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I'm not sure I will keep this blog up. I'm embarrassed with how it looks, but I have been inspired by Michael's Blog to try to put down a visual aid on paper to help me see how I am envisioning the regenerated heart of man and how it all fits in with the three parts of man. Please don't laugh too hard J.
I don't think it is necessary to explain how the five senses interrelate with our bodies. Most are also aware of the human soul. However, I will offer a few more references about the spirit of man. Michael sited many on his blog (noted above), so I will not use his scripture references
2:7 And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7 ASVNow this verse does not directly mention the human spirit, but it does refer to it by stating the breath (spirit) of life being breathed into his nostrils. It appears that the interaction of God's breath (Spirit) and man's body is what animated the soul of man.
12:1 An Oracle The word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus says the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him:
20:27 The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.
32:8 But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
2:11 For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
5:5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Here are further references that confirm the heart, soul and spirit operate in conjunction with one another.
35:21 And they came, every one whose heart stirred him, and every one whose spirit moved him, and brought the LORD's offering to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. 3:4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 13:2 How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 1:46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, 1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another earnestly from the heart. 4:32 Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common.
One further explanation: I know that most lump mind, emotion and will together to make up the soul, but it seems to me that the will of man plays a most integral role in the maturity of the NEW man/creation. Ultimately, God is desiring a surrender/denial of our will, just as Jesus did in the garden. “…not My will, but Thine.”
Charlie
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By Rob Bell - "Sex. God. They're connected. And they can't be separated. You can't talk about sexuality without talking about how we were made. That will inevitably lead you to who made us..."
Book Review
I just finished the most incredible book by Rob Bell, Sex God. Yup that’s the title. It is definitely one of those “outside the box” books. It begins kinda slow, but it needs to because by the time you hit the midpoint in the book, you have already established some fairly simple and “perceived” foundational understanding of God and sex and how He wants us to CONNECT with Him, our spouses and others.
Be prepared to be laid bare. Brother Bell gives you a whole new idea of what it means to be naked. I had a brief unbelievable experience early one morning out on my deck while reading and pondering what I read. It was an “eternity” piercing flash that Madeleine L’Engle calls “kairos.” The book and writing style is very unusual, but it’s not a long book. You could easily read it in a few days. It took me over a week cuz I gotta pause every now and then to let what I read soak in. I highly recommend every teenager or better yet parent and teenager read this book together. Case in point...”When you live in your true identity, when you find your worth and value in your Creator, when you live ‘in Christ’ in who you really are, you force him to rethink what it means to be a man.” Here’s some good questions for young women to ask themselves:
“Does he serve, or is he waiting to be served?”“
"How does he interact with people he doesn’t like?”
“What does he expect from you? Does he expect you to sleep with him when he hasn’t committed to you forever?”
“Can you tell him anything? Is he safe? Can he be trusted?”
“Can you open up to him, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, knowing he will protect, not exploit that vulnerability?”
“Is he the kind of guy that would die for you?”
If anyone has already read or would like to discuss the book after you read it, Alice and I would be very interested in sharing thoughts and impressions together.
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When Jesus came to earth He found His people continuing and even compounding in making THEIR religion, Judaism, even more complex and exclusive.
Missing the mark (which is sin)
The really sad thing about all this is that not only did God’s people fail the test, but totally missed the whole point. We all know about the golden calf incident which proved they were still thinking outwardly. They took something so wonderful that God’s heart longed for, a people for Himself that He could love, train, care for and enjoy as well as represent Him to others and made it into something God hates – DEAD RELIGION!
What about today?
Jesus came to make the path FREE and CLEAR to have the same intimate relationship with His Father that He had, and that that relationship would also spread to one another (Jn.17:20-22; IJn. 1:3,7). Jesus died to make that possible for us, by being the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29), and God raised Him up by His Spirit to live forevermore! PTL! Now that very same Spirit that raised Jesus, dwells us in us (Rom. 8:11)! More good news! PTL! We now have a direct link to God through the same Spirit via our spirit, i.e. spirit to Spirit, and Spirit to spirit communion (I Cor. 6;17). What intimacy that is! When Jesus came to earth He found His people continuing and even compounding in making THEIR religion, Judaism, even more complex and exclusive. He was looking for faith among His people.
Programs, teachings/doctrines, traditions, and controlling men take the place of that relationship. The Israelites at the foot of the mountain were content with Moses having the personal relationship with God. Religious people today are content with “a man” to tell them what God wants them to do. They are willing to even PAY for it (and boy, do they ever pay!!) Men actually take the place of God and receive the worship of the people and make for the people their own golden calf to worship as well (As Aaron did).
