Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 192
TRANSCRIPT
I imagine you have heard the phrase that something is running as smoothly as a well-oiled machine. Did you know that human beings have several different parts that operate together like a well-oiled machine? At least they are supposed to. In this podcast, we are going to talk about the different parts of a human being and how God has designed them to work together and run smoothly, even without the oil.
I’m Lee Whitman from Restoring the Foundations, and I welcome you into this Hope Healing and Freedom podcast. When Cindi and I bought our first house, we had only been married for two years. Back in those days, we bought a three-bedroom, 2500 square foot house for $55,000. And because our house had a yard, I bought a used lawn mower. One day, the pull handle on the starter came off. I thought at that time in my life that a real man should be able to fix things themselves, so I took the puller mechanism off the mower and attempted to fix it myself. Big mistake! Once I got the pull mechanism off the mower, I could not get the spring and the rope to go back together. I ended up taking the mower to the shop to have them fix it. Looking back, it must have been humorous to see me bring my lawn mower to the repair shop with all of the parts in a bag because I could not get them to go back together.
Today’s verse is 1 Thessalonians 5:23, which says,
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete”.
The bible describes us as three-part beings: spirit, soul, and body. All three parts need to work together so that we can be a well-oiled being. In this podcast, I am going to look at each part in an attempt to help us recognize that all three parts need to be taken care of in order for us to live a long and successful life.
Ever since Gary got saved, he felt like God was calling him into ministry. Gary was a natural evangelist. In high school, he led a very successful after-school Bible club for his classmates. When he went to college, he began a very well attended bible study for all of the kids that he had led to Jesus. Gary was a charismatic guy and just naturally attracted kids to himself. Upon graduation, the people in his bible study asked Gary to continue the bible study, and out of that a church began for people from the college and those who had already graduated. The church grew quite large very quickly. Things went along very well with the church for many years until Gary had an affair with a woman in the church. How could that have happened to someone whom God had used so mightily? Part of the reason was that Gary did not take care of himself, and in the process, he blew up his marriage, he blew up his ministry, and he hurt the very people he was trying to help. He was so busy taking care of the people in his church that he neglected to do self-care.
The first part of man that needs to be taken care of is his spirit. According to the bible, the spirit is the innermost, eternal part of a human being. It is that breath of life given by God. Accordingly, the spirit is considered a person’s core identity. Man is a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body. It is the renewed spirit that allows man to have a relationship with God. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it says in Romans 8 that it is the spirit that gives life. Verse 10 says,
“If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.”
The most important part of you is the spirit that lives within you. It is the spirit that will give you life, not the mortal body. Because of this, it is essential that we feed our spirits and not just our bodies. I love to feed my body. I love to cook so feeding my body is both a necessity to live, but something that I enjoy doing. But if the spirit is the most important part of me, do I feed my spirit with the same enthusiasm that I feed my body? Let’s talk about some ways that we can feed our spirit.
Reading God’s Word.
Matthew 4:4 says,
“But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
Just as we eat food to nourish our physical bodies, the Word of God gives life to our spirits. John 6:63 says,
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
It is very common for believers to spend time reading God’s Word because we know we are supposed to. It becomes a routine that we do because someone told us it would be good for us. But when we understand how important God’s Word is to feeding our spirits, then we will read it because as Jesus said,
“The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
One thing we can do that will bring more food for our spirits out of the scriptures is to meditate on the Word. Let me give you a suggestion. Try reading one verse and then spend the rest of the day meditating on that verse. Ask Father God what that verse means. Ask Him what He wants to give you from that verse. Don’t be in a hurry but let that verse be in your thoughts and prayers all day. See what can happen when you do that.
Prayer.
Another way to feed your spirit is by talking to God. Seems simple, doesn’t it, yet many people spend very little time talking to Father God. When I was a young pastor, the senior pastor suggested, OK, it was more like a mandate, that each of us spend 1 hour every morning in prayer. I had my list of things that I would pray about every day. I learned how to fill up an hour of talking at God, telling Him things He already knew. But what I did not learn at that time in my life was to have a conversation with God. Years later, I was taught to talk to God, but then to spend time listening to what He had to say. It drastically changed my idea of prayer. There are some days when I ask God something and I don’t get an answer right away. Then there are other days when I ask a question and I almost immediately get the answer. I really enjoy talking to God on my motorcycle. I haven’t found the verse in the bible that backs that up, but I know it is often a very valuable time of fellowship with Father God. It is time that really feeds my spirit.
