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BLOCK TWO:

KNOW HOW WE WERE CREATED

Knowing how God designed us is essential to discover an untapped power within our soul. In this the soul cleanse is crucial. We begin in Genesis 2:7 where it states, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. God created man of the dust.

    God shows us that man is a compound being, comprised of a spirit, soul, and body. The body came out of the dust of the earth; the soul as a result of the breath of God. Hence, the soul and body are distinct as the Spirit, but the spirit and soul are tightly woven together. Often the soul and spirit are synonymous with each other.   While the body derives its origin from the earth, or as עפר aphar implies, the dust, the soul was "God breathed into Adam’s nostrils where he received the the breath of life and became a living soul". By this s breath of God expanded hislungs and set them in play, carried by his inspiration, both spirit and soul. Man became a living being (lit., "a living soul"). From that point, we became the highest life form on earth. Although history proves man's behavior is a distant reality from this at times, nevertheless, man became a spiritual person with a capacity for serving and fellowshipping with God. 

 

 NEFESH: SOUL

The Hebrew words, Nefesh, neshama, and ruach, signify the soul. The soul is likened to the breath of air that a glassblower uses to inflate hot glass. Using the following metaphor, it breaks down the processes into three parts. 

     The first part, neshama, is the divine puff waiting to be released, because it is still in the glassblower's cheeks. It corresponds to the divine air or breath, s neshama is our divine connection to God. Second, when the air leaves the glassblower's mouth, it flows down a tube, the tube connects the glassblower and his work. In the same sense, the ru'ach dwells in the connection between the physical and the spiritual. This flow, a wind, or the ru'ach, flows through the tube enters the material, Adam, that was the dust of the ground, and he became a living soul. Third, his nefesh, or soul was given shape by God in His hand and formed us into His image.

     Since the fall of man, and subsequent plan to redeem humanity through His Son Yeshua, your spirit man was destined to take authority over your soul upon coming to faith. Remember, your soul always wants to go rogue until it begins coming  under the authority of the Spirit of God. This struggle between the two endures as long as we are in this corporal shell on earth as well. It gets easier though. The Apostle Paul deals bountifully with this in Romans 7:15-20

 “ 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

The psalmist gives his version in chapter 43: 5, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why are you disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Indeed, carnal mindedness has its roots in the temporal realm, and it hinders our soul. But also, notice how he speaks in the second person to his soul. This is a clue of what you will discover during the time of the soul cleanse. Every individual is a composite creation of body, soul, and spirit. We were created in the image of God, received the breath of God, and became a living soul. 

    When we received Yeshua, the Holy Spirit entered our life and redeemed our soul, then an emotional and spiritual metamorphosis began, whereby our  God-given spirit man, begins to take reign over our soul.  Your spirit man comes under the transformative work of the Holy Spirit, called “sanctification”. 

     Recall, every person is known by the spirit within them; it proceeds and follows them. You can see it on their body language, their eyes, how they speak, and their facial expression. Some people have a critical spirit, a downcast spirit, a depressing and negative countenance. Conversely, there are those that are positive, encouraging, uplifting, and do not have a judgmental spirit. Man’s  spirit is part of the woof and fiber of our soul, and both are inseparable because our soul becomes an expression of our spirit, and body becomes an expression of our soul. This is explained further as we proceed.  But even when a man grows as the Psalmist says, “estranged from the soul,” his life is carnally driven because he has a carnal soul not yet redeemed by the power of God. 

 

PARTNERSHIP OF SPIRIT. 

SOUL. AND BODY

What is being stated simply is this that man’s unredeemed spirit shapes his soul towards carnal things, while man’s redeemed spirit shapes his soul towards Godly and Christ like character.  What is revealed is a composite creation made of a tri-unity, of spirit, soul, and body. 

 But how do they interact with one another? The Spirit, drives the soul, and the soul drives the body. Notice, the diagram on the left, and diagram below exhibit the more defined relationship.      

Visualize the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit as your  command center. Your soul is the brain center, and the body carries out the commands that have come from the soul. Of course, this all happens faster than lightning. So fast that we are unconscious of the chain of command that occurs daily every minute and second of the day. A triunity of our creative process is always operating. 

   To an extent not seen before, I discovered these processes first hand when God unhinged my soul and spirit  upon physical death. But God didn’t put back the same way either. I live each day with daylight between my spirit and soul. Needless to say, I live differently now.  I am aware of my spirit, and the spiritual realm as real as the material and earthly realm now.

