”

    Jesus said: “bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” – Luke 6:28  I have a hard time with that one.

    I remind myself: Pray without ceasing.

    Jesus encourages us in Luke 18:  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

    Do you “loose heart” in your daily life? I do.  Consider that in losing heart you have likely neglected prayer.

    Our failing flesh is one thing, but our heart is quite another. Jesus points out that the flesh is weak, but for the heart He directs us to prayer. Our heart (Hebrew) is: the inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding and much more – kardia in the Greek.

    How will our spirit dwell with the Holy Spirit if not through prayer?

    … the Christian heart is built with prayer.

    And oh, so tender, our torn-up hearts.

    How broken our Christian lives.  How broken our Christian families.  How broken our Christian homes.

    How broken our Christian husbands and how broken our Christian wives. How broken our Christian children and how broken our Christian youth.

    What, then, must Christians do? (For in fact, our brokenness looks no different than the brokenness of so many who do not even know the love of Christ Jesus.)

    The unturned pages of our Bibles tell an answer we claim as our ‘Good News.’ (Gospel.)

    Have you been too busy to get the answers from God through prayer?

    Have you been too busy to share your love with other Christians?

     The Christian community is built with fellowship,

    the Christian heart with prayer.