These religious leaders become filled with pride. They will do whatever it takes to protect and preserve their religious kingdom. In fact, the religious leaders in Jesus’ day had become so proud of THEIR religion, they were willing to kill for it! Jesus spoke of a simple widow woman who was continually being oppressed. She would not give up on crying out for relief. Eventually an unrighteous judge finally vindicated this widow from her “opponent.” At the end of the parable, Jesus asks a very interesting question. “...when the son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” (Lk.18:8) He had a hard time finding faith on earth when He came the first time. Whadaya think?
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“Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.”
Even deeper
If we analyze Ex. 19 closely it is very interesting, notice the chronology. In vs. 3 Moses leaves the people to talk to God on the mountain for the first time (before this is over, Moses becomes quite a mountain climber). God mentions to Moses His desire to covenant with His people in a special and personal way. His desire was that ALL the people be His posseession, a kingdom of priests (v.6). This was God’s heart desire. We know God’s heart never changed because it’s mentioned several other times in the NT, I Pet. 2:5&9, Rev. 1:6; 5:10.
God’s covenant was initiated by God and would be kept by Him as well. It was basically a God sided covenant with the people as the recipients. So Moses comes down to tell the people what God shared with Him. However Israel is already thinking like the rich man (mentioned previously). Their response, on the surface, sounds commendable. They say, “all the Lord has spoken, we will DO, or so they thought.
They didn’t conceive what God was saying and offering them. He wanted a relationship with them. But first, He would need to test their hearts and hunger for this new covenant relationship. How badly would they want Him, no matter what the outward appearance might be?
The Test
Next comes the test. I love verse 17, “And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God...” WOW, can you imagine – meet the God who brought you out of Egypt! The God who opened the sea, gave them water from the rock, the God who wanted to call them out to a feast with Him! But the climate changes, the mountain is covered by a thick cloud and begins to quake, lightning and loud thunder rattle through the camp far below the mountain. A strict boundary is established and warnings of death to those who violate it. A strict boundary is established and warnings of death to those who violate it. DO all God said?>
God begins speaking to Moses while the people stood by watching and trembling at the loud trumpet sound and thunder of God’s answering Moses (v.19). Did you catch that? God ANSWERING Moses. God and Moses were having dialog before the people! God was manifesting and confirming His authority and personal relationship with Moses.
In ch. 20 we have the “Ten Commandments” given. The chronology here is kinda hard to figure out. It seems to me that God is writing on the tablets of stone while Moses is with the people. In 20:18-19 (after the commandments have been recorded), the people (still trembling) speak to Moses saying, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” They failed the test L. Rather than wanting to hear and speak with God, they chose to let someone else talk to God and tell them. Hmmm does that not sound familiar?
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God knew they would make mistakes and not always be obedient, so He made provision through the law for that.
A Surface Reason for God Giving the Law
Think for a moment about Israel. God had given them a land flowing with milk and honey. But also in that same land were giants (Nephilim). Not just men of large stature, but people who worshipped the creature rather than the Creator. People who not only had given themselves to serve other gods, but also given their own children! People who worshipped just about anything and everything EXCEPT the One True God. People who through their living and intimate relationships with their gods had polluted the land.
God gave His people the law to protect and preserve His people from that environment and danger. As long as they followed that law they were safe. God knew they would make mistakes and not always be obedient, so He made provision through the law for that. So even by removing the relationship side of God with His people, the law was a loving safe-keep for them. Of course God desired His people would go much deeper and find Him personally. His desire was to have a people who would let Him be God in their lives and reveal Himself and His nature to them in every life situation.
Unfortunately only a few of the OT saints realized and desired that. They not only worshipped God, tried to obey His commandments, but went further to get to know their Creator intimately. There are many examples of such: Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abe, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua, Caleb, Samuel, David (a man after God's heart) and many of the kings and prophets. Their relationship with God went beyond "religion" and the outward compliance to the law; it went to the very heart of God Himself!
Are you ready for this?I don’t believe God ever wanted anyone to stop short by just outwardly complying with the law. In fact, I’d dare say God intentionally gave man a law that he could never keep. Can you accept that? Let’s go a bit deeper. He gave the law to show us how weak we are and how desperately we need Him. It was a test, just like the test Jesus gave the ‘rich young ruler’. “Oh, you think you kept the law? Well, try this: go sell all you have and give it to the poor, then FOLLOW ME.” See this man was looking for something he had to DO (Mk. 10:17-22) and thought he had kept. Those were the very ones Jesus mentioned. Jesus didn’t go down the list of the “big 10,” but skipped around (out of order). Could it be that what Jesus was hoping to do is get this rich feller to realize he couldn’t do that, but he still wanted that young man to follow Him. The tragedy was he probably didn’t hear that last part, “follow me,” and went away sorrowfully L.
NEXT we go even deeper
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