Worship.
Worship is more than just singing songs. Worship in fact includes everything you do. Romans 12:1 says,
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
This verse says that worship is presenting everything to God, your body, soul, and spirit. 1 Corinthians 10:31 reinforces this. It says,
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God.”
Worship is more than singing songs. It is presenting everything we are, all that we do, and everything we have, to the glory of God.
Fasting.
Fasting is doing something to deny your flesh and make it come in submission to your spirit. It is often done by not eating for a certain period of time. It is not as important what you give up, as it is that you are disciplining your physical body so that your spirit can be strengthened. Many people fast by giving up social media for a period of time. That does cause your flesh to give up some form of comfort. The key to what to fast is to ask your Heavenly Father what He would have you to give up, and for what period of time.
Fellowship with other believers.
Having fellowship with other believers is another way to feed your spirit. The Word says in Matthew 18:20,
“ For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
When we gather for fellowship with other believers the presence of Jesus is in our midst. That is why it is important for us to get together with other believers. I am concerned that many believers have started to attend online church instead of going to the building. Online is great for taking in good teaching, but to have fellowship, we need to rub elbows with other people. Fellowship includes the times when we barbecue on the grill and tell stories and laugh together. There is a supernatural encounter that happens just being together with other children of God. Jesus is in our midst.
Spending time in nature.
Here is one of my pet peeves. The world has stolen spending time in nature and turned it into a worship of nature. The world calls it Mother Nature. But God created nature for us to enjoy. It is also one of the ways we can feed our spirits. It doesn’t say this in the bible, but you are not going to convince me that Jesus and His disciples did not enjoy spending time in nature. Many times, the Bible talks about Jesus and the guys being on the Sea of Galilee. Then a verse or two later, it says that they are in Jerusalem. Those two places are 100 miles apart. Jesus and his troop did a lot of walking. I am convinced that during those walks they fellowshipped together by talking and telling stories. I can just hear Jesus say, “Did you hear the one about the two squirrels…”, OK, maybe that is just what I pictured them doing. Some of the time they were being refreshed for the ministry ahead by the beauty of nature. To get from the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem they would have had to walk through some mountainous terrain. It would have been beautiful. I can only imagine that even though they were on a mission to get to Jerusalem, they still enjoyed their time in nature.
I am going to continue talking about our spirit, soul, and body in next week’s podcast. My purpose for these two podcasts is to encourage each of us, and yes, to warn us, not to neglect the care and feeding of our spirit, soul, and body. I believe the reason we are seeing more and more leaders in the body of Christ falling into sin is because they get so busy doing the work of ministry feeding other people’s spirits, souls, and bodies, that they neglect taking care of their own. The reason Gary ended up having an affair is because he did not take care of himself. He did not guard his own life from the attacks of the enemy and ultimately fell prey to the attack of a beautiful woman. By the way, King David fell to the same temptation. He was not leading his troops in battle as Kings were supposed to do. He was home and allowed guilt and condemnation to send him up on the roof of the palace, where he fell prey to a beautiful woman. It is fascinating that the same guy who fought and killed a 9-foot 450-pound giant with only a sling shot, fell to the temptation of a beautiful woman.
Prayer
Father God, would You use this podcast to encourage everyone who is listening. It is so easy for us to coast along in our relationship with Jesus and neglect taking care of ourselves spiritually which sets us up to be easy prey for the devil. Would you give us a hunger to spend time in your
Word and to spend time talking with you in an intimate way on a daily basis. Would you help us to set aside time to fast so that we can be strengthened in our inner man. And would you help us to see the beauty of this world you have given us while riding down the road on our motorcycles. Well, maybe that is my prayer for myself. And if we don’t have relationships with people we can fellowship with on a regular basis, would you lead us to find those people. Thank You that You are always there for us and we are never alone.
I look forward to having you join us on next week’s Hope, Healing, and Freedom Podcast as we continue to talk about our three parts: spirit, soul, and body.