WBS.166
FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE
TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOUL – III
Proverb 4:23 Keep they heart with all diligence for out of it; are the
issues of life.
When we plant
the seed of the Word of IAUE in our heart as we are working to renew our mind,
we must be mindful of what we are putting into our heart. What are we hearing? What are we watching? What are we thinking?
Is it water to the seed or poison to it?
By now, we have
developed a good understanding of the importance of a pure heart, one that is
undefiled and without hardness and personal issues that cloud, impede or block
the treasure that IAUE has placed within our spirit. To entangle the heart in pride, pet peeves,
judgments of others, resentment, rebellion, etc., is to prevent the
transformation of the soul into the likeness of IAUE.
So far we have
discussed the spirit, soul and body of man.
We have discussed the heart as the wall separating (and uniting) the
spirit with the soul, having the “wallpapers” of the conscience facing the
spirit and the understanding facing the soul.
It is time for us to complete the last part of this picture, so we can
fully grasp the dynamics of the process of renewing the mind and transforming
the soul unto the likeness of IAUE. What
do you suppose we have omitted up until now?
Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love IAUE thy Elohim with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with
all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Heart - soul - mind - strength. Until now, we have depicted the soul as having the functions and attributes of mind, will and emotions. Notice in these verses, however, after we are commanded to love IAUE with all our soul, we are also commanded to love Him with all our mind; as though the mind and soul were separate and distinct aspects of man that each needed to be commanded to love IAUE…a checklist to make sure we did not forget anything.
We have made great
efforts to recognize the elements of the heart of man, and to demonstrate the role
it plays as a 6th sense gate, the one that enables us to perceive
the world of the spirit. We have seen
how it brings the spirit and soul of man together and forms a bridge for the
light and life of IAUE to be transferred to the soul of man in order to
transform the soul into the likeness of IAUE.
What we have NOT discussed yet, is how the soul of man is united with
the flesh…with the body of man. That
contact point is the mind.
Leviticus 17:11 For the life (nephesh - soul) of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you
upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls (nephesh - soul): for it is the blood that
maketh an atonement for the soul (nephesh - soul).
The Scripture
clearly teaches that the life of the soul (the soul life) is in the blood. Not made apparent in the English translation
of the Scriptures is what IAUE actually said He said He would make “man” in his
image and after His likeness (Genesis 1:26).
The word “man” in Hebrew is “adam.” It literally means red, or ruddy; because it
comes from the root word “dam” which
means, “blood.” IAUE made man (adam), and called His name “Adam” (of blood). When IAUE formed the body of man out of the
dust of the earth and breathed the spirit of life into him, man became “a living soul.”
Man’s soul was united with his spirit through his heart, and united with
his body through his mind. This is why we see the progression in the command to
love IAUE completely as going from the heart, to the soul, to the mind, to the
body (strength).
Notice that we are
not commanded to love IAUE with all our spirit.
Our spirit is our life force, but it does not possess any faculties over
which we have any control. Our spirit is either in darkness or it is in
relationship to IAUE through Yahushua Messiah.
We do not feel with our spirit, nor think with our spirit, nor hold
opinions, convictions or make decisions with our spirit. All of that is done with the soul of man; and
man’s soul, through the mind, is in union with the blood of man.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of IAUE is quick,
and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The Word of IAUE
pierces to the division of soul and spirit.
That is the heart. That is why it
states that the Word is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the
heart. However, it also says that the
Word of IAUE pierces to the dividing asunder of joints and marrow. Why would it mention joints and marrow? It is because that is where the blood is
created and enters the body. That is
where the soul and body come together.
So we see that the Word of IAUE is alive and powerful to help us to distinguish
the source of ALL our thoughts and intentions.
How frequently do we
have a thought and wonder if that is from IAUE or just from our own mind, or our
own heart? We often question whether we
have heard IAUE or if it was just the pizza we ate last night? We actually DO have confusion coming from our
body through our joints and marrow; and we need the Word of IAUE saturating our soul to certify the source of what we are contemplating. This is why, you may have heard, that the
enemy’s real battlefield with man is in the mind. The mind is the battlefield. Let’s see another reason why this is so.
Genesis 3:14 And IAUE Elohim said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and
above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt
thou eat all the days of thy life:
In the Garden of
Eden, Satan was cursed of IAUE for his role in beguiling Eve and subverting the
Adam’s obedience to IAUE. This curse was
inexorably connected to the curse placed on Adam.
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou
taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Satan was cursed to
eat dust all the days of his life; and man’s body, man’s flesh was made of
dust.
There is a very
powerful image in the Scripture of this transaction. After Moses led the
children of Israel out of Egypt across the Red Sea, he went up into the
mountain to obtain the law of IAUE. He
was gone for so long the people pressured Aaron to fashion an idol unto which
they could worship make offerings and sacrifices. Aaron commanded them to bring their gold
earrings, which he then melted and formed into a gold calf. At that point, IAUE spoke to Moses and told
him to return to the people, for they “have corrupted themselves” (Exodus
32:1-7). Remember, IAUE had made man in
HIS image; but now they were essentially declaring that they were made after
the image of the gold calf.
Exodus 32:20 And he took the calf which
they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed
it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
Later, as Moses
recounts this event, he says:
Deuteronomy 9:21 And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt
it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as
small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of
the mount.
Golden calf worship
has always been synonymous with Satan worship.
Moses took that which represented Satan, ground it as fine as powder,
threw it upon the water and made Israel drink of it. Do you know what happens
when you cast fine gold powder into water?
It turns the water to a blood red color.
Drinking the blood-red waters depicted the corruption of the soul life,
the life of the flesh.
Isaiah 29:4 And thou shalt be brought
down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of
the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit,
out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
Paul had a word for
this in his epistle to the Romans.
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that
is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but
how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do
not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when
I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of IAUE
after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my
members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank IAUE through Yahushua
Messiah our master. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of IAUE; but
with the flesh the law of sin.
Satan’s diet is
dust. Man’s flesh is dust. Man’s sin works within him as a law, a
principle that always drives man’s soul in one direction…away from IAUE and
into the dinner plate of Satan. Paul
recognized that the war was in his mind; and he chose to direct his mind to the
Spirit, to be spiritually minded, not carnally minded. If one is carnally minded, his thoughts are
toward the flesh; and it is only possible that he will serve sin and strengthen
the influence of the enemy of his soul.
James 4:5 Do ye think that the
scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
You may have noticed
how quickly the enemy can move us to iniquity, to disobedience to the will of
IAUE. A whisper rises out of our dust to
our mind saying, “Do this.” Once the
mind holds the thought, the law of sin begins to draws us in, just like a
fisherman hooks a fish and reels him into his boat. The Spirit can achieve just as quick a
victory unto righteousness if the mind will simply look His way. The Holy Spirit yearns for our attention.
If we are going to
guard our heart with all diligence, one of the first things we need to realize
is that “in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no
good thing (Romans 7:18). We can
NEVER look to the flesh for anything other than death; and we are most
assuredly guaranteed of damage every single time we cater to the flesh. The dust-eater is always there to take us
into his lair.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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