spiritual alignment
Article
The Soul And The Spirit
Presented by Suzette-The Marriage Warrior
God created each individual with both a spirit and a soul. Often times, we think of these as one-in the same. However, these are two separate parts within the human. Because the definition and functionality of each entity is fairly vague, we rarely comprehend how to approach either. Yet, when we understand the existence of these two parts, and how they were created to operate, we can gain powerful tools for emotional and spiritual direction and healing.
As God’s children, he designed a place within us to commune with him. Communion with God is more than just following His methods and protocols, but rather enjoying a relationship with Him through conversations, spirit to spirit. The scripture supports these conversations as it describes, “My sheep hear my voice, no other will they follow”. This biblical passage confirms that God speaks to His children. The scripture also explains spiritual conversations with God as it instructs us “To make our request known to Him”.
The trinity, known as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, potentially can be a confusing concept. However, if we understand the functionality of each moving part of the trinity, we can enter into a more effective communion life with God. Although the trinity means one God in three parts, each divine entity operates with individual functioning power. Without using a lot of theological analytics, we can simplify these parts by interpreting “God, the Father” as the King on the heavenly throne, the creator of all good things. God holds within Himself all that we need…wisdom, provision, protection, guidance, etc… God designed man to be in communion with him. In fact, the scripture indicates that God “delighted in man daily” and “spoke to man in the cool of the day”. This enlightens us in recognizing God’s desire to have conversations with his children. When Adam and Eve sinned, it made them unclean and unholy, which separated mankind from God. The separation was not because God, as the Judge, was mad at them and was judging them, but rather, had more to do with the fact that God, who is Holy, cannot commune with anything unholy.
Obviously, God saw that this communion breakdown between man and Himself was not good. So, He fixed the “holy/unholy” conundrum by sending “Jesus, the Son” to shed His Holy blood so that communion between man and God would be holy, once again. This is why when we accept the Holiness of Jesus’ righteousness and blood, we are able to go through Him to get back into communication with God.
The way in which God speaks to us is through God, the “Holy Spirit”, as the scripture says “His Spirit leads and guides”. God’s Spirit speaks to our spirit. God created this part within us for such conversation and communion. Our spirit is the part of us that will never die. When our body dies, it is our spirit that continues on to eternity. Although during this earthly journey, we face trials and tribulation that cause pain and hurt, our spirit stays intact through it all. God designed it that way. However, it is our soul that takes on all of the pain the trials bring.
The soul is made up of the mind, emotions and will/behaviors. The mind, part of the soul, is nothing but a computer, data in, data out. It is the operating system that drives emotional responses (emotions) that then cause us to behave (the will) in certain ways. The problem is that we automatically believe our mind. But when we view the mind as computer system that has downloaded data from negative life experiences and influences, specifically during our childhood development, we will then have the tools to change each part of our soul and live from the core place of healthy identity and positive self-worth.
Negative life experiences often distort the data input, causing negative brain tracks and patterns of thinking (the mind). These experiences will automatically form a painful emotional response (the emotions). In an attempt to soothe the emotional pain, we may choose behaviors (the will) that are dysfunctional or maladaptive. These behavioral choices lead to negative consequences and moral instability, which causes more pain, and so the cycle continues in this way. This “pain cycle” occurs within the soul… the mind, emotions and will.
Because our spirit is intact, the enemy doesn’t enter through this part of a human, but rather he intrudes through the soul. The scripture indicates that “Satan is a roaring lion, seeking who he can kill, steal and devour”. The way he accomplishes this task is through the soul, the mind, emotions and will. His objective is to separate the relationship between God and His children. This was his motive in the Garden of Eden and is still his agenda. He accomplishes this by intruding on our lives through negative circumstances and events that cause us pain. As children of God, God never intended for us to endure pain, but rather love and protection. So, we have an emotionally reaction to feeling rejection or abandonment because pain is foreign to the way we were created to operate.
This foreign element of emotional pain is what Satan uses to download data or messages that sound like “God isn’t there for you, or God doesn’t love you”. Because this data download is automatic, we will buy into the lie, which then immediately will separate us from God because we won’t reach towards someone who is causing us pain. Consequently, this separation keeps us from the God who can heal the pain and replace the distorted thoughts with the truth of who He is and who He created us to be.
This is the enemy’s ultimate plan of destruction. If these thoughts are not “cast down as vain imaginations” with the knowledge that God would never forsake His own children, the enemy will continue to bring more negative experiences to seal the deal. Eventually, the brain will plow thinking tracks that are so ingrained that they form destructive patterns of thinking and the feelings and behaviors will follow. Once this soul alignment is made, introducing optional thoughts can be futile. Furthermore, this negative internal dialogue leads to such destruction of self and others, the individual operating within this system will question themselves at the level of core identity as the begin to believe “this is just who they are”. This is nothing more than a lie, sent from the father of all lies.
We are the children of God. Satan cannot possess what is God’s. However, if we fail to recognize the adversary’s agenda to damage our soul, taking over our mind, emotions and will, he will continue to corrupt our core identity as God’s children. We are the kids of the King, who is above ALL kings and kingdoms, specifically Satan’s. We belong to God’s birthright and are privileged with His heritage. We have access to all that He IS and all that He has. This heritage was given to us in the Garden of Eden and Satan caused the separation of holy communion with God. God so loved us and desired restoration of holy conversations, spirit to spirt, that He sent His son, Jesus to redeem all of it. Jesus took back the keys of sin and death.
In conclusion, God placed our spirit within us to commune with His Spirit. However, it is our damaged soul that has ruled over our spirit and separates us from that communion. However, keep in mind that the scripture assures us that “nothing can separate us from the Love of God”. Therefore, when we understand the functionality of the soul and the spirit, we then are equipped to identify the soul parts that have been wounded, creating soul wounds, and allow God to replace the distorted data, heal the emotions and guide us into healthier behavioral functioning. This transformation will remove us from the pain cycles God never intended in His original design. As we commune with God, spirit to spirit, His Spirit of life will dwell within our spirit and take precedent over our soul…mind, emotions and will.
WARRIOR’S WISDOM:
1. Recognize that you are not damaged goods. You are loved and accepted by your Creator.
2. Set aside some time to analyze your own soul to inspect each part.
3. Accept and allow Jesus’ Holy blood and righteousness to give you the access you need to start having conversations with your Heavenly Father.
4. Allow God’s Spirit, “who reveals all things”, to show you where the distortions are residing in your soul and how they got there.
5. Break all agreements, known and unknown, you have made with the enemy to believe the lies.
6. Repent to God for, willingly or unwillingly, allowing Satan to use your vessel (mind, emotions and will) without your permission.
7. Search scripture to get familiar of who God is and who He says you are.
8. Come into agreement with the new truths, trading the old patterns of the soul.
9. Identify strongholds as anything within the soul that resists new ways of thinking and feeling.
10. Set aside time to fast and pray to break identified strongholds.