why don’t I feel God?
feelings, the unreliable barometer
We do not have to be at the mercy of capricious feelings. We can consistently exercise self-control over feelings, even feelings induced by poor health. Our feelings can reflect truth. But we have to first understand the mind and heart connection, and to understand that, we have to understand the spirit, soul, and body connection.
Humans are three-part beings: spirit, soul, and body. The spirit belongs to the spiritual world, the body belongs to the natural world. The natural world is in fact the shadow cast by the spiritual world, which is the concrete reality. What our senses tell us about the natural and spiritual world, i.e., that the natural is concrete and the spiritual is shadow, is exactly contradictory to God’s word.
Remember Biblical principal number one: God’s word is absolute truth, the perfect description of reality. When what we are perceiving as reality through the filter of our senses, thoughts, and feelings in this natural world contradicts God’s word, it is this fallen natural world, or our perception of it, which is wrong, NOT God’s word.
So where does the soul (mind, thoughts, will, emotions, personality) fit in? I believe the soul is the interface between the spirit and the body, which allows an eternal spiritual being like ourselves to dwell in a fleshly, natural body.
The soul can be influenced by the spirit, or the body. In an unregenerate man, it does not make much difference, since his spirit is dead. The unregenerate man is a slave to his flesh. The spirit of the new man, however, has been made alive together with Christ, and has been freed from slavery to sin and the flesh. The new man can choose to walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. Choice happens in the soul, since choosing is an act of will.
the mind and heart connection
the battleground of the mind
it builds character
lies are not harmless
truth sets us free
tearing down strongholds
establishing a stronghold of truth
training our hearts in truth
practical considerations
rabbit trail one: God’s word applies to me
rabbit trail two: God’s word is unfailing
thirty minutes a day can change your life
thirty minutes a day, day two
thirty minutes a day, days three and four
thirty minutes a day, day five
there is too much, let me sum up
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