OUR RESPONSE

Knowing how we were designed by God is essential to reach optimum living as have stated. Recall, your soul always wants to go rogue until it lives under the jurisdiction of the Spirit of God. This struggle between the two endures as long as we are in this corporal shell on earth. Ebbs and flows towards a progressive dominion of the Spirit, so it gets easier. The Apostle Paul deals bountifully with this in Romans 7:15-20 

“ 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

     The psalmist gives his version in chapter 43: 5, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why are you disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Indeed, carnal mindedness has its roots in the temporal realm, and it hinders our soul. But also, notice how he speaks in the second person to his soul. This is a clue of what you will discover during the time of the soul cleanse.

    Now back to the unredeemed man. Unless He receives the Lord in His life, his entire life will be driven by an unredeemed spirit and soul, and his physical body and soul will indulge his carnal appetites. When such a man comes to faith, a process called sanctification begins. Eventually, nothing is left of his former spirit.  We witness regularly people who we have known before faith and after faith. 

      But the this is the point. Because the soul always wants to go rough, the soul must be disciplined, controlled, and harnessed. How do we harness our soul? The Psalmist gives us a hint. He speaks to the soul in the second person, and in fact, the book of Psalms is the handbook of the soul in the entire bible. Soul is mentioned fifty times, more times than any book of the bible. It is found only eleven times in the entire New Testament.

    The Psalmist speaks to his soul, “Bless the Lord oh my soul, why are you downcast o my soul.” He speaks to his soul as one sitting next to you. You command it to get in line. You don’t need to spend much time on this now, it will be understood in the soul cleanse. Speak to your soil in the second person as the Psalmist.

 

To receive the best start, you need to know what you are giving up and what you are getting in return. You giving up a transactional prayer life for a transformational one. 

     In Heaven there is only life in the transformational realm. The former, transactional, and only on earth, squeezes out Heaven's atmosphere from life down here. We live primarily transactional because our society is acutely transactional. Business culture is transactional, of course, people want something for something. Most forms of networking, whether it is business or ministry, is transactional. In the ministry world, we seldom connect to get to know someone. We are looking to advance our ministries. 

      Therefore, and most will agree, selfishness rules the day in ways so insidious that we are unconscious of its impact on our relationship with God. We lose awareness that God is personal, intimate, and always wanting us to come closer.

       In our Lord's most desperate hours with little time left on earth, He was in the Garden of Gethsemane asking the Lord to allow this cup of suffering to pass. He asked Peter to stay up with Him,  it was late. Peter fell asleep and left Him alone during the time of His agony in the Garden. Later, Peter denied Him. Then Judas betrayed Him. 

     At the cross, the disciples deserted Him and fled. When he needed their support and commitment, they disappointed Him. At the heart of it, all is fear and selfishness. Fear always begets selfishness, and selfishness begets fear. We can argue the point that they were not yet transformed into the transformational life that would explode the gospel in the four corners of the world, and this would be correct. But the point I believe, is clear.

     I see society as well as the church as 75-80 % transactional. In other words, 75% of one's prayer life is spent on moving the hand of God and looking for answers to their prayers. 25% is in the category of exaltation, magnification, and worship. But likely, 25 % is lower, and 75 % is higher.

      Before my departure and subsequent return, I realized my life was rooted mostly in a transactional realm. We are indoctrinated into it in society and our relationship with the Lord.  But upon my return, God eradicated it. At the same time, the older I get, the more aware I become of the selfish nature of the people around me. Caring for oneself above all others is detrimental to both society and the body of the Messiah. Have you noticed this?    

     Indeed, I am getting older, and noticing my world through age-appropriate paradigms. But my awareness was discovered not from growing older, rather, my adventure into the heavenlies.  Let me define transactional living: Transactional relationships, or life. By nature, it is optimized around getting the most you possibly can in exchange for as little as possible on your part. I also might add we want to get it quicker and faster. We want to take shortcuts. 

       Have you noticed in relationships, people know when you are focused upon yourself, or something other than your words?  So, we turn people away when we're only focused on improving our lot. You know, "Forget everyone else." We don't take time to know someone and listen.  When is the last time you got to know God?. Inevitably, this carries into our relationship with the Lord, and it is here that the soul cleanse will radicalize your inner environment.   

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