Sermon Central
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Soul Care 102 Series
Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Feb 3, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: The care of the soul is as important as taking care of our bodies physically. Our success spiritually this year is directly related to the health of our souls.
Review Soul Care 101:
Soul Care: 101
Thesis: The care of the soul is as important as taking care of our bodies physically. Our success spiritually this year is directly related to the health of our souls. Your soul is your inner life which manages your will, mind and body and impacts your spirit because it is linked to it.
Quote: John Orberg states this about our souls: “If your soul is healthy, no external circumstance can destroy your life. If your soul is unhealthy, no external circumstance can redeem your life (Pg 40, Soul Keeping).
Quote: Dallas Willard said, “The most important thing in your life, is not what you do; its who you become. That’s what you will take into eternity.”
Scriptures:
John 10:7- 11: NASB
7So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8“All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
11“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
To be able to live life abundantly today in this fast paced hurried, evil, and stress filled world requires that I take care of my body, my spirit and my soul.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:26:
“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
Jesus said in Matthew 22:37:
“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
The Pursuit of the Abundant Life means we need to focus on the three areas of us – the ones created in the image of God: Our us encompasses our Spirit/Soul/Body! We also need to know how they all function and interact with each other – remember these compose all of us!
Jesus emphasized the importance of your soul not just in eternity but it’s health in the here and now! Your success spiritually this year depends on the condition of your soul! Your soul is linked to your spirit and will impact your spirit if the soul is unhealthy. Yes, there is a link or a connection between your spirit, your soul and even your body.
Question: What do we need to know from last week’s message?
• The whole of us is that we are Spirit, Soul and Body: The Spirit part – encompasses our spirit – it is the God connection – the connection to the spiritual realm but it is also connected to our soul – which is our “Inner – Self – our personality,” It is our self-consciousness which includes mind, will, emotions and the soul is connected to the body and directs the body to connect with this material world our physical world.
• Quote from Bibles for America: “In the spirit, God as the Spirit dwells; in the soul, our self dwells; and in the body, the physical senses dwell. God sanctifies us, first, by taking possession of our spirit through regeneration (John 3:5-6); second, by spreading Himself as the life-giving Spirit from our spirit into our soul to saturate and transform our soul (Romans 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18); and last, by enlightening our mortal body through our soul (Rom. 8;11,13) and transfiguring our body by His life power (Phil. 3:21).”
• 3 ways to care for your soul:
o Our soul needs to be connected to its Creator or it will find an idol to connect too.
? Ortberg notes: “Indeed, the soul lives in God.” The soul seeks God with its whole being. Because it is desperate to be whole, the soul is God-smitten and God-crazy and God-obsessed. My mind may be obsessed with idols; my will may be enslaved to habits; my body may be consumed with appetites. But my soul will never find rest until it rests in God.”
o Our soul longs for God and His presence and it will not be satisfied by a cheap imitation. If we are not attached to His presence, we will slowly die. Our soul was designed to seek after God’s presence.
? Jesus makes this staggering claim in John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
? I am the vine; you are the branch – Jesus tells us we have to be connected to the one who gives us life – who feeds our soul and nourishes our inner being.
